|
 Bruins coach Steve Alford was pleased that the team still found a
way to win.
Guard Norman Powell scored 19 points, and No. 25 UCLA wore down
short-handed Colorado, beating the 21st-ranked Buffaloes 69-56 at
the Coors Events Center.
Guard Jordan Adams had 14 points and 13 rebounds, and forward David
Wear added 11 points for UCLA (14-3, 3-1 Pac-12). The Bruins
rebounded with back-to-back wins since losing to top-ranked Arizona
79-75.
"We didn't shoot the ball particularly well," said Alford, whose
team made 39.4 percent of its shots from the field, a fraction less
than Colorado, which made 40 percent of its shots.
"You have to give Colorado credit," Alford added. "I thought their
kids played really hard and had really good energy with the injuries
they've had to deal with. That's not easy. But to get a double-digit
win and do the job on the backboard, you know, this team a month ago
could not win a game on the road shooting 39 percent, and now we've
proven we can. I think that's the biggest statement, and that's what
I told the guys."
Powell, who helped offset UCLA's mediocre shooting night with a big
night of his own, said the victory away from home was a
confidence-booster for the Bruins.
"It's a really big deal," he said. "Coach talked about how big a win
it would be to pull this out, and about the RPI and their schedule
and how much this win would weigh on what we do in this conference
going forward. It's a really big win."
Guard Askia Booker had 21 points to lead Colorado, which lost for
the first time in 12 home games this season.
Forward Josh Scott added 19 points for the Buffaloes, who were
playing for the first time since the loss of star guard Spencer
Dinwiddie.
Dinwiddie was leading the team in scoring when he went down with a
season-ending knee injury during a loss at Washington on Sunday.
The Buffaloes (14-4, 3-2) also were without guard/forward Tre'Shaun
Fletcher, who suffered a knee injury in the same game as Dinwiddie
and is expected to miss six to eight weeks.
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"We are extremely disappointed in the way we played,"
Colorado coach Tad Boyle said. "I was proud of our team for the
fight they showed. If we learned anything from tonight, it's
that this team is going to be OK. It's just that we weren't good
enough tonight."
Colorado trailed by seven at the half but pulled within 42-39 on two
free throws by Scott. The Bruins went on a 7-2 run to go up 49-41
with 12:35 left to play.
UCLA then used a cold stretch by the Buffaloes to pull away.
Colorado went without a field goal for about eight minutes, and the
Bruins extended their lead to 58-46 with Powell finishing a 9-1
burst with a dunk.
Scott finally broke the drought for Colorado on a dunk with 3:52
left. Booker followed with a 3-pointer, but it wasn't enough.
"I think overall we played hard," Scott said. "We just didn't do the
little things it took to be in the game. We didn't have people step
up and hit shots."
Booker, who scored 13 of his points in the first half, connected on
a 3-pointer and a jumper to pull Colorado to within 31-29 with 4:23
left in the opening half.
But the Bruins scored the final five points of the half, getting a
3-pointer from guard Zach LaVine and a jumper from Adams to go up
36-29.
The seven-point advantage at halftime matched the Bruins' biggest
lead of the game to that point.
NOTES: The Bruins are 3-2 away from Pauley Pavilion this season. ...
UCLA G Norman Powell played in more games (85) than any other
current player on the team. ... Colorado G Askia Booker scored in
double figures for the 50th time in his career and 14th time this
season. ... Colorado was ranked in the Associated Press poll for a
sixth consecutive week, its longest stretch since an eight-week run
in 1997. ... The Buffaloes are 2-3 against ranked opponents. ...
UCLA improved to 26-19 against ranked opponents the past seven
seasons.
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