Bruins are rough, more than ready

The hands were everywhere, and the forearms too. Feet were kicking, legs were bruised and when players fell to the floor at the Honda Center the thuds were loud when top-ranked UCLA and No. 6 Texas A&M; threw themselves at each other Saturday in the Wooden Classic.

The undefeated Bruins (8-0) won, 65-62, over the Aggies, who were playing their second straight away-from-home game against a ranked opponent that had been in the Final Four last season -- they lost to Louisiana State on Tuesday.

And the brawny Aggies (7-2) were willing to be physical. They outrebounded UCLA, 34-23. Forward Joseph Jones, 6 feet 9 and 250 pounds, had 11 points and 13 rebounds and seemed to remove Bruins from the lane area with a shoulder shrug.

“That’s one of the most physical games I can remember,” UCLA Coach Ben Howland said.

Texas A&M; Coach Billy Gillispie said he was surprised at how strong UCLA’s inside players were.

“They were a little tougher in the paint as far as physical play,” Gillispie said. “A little tougher than I’d seen on tape.”

And yet, with all the bumps and bruises that everybody absorbed, it was the quick, skittering feet and hands of Bruins point guard Darren Collison that gave UCLA a sudden burst of chest-thumping momentum at the end of the first half.

After Texas A&M; had tied the score, 27-27, and after consecutive turnovers by both teams, Collison made a three-point basket with 21.4 seconds left. After a blocked shot by Ryan Wright landed in Collison’s hands, the sophomore scrambled up court then twisted, lunged and made another three-pointer at the buzzer.

“I hugged him, that second three was so big for me,” said Bruins forward Josh Shipp, who finished with a team-high 18 points plus four rebounds, four steals and two blocked shots.

“Darren’s two shots at the end of the half were critical,” Howland said.

When the Bruins had the ball with about 40 seconds left, Howland said his assistants were yelling to the players to slow down and go for one shot.

“But I got a feel,” Howland said, “I felt like Darren could make that first shot. He did a great job and then we got the ball back with 3.9 seconds left to get that second one. Darren made both those plays. It was a huge shot in the arm, a big boost for us going into the half.”

A Collison layup gave UCLA its largest lead of the second half, 39-30. But the Aggies, who went to the second round of the NCAA tournament last year, were not at all interested in giving up. By controlling the boards and working to free guard Acie Law IV for a series of open jump shots and driving layups, Texas A&M; tied the score, 54-54, with 6:42 left.

Never, though, did the Bruins relinquish the lead. The last chance for the Aggies came with about 30 seconds left. Jones had a wide open three-point shot that, had he made it, would have tied the score at 63-63.

“It was a good shot,” Jones said.

“He can make that shot,” Gillispie said.

UCLA center Alfred Aboya, who left the game after Law accidentally scraped his eyes, said he would have expected the Bruins to lose with the negative rebounding statistics. When he was told the Aggies had 34 rebounds to UCLA’s 23, Aboya opened his uninjured eye wide and said, “Well, we got lucky then.”

It wasn’t luck, Howland suggested. It was fundamentally relentless defense.

In the last five minutes, when the game was close and the fans were loud, the Aggies were trying to run their offense through junior Dominique Kirk. Except they couldn’t. Collison would never let Kirk turn the corner to get a play started and Arron Afflalo attached himself tightly to Law, who finished with 21 points.

“It’s not fun to have Darren in your grill,” Howland said.

Because of final exams, the Bruins don’t play until next Saturday at Pauley Pavilion against Oakland.

“We forced so many turnovers (20) and we shot it well from three (seven for 15). Those were two stats in our favor,” Howland said.

Two more in the Bruins’ favor: Undefeated and No. 1.

diane.pucin@latimes.com