UCLA basketball: Bruins collapse in the second half, lose to Arizona
By Chris Foster in Tucson
The Los Angeles Times
March 4, 2010 | 9:55 pm
There are losses, and even bigger losses. UCLA experienced both Thursday night.
Before the Bruins took the court they learned that forward Reeves Nelson, who had laser surgery to repair a torn retina more than a week ago, would miss the two games on the road trip even though he had been medically cleared to play.
UCLA then added insult to that injury, blowing a 17-point second-half lead in a 78-73 loss to Arizona at the McKale Center in Tucson.
Nikola Dragovic’s intentional foul with UCLA trailing, 72-70, completed the collapse with 14 seconds left. Derrick Williams made the two free throws. Nic Wise made four more in the last 12 seconds, and Bruins hopes ended when Michael Roll’s three-pointer bounced harmlessly off the rim.
The Wildcats, who trailed, 50-33, with 15 minutes 50 seconds left, finished with a flurry. Kyle Fogg left the Bruins in a daze, scoring 19 of his game-high 26 points. He made three three-pointers during a 25-8 run that got Arizona even, 58-58.
Fogg also made the two free throws that gave the Wildcats a 65-64 lead.
Nelson has repeatedly battered his body this season, and it has taken a toll. He was poked in the right eye against Kansas during a December game, suffering a corneal abrasion. He was elbowed in the same eye the next time out against New Mexico.
But Nelson’s eye problems became even more serious two weeks ago, when he feel face first after a dunk against Washington State. He required 15 stitches to close a gash over his right eye and, a week later, he learned he had a partial tear of the retina in the left eye.
The Bruins were also playing without reserve center J’mison Morgan, who was serving a one-game suspension for missing a meeting with the training staff.
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It's deja vu for UCLA in losing to Arizona
By Jon Gold Staff Writer
The Los Angeles Daily News
Updated: 03/05/2010 12:37:16 AM PST
TUCSON, Ariz.
UCLA fans are used to broken records.
They're just not used to their team playing like one.
The Bruins again jumped to a sizable lead, again watched it disappear with poor shot selection, poor time management and poor defense, and the Arizona Wildcats took a late lead and held on for a 78-73 victory Thursday night at the McKale Center.
UCLA led by as much as 14 and was ahead until 3 minutes, 19 seconds remained, but by
then, the Bruins were spent.
With a short bench after the one-game suspension of sophomore center J'mison Morgan and the late-notice absence of freshman forward Reeves Nelson, who didn't play because of trepidation following eye surgery in late February, there would be no late-game heroics for the Bruins.
"In the first half, we did a very good job offensively - we were 15 for 25 - and in the second half, I thought their pressure bothered us," UCLA coach Ben Howland said. "Then they did a much better job attacking our zone; they were 14 of 22 from the field in the second half."
Arizona came back from a 14-point deficit with 15:53 left to tie it for the first time since the beginning of the game seven minutes later as a Fogg set in.
Wildcats sophomore guard Kyle Fogg had four 3-pointers during the charge, finishing with a career-high 26 points. This, after a then-career-high 25-point outburst in the teams' first matchup Jan. 2.
"Zone-buster," UCLA sophomore guard Malcolm Lee said simply. "He just knocks down open shots and he can also get to the rim. That's basically it, nice and simple. He was hitting his shots or he was getting all the way to the rim."
Early on, the Bruins bottled up Fogg along with the rest of the Wildcats.
UCLA held Arizona to 39 percent shooting in the first half, and 3 of 12 from long range.
Meanwhile, the Bruins shot 60 percent, taking a 39-29 halftime lead, as senior guard Michael Roll (11 first-half points, 21 total) and senior forward Nikola Dragovic (nine first-half points) led the way.
Arizona's efficient point guard Nic Wise was held scorless until the 14:16 mark in the second half, as UCLA (13-16, 8-9) closed out the perimeter and worked well off screens.
With freshman forward Derrick Williams in foul trouble and Wise a non-factor, the Wildcats (15-14, 9-8) seemed lost at times, never more so than during a four-minute stretch in which they scored just five points.
