Bruins’ Latest Get-Up Works

Maybe it was the time. The clock at tipoff said noon, the body said 9 a.m. Pacific time.

Maybe it was the atmosphere. A sellout Crisler Arena crowd of 13,751, a sea of maize and blue, came out Saturday to loudly support their beloved Michigan Wolverines, 7-0 but still unranked, against the 14th-ranked UCLA Bruins.

There’s a history behind their emotion. It has been seven seasons since the Wolverines have been in the NCAA tournament. And in their last appearance in that event, it was UCLA that eliminated them.

And maybe it was simply the Wolverines themselves. Eager to make a statement on national television, they came out emotionally charged and scored the first eight points of the game.

Whatever the reason, UCLA opened up as cold as the snow outside the arena. The Bruins missed their first eight shots and were still scoreless nearly six minutes into the game.

“Somebody had to take the initiative,” said guard Arron Afflalo.

So Afflalo did by hitting a three-pointer. And then another. And another. And yet another

Waking up his team by scoring 12 of its first 16 points on those four three-pointers, Afflalo, soon joined in the scoring column by fellow guard Jordan Farmar, led UCLA to a 68-61 victory, once again foiling the Wolverines’ hopes of national glory.

But this victory, UCLA’s eighth in nine games, was about more than just the shooting of Afflalo (20 points on seven-for-14 shooting, including six for nine from three-point range) and Farmar (21 points, seven for 15, three for five on three-point attempts).

It was also about defense. Bruin Coach Ben Howland may be determined not to resort to a zone defense, but he has no hesitancy about double-teaming in the post. It worked nearly to perfection against Michigan center Courtney Sims.

The Big Ten player of the week last week, Sims, with Lorenzo Mata, Ryan Hollins, Luc Richard Mbah a Moute and any other available body in his face, had only two shot attempts, making one. Sims, who had been averaging 16.4 points, finished with six.

That basically finished the Wolverines.

That, and their futile effort to match the Bruins from outside the three-point arc. While UCLA tied a season high with 10 three-pointers (in 21 attempts), Michigan was five for 23 from three-point range.

Michigan guard Daniel Horton alone was 0 for 7 on three-pointers. He also had five turnovers to go with 10 points and six assists.

“We know they like to double the post,” Michigan Coach Tommy Amaker said. “And we thought, if they did that, we would have a good afternoon. We were looking forward to getting our threes, but that wasn’t the case.”

Although Michigan’s strength is its frontcourt, the Wolverines weren’t even able to win the battle of the boards against a UCLA team that has been just trying to get its injury-riddled frontcourt out of the trainer’s room for much of the season.

Led by Mbah a Moute (a game-high nine rebounds) and freshman center Ryan Wright (eight), UCLA outrebounded Michigan, 35-34.

Along with the numbers, there were intangibles for the Bruins.

“We showed a lot of toughness and character by hanging in there at the beginning, even when we couldn’t score,” Howland said.

Court awareness was also a factor late in the game.

On missed three-point attempts, Farmar is supposed to rush back on defense. But when he missed one with less than nine minutes to play, he anticipated the shot would be short, rushed into the lane, grabbed the ball and made a short runner, drew a foul and hit the free throw to get his three points after all.

“It was instinctive,” Farmar said. “even though [by coming forward], I knew I was not doing what I was supposed to do.”

The Wolverines pulled to within four points in the final minutes, but Afflalo stole the ball from Michigan’s Graham Brown and fed Mbah a Moute for a basket that gave the Bruins a little breathing room.

“Every once in a while,” Afflalo said of sneaking in to relieve Brown of the ball, “guys are not focused.”

That could be said of the Bruins at the start of Saturday’s game. Until Afflalo’s wake-up call reverberated through Crisler Arena.