"I'm embarrassed for our team," UCLA Coach Ben Howland said. "I feel embarrassed for the program, for the former players and coaches. That's all you can say, it was embarrassing."
I'm with you, Coach.
Tough time to be a Bruin fan. UCLA seems to be playing Division II level ball as USC absolutely annihilates and embarrasses UCLA at Pauley, 67-46.
USC able to marginalize UCLA in 67-46 rout
The Trojans' 21-point margin of victory is their biggest against the Bruins since 1945, and emblematic of how far the UCLA program has fallen from recent heights.
By Chris Foster
The Los Angeles Times
January 17, 2010
UCLA fans had something to cheer about Saturday afternoon.
The EagleBank Bowl trophy was paraded around Pauley Pavilion, with football Coach Rick Neuheisel announcing that "if you've been paying attention to this past week you can see the [college football] landscape shift a little."
Of course, that came at halftime of a game that demonstrated the college basketball monopoly in Los Angeles is apparently over, at least for now.
By the time USC was done with a 67-46 win, the going-nowhere Trojans had their largest victory margin over UCLA since 1945, four seasons before some young guy named Wooden showed up in Westwood.
"I had no idea, but thanks for telling me," said USC guard Dwight Lewis, who had a game-high 24 points. "That's good to know."
It wasn't such a scrapbook moment in the other locker room.
"I'm embarrassed for our team," UCLA Coach Ben Howland said. "I feel embarrassed for the program, for the former players and coaches. That's all you can say, it was embarrassing."
Basically, while the Trojans (11-6 overall, 3-2 in Pacific 10 Conference play) have self-imposed sanctions that prevent them from participating in the NCAA tournament, the Bruins (7-10, 2-3) are playing like they don't belong in the postseason.
"It's disconcerting," forward Reeves Nelson said. "To have to know that the media guide is going to have this score for everyone to see, and our names are going to be on the stats, is not very fun."
The fun was pretty one-sided, and if there was any silver lining for UCLA it was that the pain was over fairly quickly.
UCLA, which has struggled with its man-to-man defense this season, appeared to get an impressive defensive stop early, forcing Lewis to fling the ball to beat the shot clock. Three Bruins then stood and watched USC's Marcus Johnson get the rebound and feed Lewis for a 10-footer for a 9-4 lead.
History was in motion, USC on its way to its biggest victory at Pauley, and its biggest win over the Bruins at any venue since beating them 53-25 at home on Jan. 5, 1945.
The Trojans had lost consecutive games since the administration's announcement of self-imposed sanctions.
"We got knocked in the head and put in a position where we couldn't play in the postseason," Coach Kevin O'Neill said.
The solution? "Every game we can win is a championship game to me," O'Neill said.
USC deserved to cut down the nets Saturday, jumping to a 15-4 lead in the first seven minutes and never looking back. Lewis had seven field goals in the first half. UCLA had eight.
It got worse for the Bruins.
The Balkan battle went to the Trojans. USC's Montenegro-born forward Nikola Vucevic had a career-high 19 points, making nine of 12 shots. UCLA's Serbian forward Nikola Dragovic had two points, missing all six of his shots.
USC had a 37-22 rebounding edge. UCLA had only five assists. USC shot 52%. UCLA shot 33%.
To paraphrase Howland, the Bruins didn't play man-to-man well, or zone. They didn't block out on rebounds and they turned the ball over. And the offense . . . well, Howland said, "We struggled to score. We couldn't score."
The Trojans used a 10-1 run to go up 47-26 with 13 minutes left, and UCLA began practicing for its next game.
"The last 10 to 12 minutes, I just said we have to work on our man defense here," Howland said. "We have to try to get back to what our identity is, which is being a defensive team man to man."
By then the exodus was in motion, a fan migration for the exits with five minutes left. It became a stampede a minute later.
"We're going to reevaluate our game and see where the breakdowns are coming," guard Malcolm Lee said. "We have to build from the ground up. This is our house. It is our crowd. They came in here and took our hearts from us. We can't let that happen, especially at Pauley."
It did Saturday.
"I think this is better than the time I won here my sophomore year," said Lewis, a senior. "Just to do it in this fashion is a good way to go out."
