BRUINS NOT PRETTY, STILL UNBEATEN POOR FREE-THROW SHOOTING, REBOUNDING MAR VICTORY UCLA 65, TEXAS A&M 62.Byline: BRIAN DOHN Staff Writer ANAHEIM -- Arron Afflalo Arron Agustin Afflalo (born October 15, 1985) is an American professional basketball player, currently with the Detroit Pistons. He recently completed a three-year career at University of California, Los Angeles in the Pacific Ten Conference of the NCAA as the starting shooting apologized publicly for not grabbing any rebounds, and Luc Richard Mbah a Moute Luc Richard Mbah a Moute (born 9 September 1986 in Yaounde, Cameroon) is a 6' 8" Cameroonian basketball player who plays for the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) Bruins in the Pacific Ten Conference of the NCAA. explained why he had his second straight four-point outing, as well as his season-low two rebounds. Several UCLA UCLA University of California at Los Angeles UCLA University Center for Learning Assistance (Illinois State University) UCLA University of Carrollton, TX and Lower Addison, TX players spoke about another horrid free-throw shooting performance, not to mention allowing Texas A&M to shoot better than 55 percent from the field in the second half. Yet, for all the problems in UCLA's execution, the top-ranked Bruins notched their biggest win of the season, beating the sixth-ranked Aggies 65-62 in front of a crowd of 15,811 Saturday in the Wooden Classic at Honda Center Current arenas in the National Hockey League Western Conference Eastern Conference American Airlines Center | General Motors Place | HP Pavilion | Honda Center | Jobing. . Although the Bruins (8-0) have played a collection of unattractive nonconference home games, they beat Kentucky, ranked No. 20 at the time, and No. 25 Georgia Tech en route to last month's Maui Invitational championship to gain national prominence. ``We're better than we were a year ago at this time,'' said UCLA coach Ben Howland Ben Howland (born May 28, 1957 in Lebanon, Oregon) is an American college head coach of men's basketball. He has been the head coach of the University of California, Los Angeles since 2003, and recently signed a contract extension through 2013. , whose Bruins lost in the national title game in April. ``We should be. We have a veteran group of guys coming back. That was our expectation going into the year, but we have a long, tough road.'' Texas A&M, which lost to No. 9 LSU LSU Louisiana State University LSU Large Subunit LSU La Salle University (Philadelphia, PA) LSU La Sierra University LSU Link State Update (OSPF) LSU Learning Support Unit on Tuesday, rallied from nine points down early in the second half to tie the score at 54-54 with 6:42 to play. The resilient Aggies (7-2) then nearly recovered from a five-point deficit in the final minute. But power forward Joseph Jones, a career 18.7 percent shooter from beyond the arc, hoisted a 3-pointer from the left corner with 22 seconds remaining and the Aggies trailing 63-60. ``I felt like I was open, and coach (Billy Gillispie For the Irish football (soccer) player, see . Billy Clyde Gillispie (born November 7, 1959, in Abilene, Texas[]) is the men's head basketball coach at the University of Kentucky. ) says when you're open, shoot the shot,'' Jones said. ``So I shot the shot.'' Jones, who is 3 of 10 from 3-point range this season, missed. He finished with 11points and 13 rebounds. coach found no fault with Jones' shot selection either, especially since guard Acie Law, who scored a game- high 21 points, was facing heavy defensive pressure. ``Perfect shot,'' Gillispie said. ``We came here to win it. We didn't come here to play conservative. He's been shooting the ball extremely well. A shot is a good shot when you shoot the ball, not after it goes in or doesn't go in.'' The Bruins were 8 of 16 from the free-throw line free-throw line n. See foul line. and were outrebounded 34-23 by an aggressive, physical Aggies front line that limited Mbah a Moute to well below his season averages of 11.7 points and 8.1 rebounds. That was offset by Texas A&M's season-high 20 turnovers, several of which occurred in the absence of defensive pressure and dulled the shine of a strong second-half shooting performance. ``They're very physical, and they blocked me out,'' Mbah a Moute said. ``I was trying to go inside, and they had two people blocking me out on the offensive board, and on defense I was trying to keep an eye on to watch. - Shak. See also: Eye the basket. That's what happens when you have two physical teams.'' Josh Shipp Josh Shipp (born 23 January in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma) is an American motivational speaker and author focusing on youth and college-aged audiences. He is noted as being one of the youngest speakers ever accepted into the National Speakers Association. led UCLA with 18 points, but Collison (15points) and Afflalo (13points) were the central figures in the final minutes. Afflalo's spin move in the lane gave the Bruins a 61-56 lead with 3:28 to play. He also played strong defense on Law, who worked hard just to get the ball in the final minutes. Collison gave the Bruins a 63-56 lead with a jump-stop and lean basket with 1:33 to play but committed a crucial turnover when he stepped on the side line with 36.6 seconds left and the Bruins ahead by three. The Aggies scrambled but could not get the ball to Law in scoring position In the sport of baseball, a baserunner is said to be in scoring position when he is on second or third base. The distinction between being on first base and second or third base is that a runner on first can usually only score if the batter hits an extra base hit, while a runner on and settled for Jones' trey attempt. Collison then made two free throws to give UCLA a 65-60 lead. ``Down the stretch, the last three or four minutes, (Afflalo) really fought hard,'' Howland said. ``Law, as I remember, didn't make a lot of plays in the last three or four minutes of the game.'' brian.dohn@dailynews.com (818) 713-3607 CAPTION(S): 2 photos Photo: (1 -- color) UCLA's Ryan Wright, left, and Alfred Aboya put pressure on Texas A&M's Joseph Jones. (2) UCLA's Darren Collison Darren Michael Collison (born August 23, 1987) is an American basketball player. The right-hander is a native of Rancho Cucamonga, California, and is currently playing his sophomore season for the University of California, Los Angeles. , left, celebrates after hitting a buzzer-beating 3-pointer. Kevork Djansezian/Associated Press |
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