In its last two games, UCLA scored a total of 199 points.
“They’re a very high-powered offensive team,” Ohio State head coach Thad Matta said of the Bruins on Wednesday.
Only "high-powered” might be selling it a bit short; dominant would be a better word.
Matta and his Buckeyes meet No. 2-ranked UCLA on Saturday afternoon in Las Vegas as part of the CBS Sports Classic. Ohio State is well-aware of the challenge that awaits.
“They are a team where you can’t take plays off,” junior forward Jae’Sean Tate said. “They score the ball at a tremendous rate. Defense is going to key so we’re trying to hone in our defense.”
It truly is a contrast in styles.
The Bruins have the nation’s No. 3-ranked offense efficiency rating, according to KenPom.com, scoring 121.3 points per 100 possessions. They have an effective field goal percentage of 65 percent and shoot it at a 47.1 percent clip from behind the 3-point line as a team — No. 1 in all of college basketball.
UCLA has four players who average at least 15 points per game and six who average in double figures. Isaac Hamilton is the team’s leading scorer at 17.7 points per game while TJ Leaf (17.6 ppg.), Bryce Alford (15.6 ppg.) Lonzo Ball (15.0 ppg.), Aaron Holiday (13.3 ppg.) and Thomas Welsh (11.1 ppg.) all do plenty of work, as well.
“When shots are going in, it’s not just one guy, it’s not two guys, it’s like four guys and sometimes it’s like five guys who can really, really stretch a defense,” Matta said. “They’re very sound and they’ve got their transition job where they do a great job executing.
“Our defense is definitely going to be tested.”
And so far, Ohio State’s defense has been what has anchored it through the first 10 games of the season. The Buckeyes allow just 61.7 points per game and their 93.4 points per 100 possessions has them ranked No. 24 in the country in defensive efficiency.
“We know they like to get out in transition. Yesterday in practice we worked on having to get back, having two people back, just because of the way they like to outlet the ball on a rebound or a miss,” Tate said. “We’re just going to play Buckeye defense the way we’ve been playing it.”
It’s unknown if that will even be enough. No team so far has been able to slow down UCLA as it has opened the season with 10-straight wins.
Ohio State knows the Bruins are going to make shots and score points. If the Buckeyes don’t fall into the trap of trying to play UCLA’s style, however, they think they have a good shot to pull off the upset.
“They score the ball at a great rate. They’re going to go on runs. Crazy shots will fall. That’s just what they do,” Tate said. “We’ve just got to make sure we don’t spread apart when that happens and just come closer together as a team.”
