UCLA Basketball: 3 takeaways from triple-overtime victory over Pepperdine

3. If UCLA hopes to win, their path to success will begin from inside – where they dominated in rebounding and points-in-the-paint

One area that Cronin’s squad deserves credit in is their rebounding.  Currently playing without Jalen Hill – their leading rebounder last season at 6.9 boards a game – left the Bruins in a tight spot against the Aztecs, who outrebounded UCLA, 34-28.

Despite missing the 6-10 Hill – the tallest player on the UCLA roster – the Bruins had little to no issue inside against the Waves.  In fact, the inside game was critical for UCLA tonight and was instrumental in their path to victory.

The Bruins dominated on the boards, tallying 54 caroms to Pepperdine’s 43.  Smith – a 6-9 guard – and Jaquez, Jr. – a 6-6 guard – shared the responsibility in filling Hill’s absence, collecting 12 and 11 rebounds each, respectively.  They were not alone, either, with David Singleton recording seven, and Campbell and Bernard contributing six each.

Both teams were nearly even on defensive boards, with UCLA just barely leading, 38-36.  They feasted on the offensive boards, however, pulling down 16.  For UCLA fans, that is a hopeful mark that resembles what last year’s average of 11.94 offensive rebounds – the 37th-best mark nationally – looked like.  Likewise, that is 11 more offensive rebounds that UCLA registered against San Diego State.

This was one of the best rebounding teams in the Pac-12 last season, ranking fourth (36.6) in rebounds per game and first in offensive rebounding.  Obviously, tonight’s stats are a bit inflated given it went to triple overtime – but, if anything, these stats reflect the UCLA team of late last season – and not the one that struggled early on.

And, even without Hill, the Bruins had no issue dominating inside.  Where Pepperdine maintained a lead in transition on fast-break points (12-7), UCLA held a slight edge in second-chance points (16-14) and a significant advantage in points in the paint (40-32).

Those marks will get even better when Hill returns.  But, with Hill out for now, building on the success inside is the first step for UCLA to return to their winning ways.  They have not been a fantastic outside shooting team (a 229th-best 32.3% last season, and a 29.4% mark tonight on 10-34 shooting), meaning they need the inside game in order to be successful – and in order to win.

There is a lot for UCLA to be hopeful about – but there is also a lot of issues that need to be remedied.  They will have a few days to prepare before Monday’s tilt against Long Beach State – and they will need to address those problems in order to avoid a repeat of last season’s atrocious start.