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UCLA finally knows who it will face in the Final Four in Phoenix this week.
A day after taking down No. 3 seed Duke in the Elite Eight, the Bruins learned on Monday they will face fellow No. 1 seed Texas on Friday, the only team to beat them all season.
Texas (35-3) defeated UCLA 76-65 on Nov. 26, when Rori Harmon put up a game-high 26 points on 9-of-15 shooting from the floor.
Since their Final Four debut ended with a 34-point loss to UConn last season, the Bruins have been on a mission to prove themselves. They faced their first adversity of the tournament during Sunday’s win over Duke when they trailed at the half, and now they’ll get a true test against the Longhorns.
Here are five concerns UCLA needs to address in order to reach the NCAA national championship game.
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UCLA has yet to play 40 strong minutes
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Several players have cited playing a full four quarters as the biggest area UCLA must address.
The Bruins have had a bad quarter or half during all four of their NCAA tournament games. During their opener against California Baptist, the Bruins led by just 10 at the half. UCLA lost the third quarter Oklahoma State, the second quarter against Minnesota and the first half half against Duke.
“We need to put 40 minutes together,” UCLA guard Kiki Rice said. “I think we’re still continuing to get better in that… It’s not about whether shots go in. It’s about how we’re consistently playing and on the defensive end.”
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The Bruins’ offense can become one-dimensional
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UCLA has now survived two games when it didn’t shoot well from long range. The Bruins can get away with that when Lauren Betts and Angela Dugalic are playing well in the paint, but the deeper into the tournament they go, the more the offense will need to have multiple dimensions.
“We try to put ourselves in situations every day in practice where we’re facing adversity, where we’re being pushed to our edge, and that’s where you’re forced to grow and feel forced to make decisions,” UCLA guard Charlisse Leger-Walker said. “It shows you who you really are as competitors, and I think we’ve learned how [to adapt.]”
One of the biggest strengths of UCLA’s starting lineup is how, on paper, it can score in different ways. But the Bruins have shot 29% from three-point range during four NCAA tournament games.
Overall, though, they’ve shot 51.2% from the field. The majority of that scoring has come in the paint, where UCLA has outscored each team it has faced in the tournament.
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About that previous loss to Texas …
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A much different Bruins squad lost to the Longhorns in November. Sienna Betts had yet to debut as one of UCLA’s key bench pieces and Lauren Betts was limited with a left arm injury.
“I’ve learned a lot [about] the poise we’ve had since [that game,]” UCLA guard Gianna Kneepkens said. “I feel like in these moments, like being down at halftime, we just stayed so steady and consistent. And I think that has to do with our experience.”
Madison Booker and Harmon form one of the toughest backcourts in the nation. Booker is a mismatch against anyone she faces, as a 6-foot-1 forward who can shoot and play physically.
But the Longhorns rank last in the nation in three-point rate at 18.8%. They can hit three-pointers when they’re open, delivering a 34.5% shooting percentage from range — which is actually in the top 50 in the country — but they just don’t shoot that many. Jordan Lee is the only Texas player who shoots more than one three-pointer per game and makes at least 33% of them at 35.9%.
Center Breya Cunningham shots 58.7% from the floor, all coming in the paint. She will be Betts’ toughest matchup of the season.
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Texas’ two strong centers will challenge UCLA’s offense
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It always starts on the defense for Texas coach Vic Schaefer. The Longhorns rank 14th in the nation with just 56.3 points allowed per game while competing in a conference that includes high-scoring teams LSU and South Carolina.
Kyla Oldacre (6-foot-6) and Cunningham (6-foot-4) might be the only duo in the nation who can be a matchup problem for the Bruins, on offense and defense. Against Duke, the Bruins struggled with Duke center Toby Fournier early, but she got in foul trouble in the third quarter and UCLA eliminated that matchup issue.
“You’re going to need to withstand runs, and you’re gonna need to figure that kind of stuff out.” Rice said. “I think it spoke a lot to the competitive maturity of this group that we did that [against Duke.]”
The Longhorns also force an average of 22 turnovers per game.
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The Bruins have to take better care of the basketball
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UCLA turned the ball over 18 times in the win over Duke, tied for its most in a game this season. Just six of those came in the second half and the Bruins took better care of the ball while running their offense more efficiently, but sloppy play and frustration has flared up despite the Bruins’ veteran leadership.
“Instead of focusing on the events, which are usually out of your control, we have to look at the response,” UCLA coach Cori Close said. “It could be a bad shot. It could be a lack of rhythm. It could be your nerves. Instead of focusing on the events, focus on the response. We want to strengthen our [response] to be stronger than any [event] we’re going to have to face. And I actually think the first half is going to be really valuable to us in having us strengthen our [response.]”
Texas isn’t going to deliver many three-point blows, but the Longhorns can take the ball away and chip away with fast break points in the paint.
The Bruins will need to play under a lot more control than they showed at times earlier in the NCAA tournament.
The post Five concerns UCLA must address before facing Texas in the Final Four appeared first on Los Angeles Times.
