Chapter 43: Victory and Promotion
The nine-game winning streak made the Bruins happy, and Paul Pearce's stunner also relieved Li Rui and head coach George, who cared about him, and they were afraid that Paul Pearce would not adapt to the college game and sink from then on.
Paul Pierce was back in shape after his game-defining shot, and he put up amazing numbers for the next three games for the Bruins.
In the first second-round game against the University of Arizona Wildcats, Paul Pierce played 30 minutes and scored 35 points and 6 rebounds, and Liu Han also set a new personal assist record in this game, scoring 20 assists, and the Bruins won 107-84.
In the second game against Arizona State University, Paul Pierce scored 30 points and 10 rebounds in 24 minutes, and Liu Han also got another double-double. The Bruins once again beat their opponents by 24 points.
In the third round against Arizona State University, Paul Pierce scored 35 points in 30 minutes of playing time, Liu Han also got a stable double-double, and the Bruins beat their opponents by 30 points.
Paul Pearce's 100-point performance in three games has the media exclaiming: UCLA has selected another future NBA No. 1 pick. Liu's performance also caught the attention of the media, but his more down-to-earth style of play kept him out of the spotlight, and while Liu Han can average more than 14 assists per game, most fans and media focus more on high-scoring players in college games.
The Bruins' 12-game winning streak would have almost guaranteed them a place in the NCAA round of 64, but head coach George Krent didn't intend to make the team any gains.
Liu Han received a gift carefully prepared by Safina at Christmas, although he still didn't know what Christmas was, Liu Han, who was reminded by Li Rui, also prepared a gift for Safina, he cut a pair of "double happiness" window flowers for Safina, which was Liu Han's grandmother taught Liu Han skills, when his grandmother was alive, he was a master of cutting window flowers in the village, and some people in the village would get married to Liu Han's grandmother to ask for a pair of "double happiness" window flowers, Liu Han learned it under his eyes, but he would only cut the "double happiness" window flowers.
When Safina unexpectedly opened the gift from Liu Han, she was stunned, she had never seen such a complex and beautiful pattern, under Li Rui's explanation, Safina knew the meaning of this window flower, she couldn't imagine how Liu Han's big hands used a small pair of scissors to make such a beautiful paper cut.
After Christmas, the Bruins continued their title defense. Liu Han began to explode after Christmas, as Safina told Liu Han that she wanted to see Liu Han score.
In the game against the University of Washington, Liu Han scored a staggering 45 points on 16-of-21 shooting, 8-of-9 from beyond the three-point line, and 5-of-5 from the free throw line, as well as nine assists, as the Bruins outscored their opponents by 29 points 110-81. Paul Pierce's form dropped in this game, and Paul only scored 21 points due to Liu Han's increased shots and fewer shots.
Liu Han scored more than 40 points again in the game against Washington State University, and all of Liu Han's shots in this game came from outside the three-point line, and his three-point shot of 14 out of 15 made UCLA supporters who came to watch the game cheer, and Safina almost hoarse her voice after the game. The Bruins scored a staggering 120 points in this game, which is rare in a college game with only forty minutes in the game. The Bruins' collective burst of hand made the opponent Washington State almost desperate, Paul Pierce scored 32 points on 14-of-24 shooting, and the Bruins scored six double-doubles, and finally the Bruins bloodied the opponent with a gap of 45 points.
Liu Han's performance of scoring more than 40 in two consecutive games has caused the media to pay attention to this yellow man, and they are amazed by Liu Han's amazing shooting rate. Bruins head coach George Krent was a little puzzled by Liu's sudden increase in his shots, because in George's opinion, Liu Han didn't seem to be a very eager player to score.
"Liu, I wonder why you added your shots in these two games?" Head coach George approached Liu Han after the game and asked.
"Uh, coach, because Safina said she likes to see me score." Liu Han scratched his head embarrassedly.
"Haha, okay, I understand, I used to be young, but I hope you will play more outside the three-point line in the next games, which will make the opponent more afraid of your three-point line in the future, and the rest of the team will be able to have enough space to break through." Coach George did not stop Liu Han's behavior, he felt that such Liu Han was like a young man.
In the next four games with the top 10 league teams, Liu Han averaged more than 35 points per game, almost all of which came from outside the three-point line, and the Bruins also won big in these four games, and Paul Pierce's performance became more and more stable, scoring 20 points and more than 5 rebounds per game.
