The Show Runners

UCLA’s high-flying offense is electrifying college hoops, but if the defense can’t keep up, will the team short out in March?

- Hallie Grossman

Shrouded in darkness, 13,000 Bruins fans start to hum at Pauley Pavilion as freshman guard Lonzo Ball dribbles up the floor, seconds before the end of the half. The lights above the stands have been dimmed so that only the court is illuminated on this January night. The staging leaves no doubt: You are here for a show. Ball pulls up 7 feet behind the arc and lets it fly, already backpedaling as the ball finds the net and the first-half clock hits zero. Just like that, UCLA leads Cal by 20. Ball turns and runs through a human passageway of teammates, ushers and blue-clad fans. He heads into the tunnel with nary a look back, fist pump or hint of acknowledgment that he just drained a walk-off 27-foot 3.

“Did you see his shadow?” his father, LaVar, asks the next day in his kitchen in Chino Hills, about an hour east of UCLA. “He didn’t do nothing but run straight to the locker room. My god, that’s awesome! That’s the mystique!”

The 2016-17 Bruins are gripping theater. They run the court as if the floor were made of hot coals. They hit open men in the corner. They pull up 5, 6, 7 feet behind the arc, raining 3s. They are a relentless scoring automaton: second in the country in points through Feb. 7 (92.9 per game), first in assists (22 per game), first in field goal percentage (53.5), third in 3-point percentage (42.4) and first in offensive efficiency (125.1 points per 100 possessions), according to the advanced hoops metrics site KenPom. “It’s pace and space,” coach Steve Alford says. “It’s run and fun.”