College Basketball Power 10: Time To Give Gonzaga Some Love
By Jeremy Karll
5. UCLA (16-1)
Conference play has started and UCLA is playing in closer and lower-scoring games. UCLA bounced back from their only loss of the season to beat Oregon State, California and Stanford each by double-digits.
Although, their offense has still be shaky in that span. They might have shaken off the cobwebs against Stanford last week when they shot 50 percent from the field and made 11-of-20 threes in their 89-75 win, but that’s the closest UCLA has looked to UCLA in a while.
They shot below 45 percent from the field and 40 percent from three against both Oregon State and California. Plus, Oregon State held them in the 70s for just the second time this season.
They still won easily, although UCLA is not a good enough defensive team to struggled offensively against great teams.
UCLA has a ton of talent and can score 100 points on any given night. They’re easily the most talented offensive team in the nation this season, but they’re not the same team when their outside shot isn’t falling.
It might just be a rough patch in a still very good season for UCLA, but it’s almost time to wonder if they’ll return to when they scored 97 points against Kentucky and 102 points against Michigan and UC Santa Barbara in back-to-back games.
UCLA travels to Colorado and Utah this week.