UCLA Rallies Past Michigan St., 68-63

By KS Wong
Bruin Basketball Report

Box Score

Luc Richard Mbah a Moute hit a three-point shot from the corner with 31 seconds remaining in the game to cap off a furious second-half rally as UCLA edged Michigan St., 68-63, in the finals of the CBE Classic.

Up to that basket, UCLA had not held the lead at any time during the game.

After this hard fought contest, there should absolutely be no question that Kevin Love is the real deal. The freshman from Lake Oswego scored 21 points and grabbed 11 rebounds while single-handedly keeping his team in the game. And he did it against a rotation of four Spartans who pounded him all night while expending 14 personal fouls on him.

Love kept his cool and let his game do the talking, hitting 9-12 from the line. Of his 11 rebounds, 8 were on the offensive boards as he battled and hit back.

"That's an everyday thing for me," said Love. "If we're going to be a great team, we're all going to have bang down low."

UCLA got a little bit of their own medicine in the first half when the Spartans came out more physical and took it right at them. Michigan State went into halftime with a 36-25 lead.

But the Bruins came out in the second-half with an intensity that finally matched the tempo of the game and started cutting into the lead. UCLA cut the margin to just four points on a lay-up by Mbah a Moute with under ten minutes left in the game.

The Spartans fought back and and built the lead to 63-58 on a Drew Nieizel three-point shot with 2:18 left in the game. But Kevin Love wasn't about to let the Bruins falter as he followed up moments later with a post up three-point play to bring the Bruins back to within two points.

The UCLA trap, which was very effective in the second-half, netted another steal - this time by Alfred Aboya who went in for a lay-up and missed but Mbah a Moute was there for the follow-up slam to tie the game.

After a Drew Neitzel missed three-pointer and a UCLA time-out, the ball was inbounded and Mbah a Moute hit the big shot from the corner to win the game. Josh Shipp added two free-throws for the final margin.

UCLA Coach Ben Howland made big adjustments at halftime that led to the Bruin victory. First the Bruins started aggressively trapping the Spartan point guards along the sidelines which resulted in key turnover points.

On offense, Howland took advantage of Love's size and passing skills by moving him to the high post while positioning Josh Shipp down low to post up against the smaller Spartan guards. Shipp scored 14 of his 18 points in the second-half.

Point-guard Russell Westbrook had a gutty performance playing the entire 40 minutes in the game. He added 13 points and 6 rebounds but it was his defense and two late game steals which were key for the Bruins.

"I'm really proud of our toughness mentally," Howland said. "The one thing about our team is they never give up. They never give up, ever and that's a sign of mentally-tough kids."

With the victory over Michigan St., the Bruins claimed the CBE Classic championship trophy.

The Bruins head back to Westwood for a quick Thanksgiving rest and then suit up again on Friday night to face Yale at Pauley Pavilion.

(photo credit: AP)