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Bryce Alford is the biggest go-to guy in the Pac-12, and it’s not even close

UCLA’s senior guard can carry the team on his back when it matters most.

By Eli Boettger
NCAA Basketball: Arizona at UCLA Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports

If Thursday night’s USC-UCLA game was any indication, there will be some season-changing shots in the coming weeks.

Due to my curiosity on how often teams go to certain players in the clutch, I performed quick study on individual shot attempts within first 20 seconds and final 10 seconds of possessions for each team.

Thanks to Jeff Haley’s Hoop-Math site, total field goal attempts and “late” field goal attempts (final 10 seconds of shot clock) are listed on his site. I created a table on percentage of team’s shot attempts in non-late attempts as well as late attempts, and then found the difference to determine whether players are more common to take shot attempts in the clutch.

Feel free to mess around and sort the table below. Players with at least 200 field goal attempts this season are included in the data set.

Pac-12 Late FGA% +/-, 2016-17

Player School Total FGA Non-late FGA % of team's non-late FGA Late FGA % of team's late FGA Late FGA% +/-
Player School Total FGA Non-late FGA % of team's non-late FGA Late FGA % of team's late FGA Late FGA% +/-
Bryce Alford UCLA 334 264 15.3 70 24.05 8.76
Malachi Flynn Washington St 263 156 13.25 107 19.04 5.79
Shannon Evans II Arizona St 386 269 18.19 117 23.08 4.89
Chimezie Metu USC 316 230 16.12 86 20.05 3.93
Conor Clifford Washington St 214 130 11.05 84 14.95 3.9
Dusan Ristic Arizona 249 151 13.36 98 16.81 3.45
Kendal Manuel Oregon St 229 125 12.27 104 15.59 3.33
Thomas Welsh UCLA 221 181 10.49 40 13.75 3.26
Jordan McLaughlin USC 295 217 15.21 78 18.18 2.98
Tra Holder Arizona St 383 274 18.53 109 21.5 2.97
Kodi Justice Arizona St 222 155 10.48 67 13.21 2.73
Derrick White Colorado 364 266 18.92 98 21.54 2.62
Jordan Bell Oregon 216 152 11.3 64 13.85 2.55
Markelle Fultz Washington 439 361 22.73 78 25.16 2.43
Drew Eubanks Oregon St 310 178 17.47 132 19.79 2.32
Robert Cartwright Stanford 209 145 11.36 64 13.42 2.05
Michael Humphrey Stanford 248 174 13.64 74 15.51 1.88
Tyler Dorsey Oregon 301 218 16.21 83 17.97 1.76
De'Anthony Melton USC 206 153 10.72 53 12.35 1.63
Payton Pritchard Oregon 202 145 10.78 57 12.34 1.56
Elijah Stewart USC 316 238 16.68 78 18.18 1.5
David Crisp Washington 352 292 18.39 60 19.35 0.97
Jabari Bird California 306 210 17.23 96 18.05 0.82
Lorenzo Bonam Utah 234 162 13.24 72 13.9 0.66
Dylan Ennis Oregon 255 188 13.98 67 14.5 0.52
Noah Dickerson Washington 256 213 13.41 43 13.87 0.46
Grant Mullins California 232 161 13.21 71 13.35 0.14
Chris Boucher Oregon 256 191 14.2 65 14.07 -0.13
Kyle Kuzma Utah 331 234 19.12 97 18.73 -0.39
Shaqquan Aaron USC 224 174 12.19 50 11.66 -0.54
Marcus Allen Stanford 225 166 13.01 59 12.37 -0.64
Kobi Simmons Arizona 264 177 15.66 87 14.92 -0.74
George King Colorado 289 221 15.72 68 14.95 -0.77
TJ Leaf UCLA 327 282 16.34 45 15.46 -0.87
Stephen Thompson Jr. Oregon St 373 229 22.47 144 21.59 -0.88
Reid Travis Stanford 304 225 17.63 79 16.56 -1.07
Jaquori McLaughlin Oregon St 295 183 17.96 112 16.79 -1.17
Charlie Moore California 318 226 18.54 92 17.29 -1.25
Dillon Brooks Oregon 306 234 17.4 72 15.58 -1.81
Xavier Johnson Colorado 304 236 16.79 68 14.95 -1.84
Josh Hawkinson Washington St 326 228 19.37 98 17.44 -1.93
Ivan Rabb California 290 210 17.23 80 15.04 -2.19
Lonzo Ball UCLA 299 262 15.18 37 12.71 -2.46
Dorian Pickens Stanford 287 218 17.08 69 14.47 -2.62
Lauri Markkanen Arizona 314 219 19.38 95 16.3 -3.09
Obinna Oleka Arizona St 321 251 16.97 70 13.81 -3.16
Ike Iroegbu Washington St 297 214 18.18 83 14.77 -3.41
Matisse Thybulle Washington 253 221 13.92 32 10.32 -3.59
Rawle Alkins Arizona 267 190 16.81 77 13.21 -3.61
Aaron Holiday UCLA 270 243 14.08 27 9.28 -4.8
Charles Callison Washington St 250 188 15.97 62 11.03 -4.94
Isaac Hamilton UCLA 365 325 18.83 40 13.75 -5.08
Torian Graham Arizona St 488 387 26.17 101 19.92 -6.25

Alright, so Bryce Alford takes a ton of shots late in the shot clock. But is he efficient in the clutch?

You bet. Alford is one of just two players in the entire conference to notch a 60+ effective field goal percentage in late field goal attempts. The graph below displays just how dominant Alford is in the clutch this season. Not only is he the go-to guy, but he also delivers consistently.

Don’t be shocked if Alford sends UCLA to the next round with a game-winner in the NCAA Tournament this year.

(All stats used in this article are courtesy of Hoop-Math.com)

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