Blog post updated Feb 26, 2012 12:09 PM PT
Senior guard Jerime Anderson drives to the basket during a fast break. The point guard scores 20 pts on 9-of-16 shooting. Daily Bruin Blaine OhigashiBy SAM STRONG
Daily Bruin in Men's BasketballSports
Published February 25, 2012, 5:18 pm
TUCSON, Ariz. — As Jerime Anderson’s potential game-tying shot glanced off the backside of the rim and fell to the floor, so did the heads of everyone on the UCLA bench.
Another second-half lead in a conference road game, another disappointing loss, this time to Arizona on Saturday at McKale Center 65-63.
UCLA held a six-point lead with just over 10 minutes to play but failed to defend Arizona guard Kyle Fogg, who finished with a game-high 20 points, when it mattered most.
It’s a familiar scenario for the Bruins who finished 3-6 in conference road games this season, tied for their second-worst road performance in coach Ben Howland’s tenure.
“It’s really disappointing to lose this game after playing well enough to win,” said Howland, who uttered similar lines in road losses to Oregon and Washington when his team gave up double-digit, second-half leads.
UCLA weathered the storm in one of the toughest places to play in the conference for roughly 30 minutes but after surrendering the lead, the Bruins would never retake it.
When prompted for a reason why they haven’t been able to finish off close games on the road, each person had a different answer.
Howland talked of poor free throw shooting and not getting calls while others mentioned the lack of a leader or go-to scorer. Sophomore guard Tyler Lamb had no such explanation.
“I don’t know,” he said. “I really don’t know. I have turnovers at the end of the game and I have to cut down on that. That doesn’t help our team.”
Trailing by four with 29 seconds left, UCLA (16-13, 9-7) forced Arizona (21-9, 12-5) to burn a timeout before forcing a turnover on the inbound pass but just as quickly as the Bruins had the ball back, Lamb dribbled it off his foot and out of bounds on the ensuing possession.
Although Arizona’s Solomon Hill would go on to miss both of his free throws, Howland called Lamb’s turnover “big.”
Playing on Arizona’s senior day, only one of UCLA’s senior guards looked like a senior as Anderson led his team in scoring with 20 points. Fellow senior guard Lazeric Jones finished with just two after going for 20 himself two nights earlier. Fogg was draped all over Jones for the majority of the contest.
“I thought (Fogg) got him a little bit out of his rhythm and sometimes you start pressing rather than being patient and letting it come,” Howland said. “As a primary scorer, he’s got to learn how to do that better.”
Jones is the team’s only captain but redshirt sophomore Travis Wear said Jones’ struggles were no excuse for faltering in crunch time.
“Even if some players have bad games, it shouldn’t affect everyone,” Wear said. “We’re a team and we have to pick each other up.”
Foul trouble again limited center Joshua Smith who scored nine points in 14 limited minutes. Smith picked up three fouls in the first half and was playing with four for the majority of the second half.
Howland said that the sophomore’s conditioning continues to be a problem.
“It’s hard for him to get rhythm when he’s only playing that many minutes,” Howland said. “You could see he got tired out there tonight.”
Regardless of where the blame lies, UCLA’s road woes are over for this season as the Bruins’ two remaining conference games come next week at the Sports Arena where they will host to Washington State on Thursday and Washington on Saturday.
Another second-half lead in a conference road game, another disappointing loss, this time to Arizona on Saturday at McKale Center 65-63.
UCLA held a six-point lead with just over 10 minutes to play but failed to defend Arizona guard Kyle Fogg, who finished with a game-high 20 points, when it mattered most.
It’s a familiar scenario for the Bruins who finished 3-6 in conference road games this season, tied for their second-worst road performance in coach Ben Howland’s tenure.
“It’s really disappointing to lose this game after playing well enough to win,” said Howland, who uttered similar lines in road losses to Oregon and Washington when his team gave up double-digit, second-half leads.
UCLA weathered the storm in one of the toughest places to play in the conference for roughly 30 minutes but after surrendering the lead, the Bruins would never retake it.
When prompted for a reason why they haven’t been able to finish off close games on the road, each person had a different answer.
