Maybe it was just the shoes, but UCLA head coach Ben Howland suredid seem to have some extra pep in his step on Saturday afternoon.
Sporting sneakers to support the fight against cancer to go alongwith his suit, Howland was springier than a well-coiled Slinky;still wound just as tight, but ready to let loose.
His players had a little extra bounce, too.
Playing against one of the hottest teams in the conference, itwas UCLA that heated up, shooting 59.6 percent in a 77-60 win overColorado in front of 9,253 at the Sports Arena.
'(Former UCLA head coach and current St. John's head coach SteveLavin) went to the sneakers and stayed in them the rest of the waylast year,' Howland said with a smile. 'I like it, too. Feels betteron my feet.'
The Bruins were better off them.
Their feet, that is, as UCLA converted alley-oop after alley-oop, putting on a show for what was certainly the best home crowd ofthe year at the Sports Arena.
Already up seven but coming off a 3-pointer by Colorado's NateTomlinson with just less than 14 minutes remaining, the Bruins wenton a 13-3 run, capped off by a Jerime Anderson-to-Travis Wear alley-oop dunk, stretching the lead to 17 with 8 minutes, 44 seconds toplay.
'Defensive stops - whenever we're getting stops it definitely isa momentum booster,' sophomore guard Tyler Lamb said. 'It getseverybody up more and then you come down and score, it all startssnowballing. We were in the huddle and we were communicating intimeouts, coach Howland was asking us what we thought would work andour senior guards stepped up a lot.'
Senior guard Lazeric Jones had a team-high 17 points and nineassists, Anderson added eight points and eight assists and Lambadded 12 points and six assists as UCLA finished with 26 on theafternoon. The sharp passing helped the Bruins erase an earlydeficit that was plagued by sloppiness.
The Buffaloes (14-7, 6-3 Pac-12) got off to a nice start in theirfirst matchup with UCLA (12-9, 5-4) as a conference opponent,jumping ahead 12-4 as the Bruins committed four quick turnovers.UCLA climbed back, took the lead with 12:27 left and eventually wentinto halftime up by four, courtesy of a Norman Powell 3-pointer asthe first half expired.
What changed so drastically for the Bruins in the second half?They picked up their defensive intensity.
After letting Colorado shoot 56 percent in the first half on 15-of-27 shooting, UCLA held the Buffaloes, who came into the game withnine wins in their past 11, to 34.8 percent shooting in the secondhalf and ran away with it.
'Our intensity picked up a little in the second half,' said DavidWear, who finished with 13 points. 'There've been a couple timeswhere our intensity dipped off in the second half. It was good tocome up with that much intensity, really talking about our defense,not allowing any second shots.'
Howland credited Lamb with a standout effort as UCLA heldColorado's leading scorer Carlon Brown - who had been averaging 13.6points per game - to just six points in 31 minutes, with two assistsand three of the team's 14 turnovers.
'I really thought Tyler Lamb played great defense on Brown,'Howland said. 'He's a great player, and Tyler Lamb deserves a lot ofcredit for how he played. Thirteen points, six assists - I thoughtthis was one of his best games as a Bruin.'
Added Lamb: 'Carlon Brown, I've known him since I was in middleschool - I played on his AAU team a couple times. I've known what hewas capable of. He's a very good player. Coach stressed that I wouldhave to stop him and I tried my best.'
What had Howland really excited as his Bruins prepare for a toughtwo-game road set in Washington against the Huskies and Cougars wasthe team's passing, though.
'We were really, really making the extra pass,' Howland said.'It's fun to watch. That's how basketball is supposed to be played.I love that our players get joy out of making that play. The funnestthing on offense is to watch a pass that leads to a wide-open shot.I love that as much as anything.'
Maybe even as much as his new shoes.
jon.gold@dailynews.com