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UCLA 'embarrassed' by USC
By AL BALDERAS
THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
January 16, 2010 11:56 PM
USC hammers UCLA in the season's first intracity rivalry game.
LOS ANGELES - If it hadn't been for football coach Rick Neuheisel, UCLA fans at Pauley Pavilion on Saturday wouldn't have had anything to cheer about.
Neuheisel's appearance at center court was a much-needed diversion from the blowout loss that was building through the first 20 minutes of the UCLA-USC basketball game.
Neuheisel worked the crowd by talking about the future of UCLA football. He must have known better than to bring up the problems facing the basketball program.
The UCLA basketball team did that on its own, playing an equally unimpressive second half on the way to a 67-46 loss to USC.
The 21-point loss was the worst the Bruins have experienced to USC at home.
"Any time you win is vital but it's great to get a win against your rival," USC coach Kevin O'Neill said. "I think we were excellent on the defensive end.
"Dwight (Lewis) had a big game but I think the little things that (Mike) Gerrity, (Leonard) Washington and all the guys that played really contributed to Dwight having a good game."
The Trojans (11-6, 3-2 Pac-10) got a season-high 24 points from Lewis and 19 from Nikola Vucevic (tying a career high), but the defensive pressure was the difference.
UCLA shot a paltry 32 percent from the floor in the first half and finished at 33 percent (15 for 45). The last time the Bruins (7-10, 2-3) were held to fewer than 20 field goals was March 13, 2009, also against USC.
"I'm embarrassed for our team and I feel embarrassed for our program," UCLA coach Ben Howland said. "They completely dominated us right from the beginning of the game. They were more physical. They beat us to loose balls. They're a very good team."
USC led, 33-21, at halftime thanks in part to 0-for-5 shooting by Nikola Dragovic and 0-for-6 shooting by Michael Roll.
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For the Trojans, a rabid response
By Baxter Holmes and Chris Foster
The Los Angeles Times
January 17, 2010
Coach Kevin O'Neill wants his players to defend 'like you have a shot of rabies in you.'
Some raccoons carry it. Dogs can too. And let's not forget bats, cats and rats.
USC Coach Kevin O'Neill wants his players to have it as well, since he thinks it will increase their intensity.
"I always tell our guys, play like you have a shot of rabies in you," he said after his team's 67-46 win over UCLA at Pauley Pavilion on Saturday. "Play like you have rabies."
By his account, they did, minus the foaming mouths.
After slow starts in their previous two games -- both losses -- the Trojans came out more aggressively and jumped out to a 30-13 lead in the first half.
"They completely dominated us from the beginning," said UCLA Coach Ben Howland.
Leading, 33-21, at halftime, the Trojans started the second half with a 17-5 run.
"Coach told us to jump on them early and try to impose our will, and we felt that if we did that, we'd have a good chance to win," said USC guard Dwight Lewis, who had a season-high 24 points.
Much of the aggressiveness came on the glass, where USC outrebounded UCLA, 37-22. USC also won big in the paint (28 points to 14) and on second-chance points (13-4).
Like O'Neill said, rabies.
Injury to insult
It was bad enough to lose by 21 points.
But the Bruins came away limping as well.
Forward Michael Roll strained a muscle in his midsection early in the game and will be re-valuated today. Guard Jerime Anderson, who was slowed by a groin injury earlier this season, was limited to nine minutes, all in the first half, because of a hip flexor.
"He had tweaked it on Tuesday," Howland said. "It's in the same area as the groin. I didn't want him to aggravate it in the second half. We have a lot of games to play."
Howland said Anderson "didn't practice the last two days, and we didn't want to make that public and didn't want it to make their game plan."
USC did fine without the information.
Roll said he took a knee in the stomach. "Any time I turn, or any movement I make, it hurts," he said.
Dragovic's woes
UCLA forward Nikola Dragovic was 0 for 6 from the field, 0 for 3 on three-point attempts. He also had only two rebounds in 31 minutes of playing time.
"It's very, very disappointing," Howland said. "He took some bad shots today. He has to understand that this is the result when you don't wait for it. We need him to be way more patient. Teams are forcing him to put the ball on the floor, and that's not his strength."
Etc.
It was an especially good Saturday for Lewis.