Howland talked of poor free throw shooting and not getting calls while others mentioned the lack of a leader or go-to scorer. Sophomore guard Tyler Lamb had no such explanation.
“I don’t know,” he said. “I really don’t know. I have turnovers at the end of the game and I have to cut down on that. That doesn’t help our team.”
Trailing by four with 29 seconds left, UCLA (16-13, 9-7) forced Arizona (21-9, 12-5) to burn a timeout before forcing a turnover on the inbound pass but just as quickly as the Bruins had the ball back, Lamb dribbled it off his foot and out of bounds on the ensuing possession.
Although Arizona’s Solomon Hill would go on to miss both of his free throws, Howland called Lamb’s turnover “big.”
Playing on Arizona’s senior day, only one of UCLA’s senior guards looked like a senior as Anderson led his team in scoring with 20 points. Fellow senior guard Lazeric Jones finished with just two after going for 20 himself two nights earlier. Fogg was draped all over Jones for the majority of the contest.
“I thought (Fogg) got him a little bit out of his rhythm and sometimes you start pressing rather than being patient and letting it come,” Howland said. “As a primary scorer, he’s got to learn how to do that better.”
Jones is the team’s only captain but redshirt sophomore Travis Wear said Jones’ struggles were no excuse for faltering in crunch time.
“Even if some players have bad games, it shouldn’t affect everyone,” Wear said. “We’re a team and we have to pick each other up.”
Foul trouble again limited center Joshua Smith who scored nine points in 14 limited minutes. Smith picked up three fouls in the first half and was playing with four for the majority of the second half.
Howland said that the sophomore’s conditioning continues to be a problem.
“It’s hard for him to get rhythm when he’s only playing that many minutes,” Howland said. “You could see he got tired out there tonight.”
Regardless of where the blame lies, UCLA’s road woes are over for this season as the Bruins’ two remaining conference games come next week at the Sports Arena where they will host to Washington State on Thursday and Washington on Saturday.
____________________
UCLA's Tyler Lamb drives to the basket around Arizona's Nick Johnson, left, during the first half. WILY LOW, AP MORE PHOTOS »Fogg helps Arizona hold off UCLA
/ THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
Published: Feb. 25, 2012 Updated: 8:44 p.m.
TUCSON - It's only fitting that Kyle Fogg is majoring in psychology at Arizona. After all, the Wildcats guard has been in UCLA's head for four years.
For all of Fogg's Senior Day heroics, the Bruins still had a chance to win, or at least send the game into overtime, in the final seconds. But Jerime Anderson's jumper on what both Anderson and UCLA coach Ben Howland later admitted was an ill-conceived play, bounced off the rim as the buzzer.
“We were looking for a fake handoff and go, and it just wasn't there,” Howland said. “It was my fault.”
“In retrospect we should have come down and run an iso or a flat screen up top,” Anderson said.
There will be plenty of second-guessing about a season in which the underachieving, dysfunctional Bruins have gone from preseason Pac-12 favorites to needing to win four games in four days in next month's conference tournament and sneak into the NCAA Tournament with the Pac-12's automatic berth.
“We had the game,” UCLA guard Tyler Lamb said. “It went down to the wire, and we made some costly mistakes.”
Certainly, Saturday's ending looked all too familiar to the Bruins after blowing sizable leads in losses at Oregon and Washington earlier this season. Of UCLA's seven road losses, five have been by three or fewer points.
Less than 48 hours after lighting up Arizona State for 20 points, Jones was reduced to a non-factor from the opening tip by Fogg. Jones was 1 for 12 from the field and didn't earn a single foul shot.
“Fogg did a great job of defending him,” Howland said, referring to Jones. “He got him a little bit out of his rhythm.”
Even so UCLA took a 45-39 lead with 10:09 remaining on an Anderson layup.
Anderson, who battled Fogg in the Orange County high school wars while playing for Canyon, also finished with 20 points. But it was Fogg who owned the day.
Coming out of a timeout after Anderson's basket, Fogg stepped up and nailed a 3-point jumper.
“I wanted to give the guys energy,” Fogg said. “We picked it up a notch.”
The 3-pointer, Howland said “was key.”
