UCLA Basketball: 2019-20 keys for Bruins to beat Notre Dame Fighting Irish

UCLA Basketball takes on the Notre Dame Fighting Irish in one of their last games before Pac-12 play. What do they need to do to win this game?

UCLA Basketball has not been spectacular in Mick Cronin’s first season at the helm, but a loss to Notre Dame would virtually eliminate them from any NCAA Tournament chances they may still have. Let’s take a look at what they must do today to walk away with a victory.

Force Temple Gibbs to beat you

Temple Gibbs may be a solid shooter, but he is one of the less efficient players for the Irish. While Gibbs has the ability to put up a lot of points, this is usually a matter of volume shooting rather than efficiency. If the forwards do their job, making life tough on John Mooney, and the wings can stop Goodwin, Mick Cronin will be happy with Gibbs taking additional shots.

Prevent the Irish from getting to the rim

One thing has become quite clear this season, the Fighting Irish are not particularly good at shooting, especially from deep. Outside of Temple Gibbs and Dane Goodwin, no players are shooting better than 35%. There will be a lot of pressure on Cody Riley and Jalen Hill to deny shots in the paint, forcing Notre Dame to pull up. If the Bruins can do this, they will make life easier on themselves.

Dominate the offensive paint

Speaking of Riley and Hill, they will have to continue being UCLA’s top scorers if the Bruins want to come out of this one with a win. Notre Dame is solid in the paint defensively, but UCLA’s shooting is not good enough to win games. There will likely be a lot of missed jumpers, and the forwards will need to pull in the offensive boards to create additional opportunities.

Basically, all three keys boil down to winning the battle of Riley and Hill against Mooney, Juwan Durham and Nate Laszewski. Whoever wins this battle will likely walk away with another win.