He had a big game, his team got a big win and his hometown New Orleans Saints also rolled, beating the Arizona Cardinals, 45-14, to advance to the NFC championship game.
"Always a good day when the Saints win," he said. . . .
Former NBA player Clifford Robinson has been hanging around USC's practices this week and visiting with O'Neill, who was an assistant with the Detroit Pistons from 2001 to 2003 when Robinson was with the team.
"He's been talking all week," said forward Marcus Johnson.
And what did he say Saturday?
"I told them I didn't come to see a loss," Robinson said, smiling as he stood outside the locker room. . . .
The crowd of 11,108 was the largest of the season for UCLA.
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UCLA men’s basketball falls to USC in ‘embarrassing’ loss
By Blair Angulo
The Daily Bruin
Jan. 19, 2010 at 1:16 a.m.
In case you were fooled on Saturday, the UCLA men’s basketball team still has a chance to make the NCAA tournament.
Despite a rough season, there’s still hope in Westwood.
There’s still the possibility – albeit slim – that Bruin players break out their dance shoes for a waltz in March.
But on Saturday afternoon, UCLA certainly didn’t look like a team still playing for a potential postseason trip. The Bruins dropped a 67-46 contest to USC at Pauley Pavilion without ever making it interesting.
There had never been a game like Saturday’s, as UCLA suffered its worst home loss ever to cross-town rival USC. Let’s just say it doesn’t necessarily help the Bruins’ tournament hopes.
“They completely dominated us, right from the beginning of the game,” coach Ben Howland said.
The Trojans, decked out in their alternate, all-black uniforms, scored seven unanswered points to open the game – a streak that seemingly rattled the Bruins and all but deflated a crowd of 11,108 that was loud and riled up before the game.
UCLA’s early dry spell didn’t help, either. The Bruins (7-10, 2-3 Pac-10) managed only four points in the first seven minutes as an energized Trojan (11-6, 3-2) squad raced out to a 12-point lead at halftime.
“I don’t know, man,” freshman forward Reeves Nelson said. “People that don’t play with heart and don’t play with balls don’t register to me. I’m not going to bad-mouth my teammates, obviously. But (Saturday) was a gut check, and we got checked pretty hard.”
Mirroring Howland’s old defenses, Kevin O’Neill’s USC squad suffocated Bruin players far from the basket.
Redshirt senior guard Michael Roll and senior forward Nikola Dragovic were hurried and held scoreless in the first half. They shot a combined 0-for-11.
“We weren’t patient early, and they just took it to us,” Howland said.
The Trojans, meanwhile, certainly didn’t look like a team that has nothing to look forward to once the conference schedule ends. Due to self-imposed sanctions, USC will not participate in postseason play – regardless of its record or qualifications.
Yet, none of that seemed to matter to USC first-year coach Kevin O’Neill, who inherited the sanctions following violations made by former coach Tim Floyd.
“Any time you win is vital, but it’s great to get a win against your rival,” O’Neill said.
USC senior guard Dwight Lewis scored a season-high 24 points on 9-of-15 shooting, taunting the UCLA student section following a number of his conversions.
Forward Nikola Vucevic added a career-high 19 points for USC.
“Athletically, we have hard matchups,” Howland said. “Again, that was the case tonight.”
Roll’s first score came on a jumper three minutes into the second half. He finished with 12 points, as did sophomore guard Malcolm Lee.
“They had our plays scouted real well,” Lee said.
Dragovic continued his inconsistent play Saturday. He missed each of his six shots and scored his two points on free throws. Dragovic had 31 points combined against California and Stanford the previous weekend.
“It’s very disappointing,” Howland said. “He took some bad shots today. He’s got to understand that this is the result when you don’t wait for it. We have to be way more patient.”
Senior forward James Keefe dunked with a minute left in the first half to excite the crowd and cut the deficit to 12. But USC’s lead reached a game-high 24 midway through the second half following a Vucevic 3-pointer. Fans started to head for the exits on the ensuing timeout.
“We’re just going to have to take little steps,” Lee said.
In the end, the game just seemed to matter more to USC.
“I’m embarrassed for our team,” Howland said. “I feel embarrassed for the program, the former players and coaches. It’s really all I can say about this. It was embarrassing.”
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