____________________
ARIZONA 65, UCLA 63: Bruins can't solve Arizona senior guard Fogg
The Los Angeles Daily News
Posted: 02/25/2012 10:55:41 PM PST
Updated: 02/25/2012 10:57:45 PM
PST
TUCSON, Ariz. - Tyler Lamb was a step behind and Anthony Stover was a second
late. The two UCLA sophomores simply looked lost.
In a Fogg, you could say.
Arizona senior guard Kyle Fogg drained a 3-pointer with 53 seconds left among mass UCLA confusion to give the Wildcats a six-point cushion, and they eventually closed out the Bruins with a 65-63 Pacific-12 Conference victory at McKale Center in front of 14,724.
UCLA guard Jerime Anderson - who matched Fogg's game-high 20 points - had a chance to tie the score with a second left, but his jump shot clanked off the rim.
It was the Bruins' fifth road loss by less than three points in 2012.
"This one is very tough," a sullen Anderson said after the game. "I don't know if this is the toughest loss we've taken all year ... but it's up there."
Particularly after wrestling the lead away from Arizona midway through the second half and maintaining a slight advantage until roughly four minutes remained.
If not for Fogg, the Bruins might have coasted.
Playing to a packed house on Senior Day, the rivalry's biggest recent barometer turned it on just as UCLA did.
Fogg - who has averaged 20 points in the Wildcats' four wins over the Bruins since 2009 and just nine points in three losses - scored 11 of Arizona's 15 points during UCLA's second-half run, never letting the Wildcats fall behind by more than four.
His free throw with 4:06 left gave Arizona a 54-53 lead and the Wildcats (21-9, 12-5 Pac-12) never trailed again.
"As he goes, they go," Anderson said. "He started getting it going in the second half, getting to the free-throw line, then he started to find some comfortability, hit some 3 s. He's a good player, he's always been a good player."
Anderson knows well.
The two have squared off against each other since meeting randomly in a rec gym in eighth grade and they traded points Saturday once more. With Fogg shutting down UCLA's leading scorer Lazeric Jones - who had 20 points in a 66-57 win over Arizona State on Thursday but just two points on 1-of-12 shooting against the Wildcats - Anderson rose to the occasion.
Except on the hurried last possession, as UCLA had no timeouts following a Fogg free throw with seven seconds left. The Bruins ran a fake handoff, though Anderson said he "would've rather just come down and had an iso or maybe a flat screen, something up top." Precious seconds dripped off the clock, and Anderson was forced to take an off-balance jumper with less than two seconds left.
"You always want to make the big shot, just help your team to a win," Anderson said. "That's the only thing that matters at the end of the day. I could care less if I scored 40 points as long as we get the 'W.'"
Anderson had to take matters into his own hands as his teammates crumbled under the pressure.
Excluding Anderson, who made 9-of-16 shots, the Bruins shot just 16 of 45 from the field and 11 of 18 from the free-throw line.
Joshua Smith's foul trouble didn't help matters for UCLA (16-13, 9-7) as the hulking sophomore center was called for two quick fouls in the first half and then added a third before the break, eventually finishing with four fouls but nine points and five rebounds.
"He's getting the same fouls over and over and they're reaching fouls," UCLA coach Ben Howland said. "His first foul of the game was reaching in. He has to play to his size and we keep talking about it, hopefully he'll eventually be able to do it because he was very effective for us and he only got to play 14 minutes."
With Smith burdened by foul trouble, Howland still insisted on going into the post as David and Travis Wear combined for 21 points and 16 rebounds in 56 total minutes.
Eventually, though, when it mattered most, UCLA was unsure where to go.
Arizona had Fogg, the venerable leader who helped bridge the gap between the pre-Derrick Williams Wildcats and now the post-Williams Wildcats.
The Bruins had Anderson, who only demands the ball some of the time.
On Saturday, not enough.
"We've had trouble at the end of games and that's the focus then," Anderson said. "We never really made a point to point that guy out, per se. That's an important thing you do on a team.
"There should be that guy."
Almost 30 games into the season, that player appears lost, though.
In a fog, you might say.
