It was hardly a masterpiece, but a victory is what holds most value

The buildup to Saturday’s second-round NCAA playoff game between UCLA and Indiana focused on each school’s storied basketball tradition, the 16 national titles they’ve won and the great players and coaches they’ve attracted.

Greatness was nowhere to be found Saturday at Arco Arena, where the Bruins and Hoosiers combined for as ugly and plodding a performance as could be imagined at this level.

Or any other.

It was a game that only a coach could love, and UCLA’s Ben Howland did, indeed, find reasons to love it. He praised his players’ character and toughness after they eked out a hardscrabble 54-49 victory that launched them into the Sweet 16, and the Bruins did come through under pressure -- even if they created that duress by squandering a 16-point lead in the second half.

Their tenacity was commendable, certainly. Little else about this game was worth remembering other than it allowed them to move to the regional semifinal at San Jose on Thursday against Pittsburgh, the team Howland left when he came to Westwood.

“This tournament is about surviving and advancing. Tonight was an obvious case of that,” UCLA junior guard Arron Afflalo said. “This wasn’t the best-looking game, but hey, people won’t remember this a week from today. Or maybe five days from today.”

He paused. “Or tomorrow,” he added, with a smile best described as sheepish.

The Bruins made only seven of 26 shots from the field in the first half, a 26.9% percentage. On most occasions, that would spell doom. Not on Saturday, when the Hoosiers made five of 28 (17.9%).

UCLA scored only 20 points in the first half but led, 20-13.

Yes, 20-13. Riveting, this wasn’t. Successful, it was.

“We shot 26% and had a seven-point lead at halftime and you don’t hear that very often,” Howland said.

Sophomore forward Josh Shipp, two for seven from the field and not the Bruins’ coldest shooter, couldn’t remember the last time he was involved in a game that was so low-scoring so early.

“Probably back in high school,” said Shipp, who played for L.A. Fairfax High. “In the state finals, in this gym.”

Both teams played tough, physical, relentless defense. This wasn’t for the faint of heart or those who rely solely on finesse.

“We knew it was going to be a defensive battle,” center Lorenzo Mata said. “Every point was going to be earned by both teams.”

Tough defense alone doesn’t explain the Bruins’ missing easy baskets in the first half: Shipp was 0 for 5, Afflalo was one for six -- en route to a two-for-11 performance -- and Darren Collison was 0 for 2.

Collison, in a defensive mode, said he didn’t care that the game was something less than scintillating throughout the first half. It wasn’t compelling at all until the Bruins nearly let a 16-point lead slip away and allowed the Hoosiers to pull even at 49-49 with a minute left. The Bruins regained their poise just in time to avert too early an exit for their expectations and their talent level.

“All that matters is the end of the game, not the end of the first half,” Collison said. “Not how you played in the second half, but whether you got a win or a loss.

“No, we didn’t have our best performance offensively in the first half, but we were up seven points.... Defensively it was one of our better performances and offensively it wasn’t, but defense wins games.”

Staunch defense allowed them to wrest the game from the Hoosiers’ eager hands, with Collison’s steal of a pass that Lance Stemler had intended for Earl Calloway with 35 seconds left and the Bruins clinging to a 51-49 lead proving to be the pivotal moment.

“We know we’re talented enough to put the ball in the hoop. Any five of us can score at any moment,” Collison said. “We try to win games on defense. We don’t try to do it on offense.

” ... Even though our shots weren’t falling and we weren’t getting anything going, defensively that’s where it started going. That’s where we started getting points, in transition off defense.”

That’s how the best teams win, by finding a saving grace in a game that was otherwise graceless. “We have a confidence, not cockiness or arrogance, that in tight games we still understand what it takes to win,” Afflalo said. “We’ve had some tough battles in our conference this year. We’re still learning and maturing.”

They learned Saturday that style counts for less than substance.

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helene.elliott@latimes.com