UCLA Basketball: 5 Positive Notes from the Bruins' Win over Eastern Washington

UCLA beat Eastern Washington at home by a score of 60-47 on Wednesday night.

While it wasn't the prettiest win, as the Bruins let Eastern Washington encroach within a few points, the Bruins did manage to pull off the victory.

Despite getting out-rebounded 36-28 and struggling to find offensive rhythm at times, the Bruins looked noticeably improved in Wednesday night's game. 

Here are the positive notes of the Bruins' most recent win. 

Follow @Robert_Pace

1. Lazeric Jones Is Playing Consistently Well

Although he got off to a rough start, Lazeric Jones has finally shook off the cobwebs and is playing good basketball. 

In UCLA's win against Eastern Washington, Jones scored 19 points with six rebounds and four assists. The best news of all is that he is now playing consistently well for the Bruins. 

In the Bruins' last four games, Jones is averaging 19 points and is shooting an impressive 63.4 percent from the field.

Not only has his mid-range game improved but Jones' three-point shooting has been excellent in the past four games at an astonishingly accurate 68.8 percent. 

Lazeric Jones' improved play is great news to the Bruins, who are in dire need of production from their guards. 

2. Tyler Lamb Is Stepping It Up

Unlike Lazeric Jones, Tyler Lamb continues to be an inconsistent guard for the Bruins. Sometimes he is a big contributor to the Bruins, and other times he is rather quiet on the offensive end. 

On Wednesday night, Lamb score 14 points with two steals and two assists for the Bruins. This is a good step for Lamb, from whom UCLA needs more production as the season progresses. 

Lamb was 2-of-4 from three-point land, which is especially good news as he has been struggling from beyond the arc. Previously, he was shooting a dismal 23.3 percent on the year. 

3. The Intensity Is There

It's good to finally see Bruins players getting in to the game as you see Anthony Stover getting excited about the game in this photo. 

The play is still sloppy at times and definitely could use some refinement, but the intensity is starting to show and that's very important to team success. 

It may be because the Reeves Nelson distraction has now been eliminated, but the Bruins seemed much more focused and into the game Wednesday night. 

4. Defense Is Solid

The facet of the game that Ben Howland emphasizes the most is now showing some effectiveness.

The Bruins defense looked good against Eastern Washington, holding their opponent to a mere 47 points. 

In addition to holding Eastern Washington to a 25.9 field goal percentage, the Bruins defended well against the three-pointer, forcing a 22.7 percent success rate. 

Though Eastern Washington isn't the most prestigious opponent, the Bruins nevertheless showed good team play and hustle on defense, which will benefit them more as the team and play continues to gel.

5. Offensive Flow Has Settled

It took the Bruins long enough, but they were finally able to exercise good offensive flow in their win Wednesday night. 

Passes were being made, and it seemed as though there was great understanding and chemistry on offense. 

UCLA was able to execute a set alley-oop play (shown in the photo) that Ben Howland called coming out of a timeout. 

There is still loads of work to do on all fronts for UCLA, but they are slowly showing signs of Bruin basketball. 

Follow @Robert_Pace