____________________
UCLA upset bid falls short at Arizona
Kyle Fogg scores 16 of his 20 points in the second half and hits a key three-pointer to give the Wildcats a 65-63 win over the visiting Bruins.
Associated Press
via The Los Angeles Times
February 25, 2012 4:45 PM PST
TUCSON — Kyle Fogg hit a big three-point shot while scoring 16 of his 20 points in the second half and hounded UCLA's Lazeric Jones into a horrible shooting game, helping Arizona hold on to beat the Bruins, 65-63, on Saturday.
Hoping to stay in line for at least an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament, Arizona (21-9, 12-5 Pac-12) struggled against UCLA's front line, had trouble getting shots to go in until late and had to slug it out in a sometimes ugly game against the middle-of-the-pack Bruins.
The Wildcats' upperclassmen made sure it didn't end in disappointment.
Jesse Perry had 12 points in the second half and had eight rebounds. Junior Solomon Hill had 13 points and teamed with Perry to keep numerous possessions alive with relentlessness on the offensive glass, particularly in the second half.
Fogg played his usual in-your-jersey defense, holding Jones to two points on one-of-12 shooting, hit a three-pointer with 53 seconds left to put Arizona up by six and grabbed nine rebounds.
"This team, more than any other team I've been a part of, has been a function of seniors really just leading and playing exceptional at the end," Arizona Coach Sean Miller said. "I think it makes us all feel good to see these guys kind of finish off what they started a long time ago."
UCLA (16-13, 9-7) led midway through the second half and managed to stay close until the end despite Jones' shooting woes and center Joshua Smith's foul trouble.
Jerime Anderson picked up the load with Jones unable to get anything to fall, scoring 20 points. Travis Wear did his best to fill the hefty shoes of Smith, getting 13 points and seven rebounds. Tyler Lamb added 11 points, including a banked-in three-pointer at the shot-clock buzzer that seemed to give the Bruins momentum in the second half.
They just couldn't finish it off, even after Arizona missed four of six free throws in the final 23 seconds. Anderson had the last shot at the buzzer, but his jumper sailed long.
"The outcome of tonight's game was really tough," Wear said. "We were able to maintain the lead throughout almost the entire game and we weren't even playing at our best. The loss really hurts."
Two of the conference's traditional powers came into the game needing wins.
Arizona was left with a slim margin for error after an up-and-down season.
A loss to Washington last weekend left the Wildcats two games out of first in the Pac-12, their chances of repeating as conference champions barely dangling.
Arizona followed that up with a resounding win over USC on Thursday, keeping the door open for at least an at-large berth to the NCAA tournament if it doesn't win the Pac-12 tournament. Of course, the Trojans are last in the Pac-12, so it was more of a don't-screw-it-up game for the Wildcats.
UCLA was looking for something positive at the end of a disappointing season, its only hope at the NCAA tournament being to win the conference tournament.
The preseason co-favorites to win the Pac-12, the Bruins got off to a miserable start and never really recovered, pretty much out of the conference race since mid-January.
UCLA won its first game of this trip, knocking off Arizona State, 66-57, behind Jones' 20 points.
Past matchups between these Pac-12 powers were normally blink-and-you'll-miss games, filled with alley-oops and fastbreak dunks.
This one played out more like an instructional video on half-court basketball, the teams walking it up and scoring intermittently, not in bunches.
The Bruins struggled with their shooting touch at times, launching at least five airballs, while Jones was 0 for 4 in the half. Smith played just four minutes after tweaking his back in practice Friday and picking up three fouls trying to guard the quicker Perry.
The Wildcats had a couple of lengthy stretches without a field goal and had some careless turnovers in the early going, including a double-dribble by Angelo Chol that caused Miller to punch the scorer's table behind him.
Arizona led, 27-26, after the first half and the bogged-down style didn't change in the second, with each team opening with an airball in a bruising game.
"Just a war," Miller said.
UCLA started to hit a few shots, building a six-point lead midway through, but Arizona wouldn't go away despite another long stretch without a field goal, staying within reach behind the relentlessness of Hill and Perry, who battled for offensive rebounds to keep possessions alive.
Fogg took it from there, dropping in a three-pointer and repeatedly got inside to draw fouls, then hit his three-pointer with just under a minute left.
