LOS ANGELES_As the game tightened, UCLA having yielded the seven-point lead over a matter of minutes, the Bruins did what Isaac Hamilton said would be required to win the Wooden Legacy.
They got nastier on defense.
It started with just under three minutes to play against Texas A&M on Sunday at the Honda Center, freshman forward T.J. Leaf's steal leading to a three-pointer by teammate Lonzo Ball that nudged the Bruins back in front by two points.
It continued with a Hamilton block that resulted in another UCLA three-pointer, by Bryce Alford. And it ended with Alford's steal that forced the Aggies to foul the senior guard and send him to the free-throw line, where he made both shots.
Three plays in a little more than two minutes, the Bruins going from unpleasant to nasty to vile on the defensive end to pull out a 74-67 victory in the championship game of the tournament bearing the name of their legendary former coach.
"What I learned is how our guys can figure it out and fight through it and when it gets down to it, that's a good trend," Coach Steve Alford said Tuesday. "We won the last five minutes and that's always good to see."
UCLA captured the final two games of the tournament with its lowest scoring totals of the season, showing it can prevail while playing a variety of styles.
The Bruins have mostly been hailed for a share-and-share-alike offense that entered the week leading the nation in field-goal accuracy (54.7 percent) and assists per game (24.1). They also ranked No. 3 in points per game (96.9), No. 4 in assist-turnover ratio (1.99) and had six players averaging double figures in scoring.
But they know there will be times this season when the shots aren't falling and they'll need to scrap for steals and blocks, as they did Sunday. Now they have a template for what that looks like.
"We locked down, got stops and scored on the other end, which kind of pushed them at a much faster pace," Hamilton said.
