As if clanking shots were not enough, UCLA's ultra-porous defense was another major contributor to the defeat...absolutely no interior defense...Arizona was making their shots all over the court...trend seems to continue: UCLA could not defend against long, athletic players...Drago goes back to his shooting slump...Malcolm did not try to take over till it was much too late...we can't make free-throws...Michael Roll, a role player on UCLA's best team is one of the stars of current team (i.e., not good)...the "being inexperienced and young" excuse won't cut it this time as the Wildcats are arguably just as young and inexperienced...at least we're 0.500 (in the conference, that is, 1-1).
Bad start buries the Bruins
By AL BALDERAS
THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
January 02, 2010 7:57 PM
UCLA falls to Arizona, 77-63
LOS ANGELES - Basketball teams in the Pac-10 figured to go through their share of ups and downs this season but UCLA became the frontrunner for the most drastic turnaround.
Two days after shooting 83.3 percent from the floor in the first half of a game against Arizona State, the Bruins managed to shoot just 20.3 percent in the opening half against Arizona.
The Bruins were unable to recover, losing, 77-63, Saturday morning at Pauley Pavilion.
The Bruins shot 5 for 24 in the first half, including an 0-for-7 start from 3-point range.
"They really, really did a good job stopping us," UCLA coach Ben Howland said of the Wildcats (7-7, 1-1). "We just took so many rushed shots in the first 10 minutes."
Malcolm Lee, the Bruins' leading scorer this season, was 0 for 6 in field goals in the first half. He finished with 15 points
Nikola Dragovic was 1 for 4, and missed all three of his 3-point attempts, after tying his career-high with 23 points against Arizona State on Thursday.
Michael Roll was 0 for 4 from the field in the first half but also finished with 15 points.
The Bruins' dismal first half included a stretch of 6 minutes, 55 seconds in which they managed to score two free throws.
The Wildcats led, 14-13, when that drought started and were up 32-17 when Jerime Anderson finally scored on a layup with 3:50 remaining in the first half.
"It is a very disappointing loss to play this poorly at home after coming off an important win on Thursday," Howland said.
The Wildcats' success was largely attributed to the efforts of Kyle Fogg (Brea Olinda High), who scored a career-high 25 points. His previous best of 18 points came on Dec. 21 against Lipscomb.
Jamelle Horne added 17 points for Arizona, and Derrick Williams scored 16 points and grabbed nine rebounds.
The Wildcats had a 27-15 advantage in rebounds in the first half before finishing with a 38-31 edge.
"It's great to see him improving," Arizona coach Sean Miller said of Fogg. "Derrick Williams also had a great game. He is improving well on the boards and I know that the improvement is going to continue through the season. We are all doing a lot better with rebounding. It's not just one person but definitely a team effort."
Nine Arizona players took part in Saturday's contest and they all came away with at least one rebound.
The Wildcats were able to score from inside and outside, pretty much at will. Four of their first five field goals came from within the paint – one layup, two tip-ins, and a dunk. The other field goal was a 3-point shot by Horne.
The Bruins' only lead came in the opening minutes when Roll sank two free throws for a 4-2 lead. The score was tied at 10 with 12:53 left in the first half but the Wildcats used a 22-5 run to take a 32-15 advantage.
Lee said the Bruins (6-8, 1-1) were simply not ready for Saturday's game. He said the 10 a.m. start was a factor, though it didn't seem to affect Arizona.
"We were physically ready but our mindset wasn't (Saturday)," he said. "It was early in the morning. I think (with) better preparation, (we) would have had a better outcome in the game.
"I think the last time we played early in the morning, against Long Beach State, it was a bad game too."
Howland said he wasn't able to turn to the zone defense the way he did in Thursday's victory because the Wildcats presented a different threat and would have exploited that type of defense.
"I thought that they're a much better offensive rebounding team than ASU and that really hurt us in the first half," Howland said. "We were man-to-man and still gave up 10 offensive rebounds. The worry is that they're going to hurt you worse on offensive rebounds so that's why we stayed in man."
The Bruins made a little bit of a run in the second half and cut their deficit to 12 points with 5:44 left in the game but Fogg hit two consecutive baskets to push the Wildcats' lead back to 70-54.
Lee scored on a 3-pointer and followed that with a layup to cut Arizona's lead to 70-59 with 3:34 but the Bruins couldn't get any closer.
_________
Watching bungling Bruins just too painful for some
By GREGG PATTON
The Press-Enterprise
11:58 PM PST on Saturday, January 2, 2010
LOS ANGELES - One spectator came prepared.
Late in the first half, it was time to place his grocery bag with eye holes firmly over his head. Embarrassing to be a UCLA basketball fan these days?
Saturday, you'd say so. The Bruins faced Arizona, another struggling, former Pacific 10 power, and were run off Nell and John Wooden Court so decisively the first 20 minutes, the second 20 was just a formality.
The slow start included UCLA's 5-for-24 shooting effort in the first half, and giving up 10 offensive rebounds to Arizona, which led to 10 second-chance points and a 15-point lead.
Those were just numbers. Watching the Bruins' slow legs on defense and wacky shooting was much more painful.
"It was our mind-set," said sophomore guard Malcolm Lee, referring to the 10 a.m. start, scheduled to allow a national TV audience to see the carnage in Westwood. "Our bodies were there, but our minds weren't."
Hard to believe that a team that can't fall back on stellar talent -- as in the past -- and has to work hard to have any chance would fail to be inspired, but that was clearly the case Saturday.
"You'd think that," agreed senior guard Michael Roll. "But they just punched us in the mouth and we had nothing really going right today.
"They had their backs against the wall. They really needed a win. The way they played, they would have beaten a lot of teams today."
The Wildcats improved to 7-7 with the easy 77-63 win and matched UCLA's 1-1 conference record. Arizona has had its own problems the past couple of seasons, and its non-conference play mirrored UCLA's November-December woes. At least the 'Cats found someone in the conference they match up against.
With just one senior and one junior, Arizona is counting on its young talent, something that has led to a couple of notable hiccups in its pre-conference wanderings. There was one lucky overtime win at home against obscure Lipscomb, and a 30-point home loss to BYU last week.
They got better in a hurry. Or else UCLA (6-8) is in just as much trouble as we thought, despite its "fresh start" win over Arizona State on Thursday.
In that one, the Bruins shot 83.3 percent from the field in the first half, a statistical and performance aberration for this team that allowed them to hold on for a two-point victory. Failing to shoot well against Arizona was just one of their downfalls Saturday.
Coach Ben Howland thought they had rushed their shots in the first half. But there was nothing rushed about the 0 for 7 on wide-open three-pointers.
As for the rebounding, Howland honestly assessed, "We're not a good rebounding team. For us to rebound everyone has to box out and get involved."
Which they didn't. But that's an effort thing.
So what does Howland do with his inexperienced, under-talented squad?
Keep working. Don't let them take days (or mornings) off. Develop the young core of players. Riverside's Lee, and freshmen Reeves Nelson and Tyler Honeycutt, will serve as solid Pac-10 performers in the future, as long as they hone good habits.
The good news is that the Bruins don't have to worry about anyone leaving early for the NBA, a phenomenon that helped put them in this mess to begin with.
This could be one of those rare opportunities for a whole UCLA team to grow together, especially if Howland's next class of recruits bears any resemblance to the eight NBA players he lost the past four years.
In a year or two, they might actually be good again. Grocery bags not needed.
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