Lamb followed with a jumper and UCLA pulled within 63-61 on two free throws by Smith with 12 seconds left. Fogg made just two of four free throws after that to give the Bruins a final shot, but they couldn't convert, leading to another tough-to-take loss.
____________________
Rapid Reaction: Arizona 65, UCLA 63
By Peter Yoon
ESPNLA, UCLA Report
February, 25, 2012 2:35 PM PT
UCLA let a lead slip away late in the game yet again, losing to Arizona, 65-63, aturday in a Pac-12 game at McKale Center in Tucson. It was UCLA's fourth conference loss by three points or fewer--all of those coming on the road--and the fourth time in conference play the Bruins have lost a game in which they held a second-half lead.
A quick look at the game:
OVERVIEW: It was a back-and-forth battle throughout with 14 lead changes and seven ties, but things seemed to be going UCLA's way when Tyler Lamb hit a desperation 3-pointer at the shot clock buzzer to give the Bruins a 50-46 lead with 6:28 to play.
At that point, Arizona had made only five field goals in the second half and looked clueless against UCLA;s defense, but the Wildcats scored on eight consecutive possessions to take a 60-55 lead. The Bruins forced 15 turnovers and limited Arizona to 37.5% shooting for the game, but got only two turnovers in the final 10:53 and Arizona was six-of-six from the field over the final 7:10.
Arizona let UCLA stay in the game by making only two of six free throws in the final 30 seconds while Joshua Smith and Jerime Anderson combined to make four of four from the line in the final 12 seconds. Arizona's Kyle Fogg gave the Wildcats a 65-63 lead by making one of two free throws with 7.8 seconds to play, but UCLA, without a timeout, couldn't get off a clean shot and Anderson missed a potential game-tying jump shot at the buzzer.
Anderson matched his career high with 20 points, but didn't get much offensive help from his backcourt mates as Lazeric Jones and Tyler Lamb combined to make only five of 23 shots (21.7 percent). Travis Wear added 13 points and seven rebounds for the Bruins (16-13, 9-7 Pac-12).
Kyle Fogg had 20 points, 16 in the second half, to lead Arizona (21-9, 12-5).
TURNING POINT: Lamb picked up his fourth personal foul with 6:28 to play and UCLA coach Ben Howland switched his best defender off of Fogg, who proceeded to score eight consecutive points over the next two minutes and had 13 of his 20 points in the final 6:28.
Fogg, Arizona's leading scorer, had only seven points on two of nine shooting while Lamb was guarding him, but was able to find open shots and drive the lane without Lamb's hounding defense. Even when Lamb went back on Fogg, Lamb was unable to play as aggressively because of the fear of picking up his fourth foul. Fogg made eight of 11 free throws and was two-of-two from the field in the final 6:28, including a back-breaking three-pointer that gave Arizona a 63-57 lead with 53 seconds to play.
UCLA STAR OF THE GAME: Anderson was the clear star on offense with 20 points on nine-of-15 shooting. He played consistently throughout with 10 points in each half and also added four rebounds and three assists in 37 minutes.
He also made a pair of free throws with nine seconds remaining to keep UCLA within a point at 64-63. He scored eight of UCLA's final 20 points.
STAT OF THE GAME: Jones, UCLA's leading scorer, was 1-12 from the field and scored only two points. It was the second time in two tries that Jones has played a forgettable game at McKale Center. Last year, he was 0-7 and had no points in Tucson.
A couple of other key stats: UCLA shot 61.1 percent (11-18) from the free throw line and was seven of 14 before Smith and Anderson made four of four in the waning seconds. Those misses loom large in a two-point loss. Also, Smith played only 14 minutes, including only four in the first half, because of foul trouble. He was nearly unstoppable in the post when he played, scoring nine points, but couldn't stay on the floor long enough to make a major difference.
WHAT IT MEANS: UCLA's odds of making the NCAA tournament got a lot longer.
If the Bruins are going to make the NCAA tournament, they are going to probably going to have to do it the hard way: win four games in four days during the Pac-12 tournament. The best UCLA can finish in Pac-12 play now is 11-7, which means the Bruins will need help in the form of three losses by Oregon (10-5) and two by Colorado (10-5) if the Bruins are going to get a first-round bye in the Pac-12 tournament.
