Kyle Anderson played his first game in a UCLA uniform Saturday.
The game happened to take place in Beijing, China. Against Tsinghua University.
Hardly Kentucky, Duke or Kansas.
But the 6-foot-9 Anderson flashed his diverse talents by going for 11 points, 13 rebounds and six assists in UCLA’s 116-68 victory that kicked off a three-game trip. He has been playing a lot of point forward in the UCLA offense.
“I thought that Kyle did a great job,” UCLA head coach Ben Howland said of the North Bergen, N.J., native and former St. Anthony star. “He made some nice passes. I think he had six rebounds by halftime, so he rebounds the ball very well. He’s a very smart player.”
“It was great to finally be out on the court, especially in a different country, and to start the season off on a great note,” Anderson said. “It’s going to be a long season when we get to practices in October, but it feels great to get the win tonight.”
UCLA played without Anderson’s roommate, star freshman Shabazz Muhammad, who is back in Los Angeles awaiting clearance from the NCAA.
Tyler Lamb had 14 points and 10 assists, David Wear poured in 22 points and 15 rebounds and Travis Wear and Norman Powell had 19 points apiece. Josh SMith added 18 points.
“A lot of guys stood out offensively, and I was really pleased with how we shared the ball,” Howland said. “I thought the Wears played well, and I thought that Josh [Smith] did really well when he was in there and was a very difficult matchup for them.”
Added Anderson: “It was my teammates play, the way we got out in transition early. We were stronger on defense earlier in the game. The way we scored in transition was great. Everybody was knocking down shots and everybody played well.”
Anderson praised the Wears in particular.
“They were very active on the glass,” he said. “David and Travis were great tonight. I was able to hit them a few times running the floor – great put-backs, great second-chance opportunities and great job on the defensive end.”
UCLA has two exhibition contests remaining during the team’s weeklong stay in China. The Bruins will face Shanghai Jiao Tong University on Monday before taking on the Shanghai Sharks (professional team in the Chinese Basketball Association) on Tuesday night.
