Backcourt Bails Bruins Out of a Tight Game

It seems no one is immune to the injury bug that has infected UCLA’s basketball team. It has gotten so bad, even Eric Lemus, a volunteer student assistant in the team’s video department, has a torn knee ligament.

He joins a list that includes Michael Fey, Lorenzo Mata, Alfred Aboya and Josh Shipp. In other words, the core of the frontcourt.

It didn’t seem to bode well for the Bruins that their opponent Saturday in the Wooden Classic was 17th-ranked Nevada, whose biggest weapons are forwards Nick Fazekas and Mo Charlo.

So who needs a frontcourt?

On the strength of its guard-oriented offense and a breakout performance by freshman center Ryan Wright, UCLA cracked open a tight game midway through the second half with a 19-4 run en route to a 67-56 victory at the Arrowhead Pond.

“This was an outstanding win because we beat a really good team,” said Coach Ben Howland, whose 16th-ranked Bruins are 7-1.

Nevada was off to its best start in 54 years at 6-0 and was certainly a step up from Albany and Coppin State, the Bruins’ last two opponents.

But UCLA, which has had difficulty maintaining focus for 40 minutes, stepped up its intensity Saturday, led by guards Jordan Farmar and Arron Afflalo.

Farmar had 24 points on 10-for-13 shooting and was three for three from three-point range, and Afflalo had 18 points and eight rebounds.

But the biggest number for the Bruins was 37.3%, the Wolf Pack’s shooting percentage, its lowest of the season.

UCLA couldn’t shut down Fazekas. Nobody has. He came in averaging 20.3 points a game and upped that figure with 24 points Saturday, making nine of 18 shots from the floor.

Luc Richard Mbah a Moute was in Fazekas’ face much of the day. As the afternoon wore on, Wright, Ryan Hollins and Aboya took turns guarding the 6-11, 235-pounder without much success.

But the rest of the Wolf Pack made only 10 of 33 shots from the floor, and that was the key.

Still, with 8:42 left, UCLA was clinging to a 46-45 lead.

Then Farmar took control, making a three-pointer and a driving layup. He scored 11 of his team’s 19 points on the run that put the game away.

“The way they were playing defense,” Farmar said, “there was a lot of daylight. So I decided to be aggressive.”

In the postgame news conference, Fazekas expressed his team’s frustration on defense.

“They set a lot of screens,” he said. “It’s tough to guard those guys. Chasing them around gets to be old hat.”

With Aboya limited to five minutes because of swelling in his right knee, Mbah a Moute led UCLA in rebounding, pulling down nine. He has been the team’s rebounding leader in seven of its games.

Nevada had a serious injury of its own. Starting guard Ramon Sessions played only nine minutes because of a hip injury.

Wright had three points, three rebounds, two steals and one blocked shot in 33 minutes, and his coach was impressed.

“Ryan did a good job defensively,” Howland said. “He did a lot of little things that take a lot of mental preparation.”

Despite Saturday’s win, the Bruins say that they will only go so far without a solid front court.

“The only way we can become an elite team,” Afflalo said, “is with the complete package. We need to bring [the front court] along.”

Assuming they can get those big bodies out of the trainer’s room.