Unless that unlikely scenario happens, the Bruins are headed for a six- or seventh-place finish in the conference and will have to play in the opening round. No team has won the Pac-10 tournament by winning four games in four days.
A quick look at the game:
OVERVIEW: It was a back-and-forth battle throughout with 14 lead changes and seven ties, but things seemed to be going UCLA's way when Tyler Lamb hit a desperation 3-pointer at the shot clock buzzer to give the Bruins a 50-46 lead with 6:28 to play.
At that point, Arizona had made only five field goals in the second half and looked clueless against UCLA;s defense, but the Wildcats scored on eight consecutive possessions to take a 60-55 lead. The Bruins forced 15 turnovers and limited Arizona to 37.5% shooting for the game, but got only two turnovers in the final 10:53 and Arizona was six-of-six from the field over the final 7:10.
Arizona let UCLA stay in the game by making only two of six free throws in the final 30 seconds while Joshua Smith and Jerime Anderson combined to make four of four from the line in the final 12 seconds. Arizona's Kyle Fogg gave the Wildcats a 65-63 lead by making one of two free throws with 7.8 seconds to play, but UCLA, without a timeout, couldn't get off a clean shot and Anderson missed a potential game-tying jump shot at the buzzer.
Anderson matched his career high with 20 points, but didn't get much offensive help from his backcourt mates as Lazeric Jones and Tyler Lamb combined to make only five of 23 shots (21.7 percent). Travis Wear added 13 points and seven rebounds for the Bruins (16-13, 9-7 Pac-12).
Kyle Fogg had 20 points, 16 in the second half, to lead Arizona (21-9, 12-5).
TURNING POINT: Lamb picked up his fourth personal foul with 6:28 to play and UCLA coach Ben Howland switched his best defender off of Fogg, who proceeded to score eight consecutive points over the next two minutes and had 13 of his 20 points in the final 6:28.
Fogg, Arizona's leading scorer, had only seven points on two of nine shooting while Lamb was guarding him, but was able to find open shots and drive the lane without Lamb's hounding defense. Even when Lamb went back on Fogg, Lamb was unable to play as aggressively because of the fear of picking up his fourth foul. Fogg made eight of 11 free throws and was two-of-two from the field in the final 6:28, including a back-breaking three-pointer that gave Arizona a 63-57 lead with 53 seconds to play.
UCLA STAR OF THE GAME: Anderson was the clear star on offense with 20 points on nine-of-15 shooting. He played consistently throughout with 10 points in each half and also added four rebounds and three assists in 37 minutes.
He also made a pair of free throws with nine seconds remaining to keep UCLA within a point at 64-63. He scored eight of UCLA's final 20 points.
STAT OF THE GAME: Jones, UCLA's leading scorer, was 1-12 from the field and scored only two points. It was the second time in two tries that Jones has played a forgettable game at McKale Center. Last year, he was 0-7 and had no points in Tucson.
A couple of other key stats: UCLA shot 61.1 percent (11-18) from the free throw line and was seven of 14 before Smith and Anderson made four of four in the waning seconds. Those misses loom large in a two-point loss. Also, Smith played only 14 minutes, including only four in the first half, because of foul trouble. He was nearly unstoppable in the post when he played, scoring nine points, but couldn't stay on the floor long enough to make a major difference.
WHAT IT MEANS: UCLA's odds of making the NCAA tournament got a lot longer.
If the Bruins are going to make the NCAA tournament, they are going to probably going to have to do it the hard way: win four games in four days during the Pac-12 tournament. The best UCLA can finish in Pac-12 play now is 11-7, which means the Bruins will need help in the form of three losses by Oregon (10-5) and two by Colorado (10-5) if the Bruins are going to get a first-round bye in the Pac-12 tournament.
Unless that unlikely scenario happens, the Bruins are headed for a six- or seventh-place finish in the conference and will have to play in the opening round. No team has won the Pac-10 tournament by winning four games in four days.
Boxscore (Yahoo Sports)
No comments:
Post a Comment