Another game, another beating.
University of the Philippines (UP) has been blowing out its opponents by an average of 16-point margin halfway through the first round of the University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP) Season 87 men’s basketball tournament.
The Fighting Maroons added listless Far Eastern University (FEU) to their list of victims after a 69-58 cakewalk to remain unscathed in four starts Sunday at the Mall of Asia Arena.
UP took control in the second quarter by limiting the Tamaraws to only seven points while pouring 20 to set the tone for another one-sided affair.
Season 86 Rookie of the Year Francis Lopez led the balanced offense of UP with 13 points and four rebounds while one-and-done center Quentin Millora-Brown got a double-double of 11 markers and 13 boards.
With the Fighting Maroons going up by as many as 25 in the fourth, UP head coach Goldwin Monteverde allowed the rest of his bench to stretch their legs and shed some sweat on the court.
This allowed FEU to uncork a finishing 14-0 run which only served as a pitiful attempt to make the game a little decent.
But it wasn’t the ending the UP coaching staff wanted.
“One thing that coach Gold (Monteverde) always reminds the players is consistency in the game that should apply to all fourth quarters. In many ways, this was similar in our game against UE,” Fighting Maroons assistant coach Christian Luanzon said.
The fourth quarter, particularly, was a bit sluggish with UP scoring 14 points and allowing FEU to get 21.
“The last 15 minutes we kind of relaxed, and I guess the quarter scoring says it all. You know, our offense only produced 14 points and then allowed them to score 21 which was their highest in the game in the fourth quarter. So that’s something that we’ll definitely look into,” Luanzon added.
The Fighting Maroons built their biggest separation, 69-44, after back-to-back hits by Denzil Walker and Reyland Torres with four minutes left. UP went scoreless the rest of the way.
Janjan Felicilda had nine points and three assists while JD Cagulangan added seven points, five assists and four rebounds for the Fighting Maroons.
Adam Nakai paced the Tamaraws with 12 points but failed to stop his team from sliding down to a 0-4 slate as the lone winless squad in the field.
Jorick Bautista added 11 points while Veejay Pre got 10 markers.
The scores:
UP (69) — Lopez 13, Millora-Brown 11, Felicilda 9, Cagulangan 7, Alarcon 6, Bayla 6, Torres 4, Alter 4, Abadiano 3, Briones 2, Walker 2, Udodo 2, Fortea 0, Belmonte 0, Torculas 0, Stevens 0.
FEU (58) — Nakai 12, Bautista 11, Pre 10, Montemayor 9, Konateh 8, Alforque 6, Pasaol 2, Daa 0, Ona 0, Bagunu 0.
Quarters: 19-15, 39-22, 55-37, 69-58.