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Mr. Smith Goes to Washington...but Mr. Ross Gets Elected.
UW 71 – UCLA 69
UW’s comeback victory over the pre-season Pac-12 favorite Bruins was as sloppy as spaghetti and meat balls served as finger food for a five-year-old. That said, in the end, in spite of the mess, it was realized that a satisfying meal had still been served.
We saw how UCLA had been so highly ranked, before they even played a game, only to stumble badly out of the gate. What followed was a team that rebounded to achieve a 10-4 record after the whole Reeves Nelson fiasco. This wasn’t to be such an easy game as one might have been predicted weeks ago. Things had changed. UCLA had found its way out of the wilderness to become at least a decent team within the Pac12.
For the Bruins, the focus early on was to feed the beast -- get the ball down low to Josh Smith -- who used his considerable bulk to bully his way to the basket time and time again. Yes, as we all know, Josh has likely endured his share of fat jokes. In spite of him packing so much extra baggage, he really knows how to use it. If you allow him to get set down low with any part of his feet in the paint, it is game over. The Washington native finished with 24 points.
There wasn’t anyone on the UW roster who could effectively shut down Smith. Austin Seferian-Jenkins had his turn trying to slow down the powder blue beast, but was given limited minutes (5) because it simply was not a good match up. ASJ is himself a force to be reckoned with, but Josh has even more bulk to go with a much better set of basketball skills, and it showed. Thankfully, Shawn Kemp, Jr., was able to spell Aziz N’Diaye as well. He chipped in 10 minutes off the bench and played well, all things considered.
The game was played quite evenly in the first half, with UW up by 1, 35-34. Darnell Gant led the way with a solid performance, with 10 points off of 4 – 5 FGs.
Tony Wroten had a noticeable limp entering the game and didn’t appear to be at full speed. As the game wore on, the injury seemed to bother him more and more. Then one of the Wear twins landed on Wroten’s shin in the heat of battle, which slowed him up even more. After making such great strides in recent games, his focus really seemed to suffer, resulting in 5 turnovers -- being dinged up had a lot to do with this obviously. It wasn’t pretty. The guy has the heart of a lion, but he was a wounded warrior in this game. Abdul Gaddy had his problems handling the ball as well. He finished the night with 5 assists and 4 turnovers. As I mentioned earlier, this was a very sloppy contest.
Late in the second half, UCLA began to pull away, extending the lead to 10. There was a shift of strategy for the Bruins, who began to take 3 point shots and succeed. Late in the game, Wroten was too hobbled to be effective and sat on the bench. This is when Ross took over the game. He had the word “Pro” written all over him, as he led the way in a 15 to 2 stretch, regaining the lead and sealing the victory.
Had the game been won by the Bruins, Josh Smith would have had the headlines all to himself. This was not to be because Mr. Ross finished with a flurry. Of his 22 points, the most amazing ones were in the clutch, when the team was counting on him the most. Checking the polls, he delivered.
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