Williams picked up his fourth foul at the 16:17 mark and was in danger of a fifth just two minutes later after getting tangled with UCLA freshman forward Brendan Lane in the post. Lane dug into the post, spun and landed an elbow, drawing an offensive foul. But Williams fell awkwardly on his left ankle and was still sidelined for the next several minutes.
Unfortunately for the Bruins, so was Lee. The sophomore shooting guard missed much of Arizona's charge with right leg cramps after scoring 11 first-half points and largely ineffective after the break, scoring just two points the rest of the way.
"They just hit me out of nowhere," Lee said. "I made sure I got a lot of fluids before the game; (UCLA athletic trainer Laef Morris) had me just drinking, drinking, drinking because I knew I'd be playing some big minutes. But it just hit me out of nowhere in the second half. I didn't get no warnings or nothing."
With Lee gone, the Wildcats' perimeter game blossomed, as Lamont Jones had 16 points and Wise emerged from his first-half coma with 12 second-half points. Wise hit 5-of-6 free throws down the stretch, as Arizona shot 83 percent from the line in the second half.
Fogg cooled off by then, but he'd already done his damage.
"He killed us," Howland said. "The reason why we're playing zone initially is because we have a hard time staying in front of the ball, and yet that still becomes a problem in the zone for us today. That's been an Achilles' heel for us defensively throughout the year."
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UCLA falls to Kyle Fogg and Arizona, 78-73
Bruins’ second-half lead melts away as Wildcats’ Fogg goes on three-point spree.
By Chris Foster
The Los Angeles Times
March 04, 2010
There are losses, and even bigger losses. UCLA experienced both Thursday night.
Before the Bruins took the court they learned that forward Reeves Nelson, who had laser surgery to repair a torn retina more than a week ago, had decided not to play the two games on the road trip because of a family medical history. He had been medically cleared to play.
UCLA then added insult to that injury, blowing a 17-point second-half lead in a 78-73loss to Arizona at the McKale Center.
Nikola Dragovic's intentional foul with UCLA trailing, 72-70, completed the collapse with 14 seconds left. Derrick Williams made the two free throws. Nic Wise made four more in the last 12 seconds, and Bruins hopes ended when Michael Roll's three-pointer bounced harmlessly off the rim.
"The guys worked hard, and obviously their effort was outstanding considering we're playing guys 38, 39 minutes," Coach Ben Howland said.
The Bruins already knew they were without reserve center J'mison Morgan, who was serving a one-game suspension for missing a meeting with the training staff.
Nelson, though, had been expected to play. But growing concerns about a family history with retina problems led him to confer with Howland, then decide not to play by "mutual agreement."
Nelson who was injured in a fall during a game against Washington State, became concerned with the torn retina was discovered last week.
"Even though I was medically cleared, my granny, who I grew up with and helped raise me, has two detached retinas," Nelson said. "There was a hereditary concern. The doctor said that if you have a family history there is more of a chance of getting injured."
Nelson said he talked with both his mother and grandmother before making the decision.
"I also have some anxiety about not being able to play 100% and help the team," Nelson said. "I don't want to short-change the guys."
The guys handled the short-changing themselves.
There was a time when UCLA playing Arizona was on the national radar. Now, it barely rates a regional hiccup.
All this did was put Arizona (15-14 overall, 9-8 in Pacific 10 Conference play) in sole possession of fourth place in the conference standings. UCLA (13-16, 8-9), meanwhile, is assured of a losing record for the regular season.
The Wildcats, who trailed, 50-33, with 15 minutes 50 seconds left, finished with a flurry. Kyle Fogg left the Bruins in a daze, scoring 19 of his game-high 26 points. He made three three-pointers during a 25-8 run that got Arizona even, 58-58.
Fogg also made the two free throws that gave the Wildcats a 65-64 lead. He made eight of 12 shots for the game.
"We did a poor job of locating him in the zone in the second half and not figuring out that when the guy is hot that you have to get to him," Howland said.
The Bruins shot 60% in taking a 39-29 halftime lead. They shot 33% in the second half. Fatigue played a part, as Dragovic played 39 minutes, while Roll and Tyler Honeycutt played 38. Malcolm Lee played 32 minutes, but missed more than five minutes in the second half with cramps.
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