WIN OVER MICHIGAN PROVES A SLAM DUNK UCLA (11-0) OFF TO BEST START IN 4 YEARS UCLA 92, MICH. 55.Byline: JILL PAINTER Staff Writer UCLA's men's basketball team gave fans an early Christmas gift Saturday, and it had everything but a big red bow on it. It was an old-fashioned whooping whoop n. 1. a. A loud cry of exultation or excitement. b. A shout uttered by a hunter or warrior. 2. A hooting cry, as of a bird. 3. The paroxysmal gasp characteristic of whooping cough. of Michigan. The top-ranked Bruins delivered a 92-55 victory Saturday in front of a sellout crowd of 11,876, the largest of the season at Pauley Pavilion Edwin W. Pauley Pavilion, informally and commonly known as Pauley Pavilion, is an indoor arena located on the campus of UCLA in Los Angeles, California. It is home to the UCLA Bruins men's and women's basketball teams. The men's and women's volleyball teams also play here. . 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 (11-0) showed off a stellar defense, a transition offense that worked to perfection Adv. 1. to perfection - in every detail; "the new house suited them to a T" just right, to a T, to the letter and the ability to sink shots from everywhere on the floor -- even at the free-throw line free-throw line n. See foul line. . Suddenly, that No. 1 ranking seems just about right. ``I think we were really good today,'' 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. said. ``I think we'd beat most teams in the country (Saturday).'' The 37-point margin of victory was the largest in the Howland era. It was UCLA's largest margin of victory since a 105-67 win over Portland in 2002, Steve Lavin's final season as coach. ``Maybe people will give us a little bit more respect,'' said Luc Mbah a Moute, who had 13 points and sevensteals. ``It makes the bull's-eye bigger and bigger.'' 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. had a game-high 18points on 7-for-10 shooting, 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 added 17 and 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. had 15 points and eightassists. UCLA has been criticized for playing a home schedule with lightweights, and even though the Wolverines were unranked, they figured to give the Bruins a better test than Sam Houston State or Oakland -- or so people thought. The key was UCLA's double team on 6-foot-10 center Courtney Sims. Sims was held to two shots and twopoints in the first half and finished with 13 points. UCLA beat Michigan in Ann Arbor with the same game plan last year. ``I was surprised because we did it last year,'' Mbah a Moute said. ``I felt they would be ready for it.'' The real question is: Could anybody have been ready for this type of performance from the recently slow-starting Bruins? UCLA started the game with an 8-0 run and never looked back. ``Today it seemed like the bottom fell out, in terms of our defense,'' Michigan coach Tommy Amaker said. ``Obviously, they had a lot to do with that.'' Michigan had 15 of its 23 turnovers in the first half. UCLA had 12 steals and held the Wolverines to 1-of-10 from 3-point range. UCLA made 58 percent of its shots, including a season-best 55 percent from 3-point range. The Bruins, who are one of the worst free-throw shooting teams in the country, even made 78.9percent of their foul shots. Collison pressured Michigan's guards and, because of Sims' ineffectiveness, Michigan looked lost. ``To beat us, you know you have to do it for 40 minutes,'' Afflalo said. Michigan couldn't even do it for 20. When Howland is asked if he thinks UCLA is truly the No. 1 team, he has a conditioned response conditioned response n. Abbr. CR A new or modified response elicited by a stimulus after conditioning. Also called conditioned reflex. , the one about how it will all be decided in April anyway. If UCLA players have that No. 1 mentality, they're not saying so. At least for now, they have every reason to feel that way. ``We never feel like we're No. 1,'' Collison said. ``We are so competitive and feel like there's so much more to improve on that we have to go out and prove we can win games.'' They can start that when Pac-10 play opens Thursday. jill.painter@dailynews.com (818) 713-3615 CAPTION(S): photo Photo: Josh Shipp led UCLA with 18 points and made 7 of 10 shots in the Bruins' rout over Michigan on Saturday. Tom Mendoza/Staff Photographer |
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