The Bruins are in first place with 18 wins in their 10-school league games, and they have since invited a number of teams from other leagues to play.
In early January 1996, the UCLA Bruins invited the Atlantic Coast League's Wake Forest Devils Deacons to play a game that was played extremely hard.
The Vic Forest Devils Deacons beat the Bruins to the inside of the team, and their sophomore Tim Duncan showed amazing strength, solid footwork and fundamentals combined with good physical talent, Tim Duncan dominated the interior in the game, and he scored 24 points and 22 rebounds in this game.
Liu Han scored 36 points in this game, all three-pointers, and Paul Pierce was constrained by the opponent's defense and played erratically, scoring only 14 points. The whole game was not decided until the last second.
In the final minute of the game, the Vic Forest Devils Deacons still led the Bruins by four points at 87-83, and Liu Han staged a miraculous comeback in the last minute, he first steals the opponent's pass in the backcourt, then comes to the front court outside the three-point line and hits a life-saving shot, and then makes a foul to send Tim Duncan to the free throw line, who makes one of two free throws to leave the Bruins with one last offensive opportunity. In the last ball, Liu Han served on the sidelines first, which made the Vic Forest Devil Deacons who had been quite jealous of Liu Han's three points confused, Liu Han served and passed to Paul Pierce and then went directly to the bottom line, Paul Pierce received the ball and broke through to the inside line and then distributed the ball to Liu Han, Liu Han received the ball without hesitation and hit three points directly, at this time the game time was only left for the Devil Deacon team for four seconds. The Devils Deacons missed their last shot, and the Bruins won the game 89-88.
After the game, Bruins head coach George Krent almost "drooled" at Tim Duncan of the Vic Forest Devils Deacons, such a stable interior line can be the cornerstone of almost any team.
Then the Bruins played a game with the University of Utah, Ma Jian, who saw Liu Han again, sighed at Liu Han's progress, he didn't expect that Liu Han had become the number one star of a college team in just one year, in this game Liu Han connected the whole team with a simple pass, the Bruins' offense was smooth, although the opponents of the University of Utah Van Horn and Andre Miller caused some trouble to the Bruins, but in the end the Bruins still had the last laugh, and they won the game 94-79. Liu Han won the double 20 in this game, and the data of 24 points and 22 assists convinced the opponents.
The Bruins played the Oklahoma State Cowboys, who finished fourth in last year's NCAA tournament after the game against the University of Utah, and the Bruins won the game thanks to Paul Pearce's excellent performance, in which he scored a double-double of 39 points and 11 rebounds, and Liu Han had a mediocre performance in this game, with a solid double-double of 15 points and 10 assists.
In mid-January '96, the Bruins returned to Los Angeles to play a game against the University of Maryland Terrapines, and in the end the Bruins had the last laugh, winning by 18 points, 89-71. Three days later, the Bruins faced the University of Texas Horned Bulls, who were inferior to the Bruins and lost by 24 points.
Next, the Bruins continued to sit at home and played against the Minnesota Golden Gophers, Villaloa University Wildcats, Drake Selrons, St. Peter's College Peacocks, and the University of Miami Red Hawks.
The Bruins showed great strength in the game so that most of the media expressed optimism about their road to defending their title, Liu Han and Paul Pierce were called the Los Angeles double guns by supporters for their excellent performance in the game, because both have good shooting ability, and the Bruins have also changed the title of the previous interior team to become the fastest team in the NCAA, they average almost 90 points per game, which is rare in a 40-minute college game.
In mid-February, the Bruins played the last two games of the regular season against Nicholas State University Colonels and the Syracuse University Oranges, in the game against the former, the Bruins won the opponent lightly, and the latter game against the Bruins fought two overtimes to win, John Wallace of Syracuse University caused Paul Pierce a lot of trouble, Liu Han performed very average in the first half of this game, but after entering the overtime, Liu Han began to exert power, He still relied on his magical three-pointer to finally beat his opponent in the second overtime.
At this point, the Bruins' 95-96 season of the Pacific 10 Collegiate League regular season is over, and they have won an astonishing 29 consecutive wins with their excellent play and excellent strength, which has made almost all the media exclaim the strength of the defending champions.