Cal snaps men’s basketball streak in close overtime game, 76-72
By RYAN ESHOFF
The Daily Bruin
Published February 20, 2011 in Men's Basketball, Sports
Updated: 11:20 PM
BERKELEY — Overshadowed by his backcourt mate for much of the contest, Cal guard Brandon Smith stepped into the spotlight in a huge way.
The sophomore hit a 3-pointer from the corner to give the Bears an insurmountable four-point lead with 14 seconds left in overtime, helping Cal knock off UCLA 76-72 in a wild contest in front of a raucous crowd at Haas Pavilion.
While Smith had the big shot, the rest of the night belonged to Cal guard Jorge Gutierrez. The junior from Mexico scored 34 points, the most UCLA yielded to a single player all season.
“Gutierrez absolutely killed us down the stretch,” coach Ben Howland said. “He was great. He just kept attacking our bigs, attacking our hedges, attacking our plugs of screens. He was just driving, driving, driving.”
He went 11-of-12 from the free-throw line, most of which came late in the second half and into overtime. Not known as a jump shooter, Gutierrez scored mostly on aggressive drives to the basket and in transition.
UCLA only made it beyond regulation because of the heroics of Malcolm Lee, who hit a tying 3-pointer to beat the second-half buzzer. Lee’s off-balance shot hit the front rim, bounced lazily into the air, and dropped through after the horn had sounded.
“When I initially let it go, it felt good,” Lee said. “I knew it was going to have a chance because it was straight. Then when it hit the rim, the way it bounced, I was like ‘Oh, that’s about to bounce in.’”
Smith’s shot, meanwhile, was all net. The sophomore’s shot was the dagger in an overtime session that saw the teams trade leads most of the way. He was open because the Bruin defense had to collapse on Gutierrez, who had once more penetrated the teeth of the defense.
“He’s playing with a lot of confidence right now,” Lee said of Gutierrez. “(Cal coach Mike Montgomery) found out something that was working for them, and they exploited it all night.”
Lee, regarded as the team’s best perimeter defender, began the night guarding Cal freshman Allen Crabbe but switched to Gutierrez late in the game when it became apparent that it was the latter’s night.
Still, the Bruins were unable to solve the numerous on-ball screens that Cal set to spring its’ star.
Nor were they able to secure a key rebound late in the game. UCLA freshman Joshua Smith fouled out with 1:19 to go in overtime. Without Smith’s presence in the paint, the Bears were able to grab two offensive rebounds on the ensuing possession and eventually got a layup from Markhuri Sanders-Frison for a 71-70 lead.
They wouldn’t look back.
It was nearly an epic comeback for the Bruins, however.
Seventy-two hours after the Bruins made 3-pointers on their first two possessions against Stanford, they missed their first nine against the Bears.
Some weren’t close – Tyler Lamb didn’t even hit the rim on a wide-open attempt from the wing. A trey by Tyler Honeycutt with less than three minutes to go in the first half finally ended the drought.
“We really came out flat and that’s totally on me,” Howland said. “There’s no way that should be.”
UCLA trailed 29-18 at halftime, but came out with much more energy in the second. The Bruins even delved deep into their bag of tricks to scrap and scheme their way back into the game.
After cutting the deficit to 35-28 with under 16 minutes to go, Howland reached into 2009 and pulled out a 2-3 zone defense. It was the first time the Bruins had played zone all season.
They ran it for less than 10 Cal possessions, during which they continued to trim into the deficit.
Although Howland said the zone was only a temporary solution to helping Smith and Reeves Nelson avoid foul trouble, many of the players were in support of using it more often.
“It was good, it slowed them down,” Nelson said. “They had a good game plan coming in, and I think the zone threw them off a little bit.”
For the second time this season, the Bruins and Bears played an instant classic. Exactly one month after Nelson’s tip-in during the final seconds gave UCLA an 86-84 victory, the teams battled to a climactic overtime conclusion.
This time, the late-game heroics – in this case, Lee’s 3-pointer – weren’t enough to pull out a victory for the Bruins.
“We just all had confidence going into the overtime,” Lee said. “I guess they had that too. That’s why they won.”
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Cal stuns the Bruins in overtime
By SCOTT M. REID
THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
Published: Feb. 20, 2011 10:41 p.m.
BERKELEY – When UCLA guard Malcolm Lee's off-balance, 3-point jumper hit the front of the rim at the buzzer, bounced up and then back through the basket at the end regulation to send Sunday night's game against Cal into overtime, the Bruins took it as a sign.
"Felt like it was meant to be," forward Tyler Honeycutt said.
Cal guard Jorge Gutierrez had other ideas.
Gutierrez scored nine of his game- and career-high 34 points in overtime to lead Cal to a 76-72 victory at Pete Newell Court, snapping UCLA's six-game winning streak.
