With the Bruins floundering midway through the second half against Long Beach State, Dijon Thompson did something he might not have a year ago.
He took over.
Demanding the ball on almost every possession, the senior forward sparked a late UCLA charge leading the Bruins past Long Beach State 75-62 Tuesday night at Pauley Pavilion.
“It wasn’t a decision on our part to get him the ball,” freshman guard Arron Afflalo said. “He’s a senior. He’s our leader. He took it upon himself to demand the ball.”
The wrap on Thompson has always been that he is too passive at crucial points in the game, but Tuesday night the Redondo Beach native showed that he can be assertive if he needs to be. Using every inch of his 6-foot-9, 209-pound frame, Thompson repeatedly positioned himself on the low block, utilizing an array of post moves to stave off the scrappy 49ers (1-3). Thompson scored a team-high 25 points, one short of his career high, and made 11 of 12 free throws ensuring that the Bruins (4-0) preserved their unblemished record heading into the toughest stretch of their non-conference schedule.
“He’s the senior and he has the experience,” freshman point guard Jordan Farmar said. “When he’s got that look in his eye, I’m going to give the ball to him.”
The Bruins desperately needed Thompson to step up after frittering away all of a 15-point halftime lead. UCLA seemed to come unglued early in the second half, turning the ball over and surrendering offensive rebounds at an alarming rate.
Utilizing a frenetic man-to-man defense, Long Beach State forced 18 UCLA turnovers and out-rebounded the Bruins 32-26.
“We are a very young team,” UCLA coach Ben Howland said. “We got sped up, made some errors, and turned the ball over a few too many times.”
Long Beach State actually took a 51-48 lead midway through the second half, and appeared to be on its way to pulling the upset. But just when it seemed that the Bruins might not be able to regain any sort of rhythm on offense, Thompson wrested control of the game away from the 49ers.
Playing at the power forward position in a three-guard lineup, Thompson scored a bucket down low to break a tie at 51. Moments later he converted another basket in the paint, and drained a pair of free throws that gave UCLA the lead for good.
Eight of Thompson’s points came during an 18-3 Bruin run that left UCLA with a 73-58 lead with just over three minutes left in the game.
“He did a good job of getting to the line,” Howland said. “When we played small, he got some very easy looks.”
Thompson had some help from his teammates, particularly Afflalo, who scored a career-high 21 points on 7-for-7 shooting. The Bruins got to the foul line 31 times, converting 25 of their attempts.
Howland said UCLA did a much better job of defending off the dribble, limiting the number of easy shots that the 49ers were able to convert. Long Beach State often took contested 3-pointers, going 1-for-17 from behind the arc.
Afflalo and Thompson combined for five of UCLA’s seven steals as the Bruins forced 19 turnovers on the night.
“We did a much better job on our perimeter defense,” Howland said.
Now that the soft portion of their non-conference schedule is out of the way, the Bruins have to raise their level of play another notch. And teammates are looking to Thompson to lead them.
“He has no choice,” Afflalo said. “He’s going to lead us in scoring and rebounding most nights. He has to be a leader. I have no problem saying that because I know he agrees with me.”