The UCLA Bruins almost had a major stumble in their last game, coming away with a narrow win over UC Riverside by a score of 66-65. It was the type of game that could have been very demoralizing if UCLA had dropped it, but they found a way to pull it out.
But the Bruins know that they can't continue to perform in this manner. They have high expectations for themselves, and this wasn't a good outing for the team.
Guard Will McClendon spoke on the game and gave credit to UC Riverside for their strong performance against the Bruins.
“I mean, credit to them,” Bruins guard Will McClendon said. “They did a great job of making us pay when we overhelped. It felt like they didn’t miss a shot.”
Associate head coach Darren Savino also praised UC Riverside, saying that they had the Bruins scrambling all game.
“They had us running around, scrambling, really difficult to guard. … We just lost guys (defensively). We overhelped and we stressed about being in gaps when someone gets isolated. But you can’t lunge and try to steal the ball and get nothing and leave a guy wide open for a three. And we just continued to do it.”
UC Riverside took it to UCLA and almost came out with a massive win on the road. These are the types of games that the Bruins will need to focus on going forward because they can't afford any major slip-ups.
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