The Bruins came back from their worst offensive half of the season, took a second-half lead then, after Gutierrez sank four free throws in the final 22.6 seconds of regulation, extended the game into overtime on Lee's prayer.
But UCLA (19-8, 10-4 Pac-10) could not Gutierrez, whose slashing drives carved up the Bruins down the stretch.
Gutierrez scored 23 points in the second half and overtime in addition to six assists and three steals, both game highs, and a blocked shot.
"Gutierrez absolutely killed us down the stretch," UCLA coach Ben Howland said.
UCLA committed 10 first-half turnovers, shot 29.2 percent from the field, connecting on just 1 of 12 3-point attempts in the opening half yet still managed to come back and take the lead, 48-47,� on a pair of Joshua Smith free throws with 7:15 remaining.
The Bruins came back by employing by using of all things a zone defense. Trailing, 37-31, in the second half, the Bruins came out in a 2-3 zone, with Jerime Anderson and Lee up top with Nelson, Anthony Stover and Tyler Honeycutt on the back line.
But when UCLA switched back to a man-to-man defense with 5:00 left in regulation, Gutierrez was off to the races, scoring seven points in the final 2:32 of the second half.
He went coast-to-coast after a steal to put Cal up 53-52 and then his foul shooting gave the Golden Bears a 60-57 cushion with six seconds left.
After Lee's jumper sent the game into OT, Gutierrez picked right up where he left off in regulation, scoring Cal's first six points in overtime.
"I never looked at the scoreboard," he said. "I just kept shooting it."
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Bruins have a Bear of a time in 76-72 overtime loss
Ball doesn't bounce UCLA's way at California after Malcolm Lee's three-point basket for the Bruins at the end of regulation forces an extra period.
By Ben Bolch
The Los Angeles Times
11:00 PM PST, February 20, 2011
Reporting from Berkeley
UCLA got the first big bounce, Malcolm Lee's desperation three-point shot at the end of regulation hitting the front of the rim, springing into the air and falling through the basket.
The Bruins weren't so fortunate a few minutes later.
California got the carom that mattered most, securing a missed free throw late in overtime to help take a 76-72 victory on Sunday night at Haas Pavilion.
After Cal's Jorge Gutierrez made one free throw to give Cal a 69-68 lead with 1 minute 19 seconds left in the extra period, he missed the second. But Harper Kamp grabbed the rebound and the Golden Bears eventually scored on a putback by Mark Sanders-Frison to extend their cushion to three points.
"It was just a long rebound and it went to the other side of the rim," sophomore forward Reeves Nelson said, "so they got the rebound."
Coach Ben Howland said the Bruins were also to blame for failing to block out, a breakdown that has haunted UCLA throughout the season.
"You can't miss block outs and expect to win on the road," Howland said.
The Bruins still appeared in position to steal the victory when Nelson scored inside to draw UCLA within 71-70, but Gutierrez drove into the lane and passed to an open Brandon Smith, whose three-pointer gave Cal a four-point lead with 14 seconds remaining.
Jerime Anderson's driving layup with six seconds left proved meaningless when the Bruins failed to foul on Cal's ensuing possession until there were only seven-tenths of a second left. Gutierrez made both free throws, the final of his career-high 34 points helping to end UCLA's winning streak at six games and end the Golden Bears' skid at four games.
Gutierrez repeatedly shredded the Bruins' defense, forcing them to put Lee on him instead of Allen Crabbe, who had eight points in his return from a concussion that had sidelined him for two games.
"It didn't matter who was guarding him," Howland said. "They were screening for him and he turned the corner and drove on our bigs."
Cal students stormed the court in celebration of a triumph that may have served as a wake-up call for UCLA (19-8 overall, 10-4 Pacific 10 Conference).
"This kind of slaps us back into reality," said Lee, who had 19 points. "When we were on that winning streak, everything was all good. It was like, yeah, we're going to get into the tournament, blah, blah, blah.
"This kind of levels us and gets us back down and saying we've got to start from square one again and just build it back up."
The Bruins used one zone to try to escape another. After playing as if they were in a fog for much of the first 25 minutes, they went to a 2-3 zone with big men Joshua Smith and Nelson in foul trouble. It was the first time this season UCLA had used a zone defense, and it helped them rally from a six-point deficit early in the second half.
"It slowed them down," Nelson said. "They had a good game plan coming in and the zone threw them off a little bit."
Smith gave UCLA its first lead with 7:15 remaining, stepping to the free-throw line and making two shots as Cal fans yelled "Jenny Craig" at the 305-pounder.
The teams exchanged leads over the next few minutes until Cal (14-13, 7-8) took a 60-57 advantage on four consecutive free throws by Gutierrez.
