LAS VEGAS -- So I was sitting here inside T-Mobile Arena watching UCLA run away from another opponent en route to recording its 10th double-digit victory in 12 games, and I started looking at the schedule, and here's what I can't figure out: I can't figure out when these Bruins are going to lose.
Oh, to be clear, they'll lose at some point.
(I think.)
But they're so talented at all five positions, so skilled and overwhelming offensively, that there aren't many teams left on their schedule that seem capable of scoring with them for 40 minutes. Some might score with them for 20 minutes -- like Michigan did last week, and like Ohio State did here Saturday in the opening game of the CBS Sports Classic. But after a while, you stop scoring and they don't. That's the long and short of it. For proof, consider that UCLA turned a 50-50 halftime score into a 102-84 victory over Michigan last weekend, and a 40-37 halftime score into an 86-73 win over Ohio State this weekend.
"They shot 48 percent," Ohio State's Marc Loving said afterward. "It's hard to beat a team shooting that well."
Exactly!
And you tell me which of the following facts is more impressive:
A) UCLA shot 48.4 percent against OSU's top-30 defense?
Or ...
B) UCLA usually shoots much better than that?
"The hard thing is [they] just keep coming," said Ohio State coach Thad Matta. "When I started watching them last week, I was a little bit taken aback. ... And first and foremost, it's the balance. Because you look throughout the course of this game, and there were several times where different guys kind of went on a run, and that's a great thing to have. You don't know who it is [going to be]. But you know it's coming."
Yeah, that's the point I was trying to make.
It might be Bryce Alford or Aaron Holiday, both of whom scored 20 against Ohio State. Or it could be TJ Leaf, who finished with 13 points and eight rebounds. Or it could be Isaac Hamilton, who had 17 points despite missing four of the five 3-pointers he attempted. Or it could be Lonzo Ball, the fabulous freshman who flirted with a triple-double and finished with eight points, nine assists and nine rebounds.
Like Matta said, you don't know where it's coming from.
But you know it's coming.
And it could come from inside or outside the arc.
UCLA was, Saturday morning, leading the nation in 2-point percentage and 3-point percentage. The Bruins aren't doing that anymore because they missed 21 of 31 3-pointers vs. OSU, which dropped their 3-point percentage to 43.9.
That's unfortunate. But it's still 43.9!
So now the Bruins are first in 2-point percentage (62.8) and third in 3-point percentage (43.9) with a real chance to finish first in both. And if you're wondering the last time a college team led in each of those categories, the answer seems to be ... never. Samford was second in 2-point percentage and first in 3-point percentage in 2005. But I can't find any evidence than any team has ever led in both.
"We dictate our pace and just wear people down," explained Bryce Alford. "Teams can have a good game plan against us. But our top seven or eight guys are all high-basketball-IQ guys, extremely smart guys. So we're going to figure out what they're taking away and then figure out a way to get around it."
Which brings me back to my initial question.
When are these Bruins going to lose?
It seems clear, at this point, that you're going to have to score big to beat them, and most college teams can't trade buckets with UCLA for 40 minutes. Maybe for 20. Maybe even for 30. But, again, at some point, you stop scoring and they don't.
And then there's the schedule.
As a result of how the season around them has unfolded, the Bruins have zero games remaining against current top-20 KenPom teams, meaning they'll rarely, if ever, be an underdog. Obviously, multiple road games could present real challenges -- most notably at Oregon (Dec. 28), at USC (Jan. 25) and at Arizona (Feb. 25). But you can book this: UCLA, barring serious injury problems, isn't going to lose often. And considering the Bruins already have a road victory against the projected SEC champion (Kentucky) and two double-digit victories against solid Big Ten teams (Michigan, Ohio State), penciling them in as the No. 1 seed in the West Regional of the NCAA Tournament isn't an unreasonable thing to go ahead and do.
Bottom line, Steve Alford has a legit national-title contender.
There was nothing fluky about the win at Rupp Arena.
There's nothing fluky about this hot start.
UCLA is among the small handful of teams built to cut nets in April. That doesn't mean the Bruins will do it, of course. But they absolutely can. And they showed why again here Saturday when they ran away in the second half from a solid Ohio State team while not even really playing all that well.