Three mined Bryce; Three NINED Bryce; See how they fall; See how we ball — Bryce Alford hits NINE of UCLA’s all-time high NINETEEN Three-pointers on his way to 37 Points, as the Bruins make Colorado look like “THREE stooges,” carving out a 104-89 victory. Have you ever seen such a sight in your life?
I read before the game that Bryce Alford, in his three years as a Bruin, has struggled brutally in his previous trips to Colorado and Utah, shooting a combined miserable 2-for-37 from the floor. That worried me, because Colorado is a tough place to play, with a good crowd, high altitude, and thin air. Also, the Buffaloes were hungry, going o-3 so far in Conference play, but having beaten a ranked Xavier team in Boulder earlier in the year. The Bruins would NEED an effective Bryce Alford in order to win, especially considering that Thomas Welsh was in a tiny slump, Aaron Holiday was in a medium-sized slump, and Isaac Hamilton was in a humungous slump, especially with his perimeter shooting.
All of that worry was for naught, as Bryce Alford tied the school record for 3-pointers by sinking 9 of them (on 14 attempts). He had done this once before, as has Jason Kapono. Bryce went on to score a career-high 37 Points, as UCLA pulled away from the Buffs in the second half to win easily, 104-89.
The first half was hard-fought, with Colorado hanging tough despite the Bruins scoring 51. It was only a 6-point lead at the break. A big part of that small margin was foul trouble for T.J. Leaf, UCLA’s leading scorer and rebounder, who ended the game with only 12 Points and 5 Boards. And Thomas Welsh continues to lack the sharp shooting touch that he had for the first two months of the season, as he went only 2-for-7 from the field, on shots that he was making with ease earlier in the year.
But the lack of production from the big men was not a problem for the Bruins. Aaron Holiday came off the bench on fire, scoring 10 early points, including 2 buckets from Downtown. And Isaac Hamilton, who scored 15 in the previous game but went only 1-7 from behind the arc, also seemed to put his slump behind him. Isaac scored 20, including FOUR treys.
So with his 4, Aaron’s 2, Leaf’s 2, Lonzo Ball’s 2, and Bryce’s 9, the Bruins set their all-time high for Three’s, with 19 (out of 31). They hit 18 on Opening night against Pacific, but last night was way more impressive, doing it against a well-coached, solid Pac-12 team, on the road in high altitude.
The Bruins came out for the second half and methodically built up the lead, behind Ball’s orchestration and Alford’s uncanny hotness. Bryce hit 7 Three’s after intermission. The Bruins opened up the lead to 21 pretty quickly. The Buffs didn’t quit, chiseling it back down to 13, but with Bryce’s bombs landing, there was no way for Colorado to get all the way back in the game.
The Bruins face Utah next, and that game may be tougher, considering the Utes throttled u$c by 22 last night. But if Hamilton and Holiday are “back,” then the Bruins should be just fine against Utah, partially because, apparently, beating sc is no big deal this year.
Speaking of big deals, here are 71 more photos of the UCLA Dance Team, taken at the WMU game just before Christmas. Merry viewing.