With 3.3 seconds left, Tyler Honeycutt inbounded the ball to Lee, whose fadeaway three-pointer from the top of the key hit the front of the rim, bounced into the air and went in. Lee pumped his fist as he was mobbed by jubilant teammates.
"When I initially let it go, it felt good," Lee said. "I knew it was going to have a chance because it was straight. When it hit the rim, the way it bounced, I was like, oh, that's about to bounce in. It did bounce in."
The next bounce didn't take the turn UCLA wanted.
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UCLA falls into Bear trap placed by Cal's Gutierrez
By Jon Gold Staff Writer
Posted: 02/20/2011 10:27:34 PM PST
Updated: 02/20/2011 11:37:20 PM PST
BERKELEY - UCLA head coach Ben Howland waved his head in disgust and then smacked his right hand directly on his forehead, his shoulders collapsing.
The Bruins chased Cal around the court all night, particularly spectacular guard Jorge Gutierrez, and couldn't catch the Bears.
Right when they needed to catch up the most - simply fouling a Bear, any Bear, as the dwindling seconds dripped off the clock in overtime - they couldn't.
With a two-point lead, Cal dribbled out the clock after a Jerime Anderson layup, UCLA was not able to foul until just 0.7 seconds remained, and Gutierrez knocked down two free throws to give the Bears the 76-72 win at Haas Pavilion.
Howland was shaken to the core, simply heartbroken.
For all of UCLA's guts and heart down the stretch to end like ... this?
The Bruins were quiet and morbid after coming all the way back from a 13-point deficit but ultimately losing for the first time in seven games.
"We felt like it was meant to be for us to win that game," UCLA sophomore small forward Tyler Honeycutt said. "For us to lose like that probably hurts more."
Perhaps it's not a surprise Gutierrez outran the Bruins; he left them in his dust all night.
The Chihuahua, Mexico, product played like a Great Dane, scurrying all over the court for the Bears, weaving his way into traffic, darting into the post, leading all scorers with 34 points - the most UCLA (19-8, 10-4) has allowed all season - including nine points in overtime.
"Their coach found something that was working for them and they exploited it all night," said UCLA junior guard Malcolm Lee, who led the Bruins with 19 points.
"They were running him off of picks, high pick and rolls, doubles. Nothing broke, why fix it? ... We just have to get back in the lab and basically fix this problem."
But Gutierrez's biggest play was not one of his brilliant coast-to-coast layups, or his conniving thievery or even his outside game.
With 14 seconds left in overtime and no options at the top of the key, Gutierrez delivered a bullet to teammate Brandon Smith in the right corner for a wide-open 3-pointer, giving Cal (14-13, 7-8) an insurmountable four-point lead.
"I had a feeling I was going to get another three," Smith said. "When (Gutierrez) drove I made sure I was ready to knock it down.
"When he passed it to me it wasn't right in my shot pocket, and there was a guy coming out. I thought, 'I am still going to stick this,' and it went in."
Forget four points in overtime: Given UCLA's play for much of the first 22 minutes, it seemed Cal's 13-point lead early in the second half would have been too much to overcome.
With 7:26 left in the first half, UCLA trailed 21-11, had seven turnovers and that vaunted balance that the Bruins highlight was out in full force: no player had more than two points.
It took a little time - and a couple of Honeycutt 3-pointers - but UCLA finally got into a zone.
Literally.
Howland, who maintained throughout the season that he would not switch from his standard man-to-man, made the change with Cal leading 37-31 and 14:30 left, and the Bruins took off.
"The zone stopped the bleeding a lot," Lee said. "Although they were scoring in the zone, it was more like one out of three times, as opposed to scoring every time against the man. Zone is the reason we got back in the game."
That, and one humongous Lee shot. Lee hit a fading 26-foot 3-pointer as time expired, or more appropriately, after time expired, as the ball hit the front of the rim, the clock hit zero, and the ball dropped in.
The two teams certainly have a flair for the dramatic.
Last season, UCLA senior guard Michael Roll hit a 13-foot jumper with 1.9 seconds left to lift the Bruins to a 76-75 lead at Cal.
In the teams' first matchup Jan. 21 at Pauley Pavilion, sophomore forward ReevesNelson tipped in a short Honeycutt jumper at the buzzer to give the Bruins an 86-84 win.
This one finally went Cal's way, though, breaking a four-game losing streak and ending UCLA's scorching streak, as the Bruins had won 10-of-11 and 16-of-19.
"When you get on a winning streak, you kind of forget about reality," Lee said.
"Basically this slaps us back to reality. ... When we were on the streak, everything was all good, we were feeling all gravy ... This kind of levels us. It gets us back down, and we have to start from square one again."
Click on boxscore to enlarge (from Yahoo Sports)
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