UCLA Basketball: Saint Francis Coach Applauds Bruins' High-Octane Offense

The UCLA Bruins men's basketball team opened their season up with an impressive victory over Saint Francis by a score of 75-44. It wasn't a perfectly executed game for the Bruins, but one that left an impression.

Saint Francis head coach Rob Krimmel appreciated the experience to play against the Bruins, and applauded their high-powered offensive attack in the process.

“So there are two things we're really trying to concentrate on going into the game: rebounding and turnovers. We wanted to limit them to one shot and taking care of the basketball. I thought we did one of those two things pretty well. We got a margin. I think they got us by two. That's a big, physical basketball team. Offensively, even though we didn't execute, UCLA is fantastic. They make you uncomfortable offensively, I think they ended up with 28 points off turnovers. So against a very talented, well-coached team, you can't put yourself in a 23-point hole in the turnover battle, so I thought our guys competed. I’m thinking at the 16-minute mark in the second half, there was a 16-point deficit. We are trying to get our team to understand that if we make the two free throws it is a 14-point deficit. They come down and I think they hit their two free throws, and then two or three possessions snowballs into, you know, a 20-point game and then we're back on our heels. But it’s learning moments for our guys."

Per Rob Krimmel via UCLABruins.com

The Bruins attacked Saint Francis all over in the game, and they blew the game open in the second half. They led by just 10 at halftime but jumped out early to put their opponents away.

Games like this are great for both sides. UCLA gets an easier win to open their year, and a team like Saint Francis gets the opportunity to play alongside one of the premier programs in the sport.

“I'm certainly grateful for the opportunity to come out here and compete against the most storied programs in college basketball history. I appreciate his (Coach Cronin’s) willingness to let us come out to the West Coast to compete with those guys and help us grow the basketball team.”

Per Rob Krimmel via UCLABruins.com

The Bruins will need to make sure they are better in their passing game moving forward, but other than that, they played a strong game. With all of the young talent on the roster, UCLA may take a few games to really work out any kinks they have.

It was a solid way to open the new year, and the Bruins can take this game to learn from it. They have big goals this season and will need to make sure that they don't take things for granted as the year goes on.

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