UCLA vs BYU Round of 64

By Dylan Zhao

Now that was UCLA basketball! As per my last piece, UCLA minimized turnovers. Everything was firing on all cylinders. Nothing really to harp on. The Bruins got into foul trouble early in the game but overall, it did not hinder any performance. 

Though many of the fouls came on the defensive end, the defense was great overall. Cody Riley got into foul trouble early. Then Kenny Nwuba came in but would also get into some foul trouble. However, Kenny, the redshirt sophomore, had some key screens that set up off the dribble jumpers. Though the Bruins had a multitude of fouls, a lot of that is attributed to the hard and physical defense Coach Mick Cronin preaches. I do also believe that the referees were a little soft. Let the boys play! Some of those fouls were questionable. 

On the offensive end, Johnny Juzang lit up. I had some worries about Juzang. He had hurt his ankle earlier this season and then re-aggravated it against MSU. However, at the end of the MSU game he was walking on his own power so coming into BYU I knew he would play. I just didn’t know if he was 100%. That was not the case. Juzang’s first attempt was a made three. And he didn’t stop there. He went on to score 27 points. BYU had no answer for Juzang, he was automatic. In the second half, BYU’s strategy was to isolate Juzang and prevent him from even touching the ball. Touch the ball, he did not. With Juzang out of the equation, BYU mounted a small comeback as the Bruins hot hand made no impact in those lone minutes. However, Jules Bernard stepped it up. In my last piece, I also mentioned that no one man can do it alone. Last game, Jaime went off. This game it was Juzang. But teams will adapt and that’s when the rest of the team needs to step up. I said Bernard needs to step up - and he did. Jaime made a couple of threes but was nothing compared to Juzang and Jules. I also wanted to see Tyger be more aggressive and score 10. Tyger was indeed more aggressive however started the game 0-5 I believe. But in the ending minutes, Tyger scored some crucial jumpers that would seal the deal for UCLA. 

This was an expected win in my opinion and the Bruins came through. The Bruins will now face Abilene Christian, who upset Texas. This is easily a winnable game, but of course it is March and anything can happen. We need to keep the foot on the gas - play hard defense and all our players need to be ready. Good teams will prepare and find ways to stop the star Bruins. It can’t be just Jaime or just Juzang. It is a collective effort. I want to see Tyger be more of a factor. I want to see Cody Riley post up and score 6. I want to see Riley draw the defense away from the shooters. Riley can then post it up or dish it out to an open shooter on the wing. But overall if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it right. Go Bruins!