USC steals win in Pauley
Men’s basketball forces overtime but gives up game’s last six points in falling to the Trojans
Blaine Ohigashi / Daily BruinRedshirt junior forward David Wear looks up at the scoreboard as the Trojans pull away from the Bruins during the last minute of overtime.
Daily bruin
Men's Basketball
| USC | 75 |
| UCLA | 71 |
Tim Bradbury
USC redshirt senior guard Jio Fontan strips the ball from freshman guard Shabazz Muhammad during the first half of the Trojans’ 75-71 win Wednesday night.
“I heard them but I didn’t want to look at them,” UCLA’s redshirt junior forward said.
They were a jubilant bench full of USC Trojans who had just beaten the Bruins on their home floor Wednesday, 75-71, in overtime.
Less than a week prior to the loss to USC, UCLA toppled a top 10 team in Arizona. The team has now lost three of its last four games.
“We can be really, really good at times and we can be really, really bad…” said redshirt senior guard Larry Drew II.
USC – who fired its coach earlier this month – entered halftime with an eight-point lead that quickly turned into 15. The Bruins (16-6, 6-3 Pac-12) went on a 7-2 run at the end of regulation aided by a crowd of 12,821, but couldn’t hang on through the overtime period.
The Trojans (9-13, 4-5) scored the game’s final six points to break a four-game losing streak in the rivalry. USC had five players score in double figures and its bench outscored UCLA’s 24-7. UCLA coach Ben Howland held himself accountable after the game for not using his bench properly.
“We knew we were going to get their best game,” Wear said. “They gave it their all … . You’re going at it for bragging rights. It’s not surprising that they played the way they did.”
UCLA had doubted whether two of its top three scorers, freshman guard Shabazz Muhammad (flu-like symptoms) and Wear (concussion), would be available for Wednesday’s game. Muhammad received two liters of IV fluid before the game but still led the Bruins in scoring with 22 points.
Not even Wear could save UCLA in the rebounding column as the Bruins were beat on the glass for the second straight game. UCLA also allowed USC to shoot over 40 percent.
The Bruins, conversely, shot 38 percent and made just two of 19 3-pointers.
“Open-floor-fast break is what we do but we can’t do that if we don’t get stops and rebounds,” Drew said.
Both teams wore alternate uniforms, the Trojans in black and the Bruins in all blue as the game was billed as a “blue out.”
“We brought out the all blue everything looking fly, but it don’t mean nothing if you don’t go out there and win,” Drew said.
Howland said his team would have to do “some soul searching to find our way back.”
“We need to come to practice and go at each other’s throats,” Wear said.
“That’s how we’re going to get better.”
Email Strong at sstrong@media.ucla.edu.
daily Bruin
Have you ever seen that act called “Quick Change”? It’s mesmerizing.
A suited man comes out with a pretty lady. She’s wearing a bright dress. They dance together across the stage before stopping at a curtain on the floor. He pulls it up, obscuring her from the audience for no more than a second, then drops it. She’s wearing a brand new dress. They do it again. Another new dress. In some acts he even drops a bucket of confetti on the woman. New dress.
The UCLA men’s basketball team in late January probably shouldn’t leave you guessing like “Quick Change” does. But here we are after the Bruins walked away while the Trojans celebrated on the Pauley Pavilion court like they won the Super Bowl.
Larry Drew II couldn’t watch it. Travis Wear walked through the festivities with his eyes focused straight ahead at the tunnel to the locker room.
The Bruins had disguises on Wednesday, donning all blue jerseys with the socks and shoes to match.
It was appropriate for a night when the only thing we figured out about these Bruins was that we haven’t figured much out at all.
In the span of a week, we’ve seen a back-and-forth display from the Bruins. One day they’re beating Arizona on the road, another they’re getting out-hustled by Arizona State. On Wednesday, the fluctuations were happening during the game. The Bruins were trailing for most of it, put together an inspired stretch to come back from a 15-point deficit to even the game in regulation, then reverted to their sloppy rebounding ways and couldn’t grasp momentum in overtime.
Drew was fuming after his first rivalry game. The usually soft-spoken, lead-by-example point guard was animated throughout the game. He tried to pump up the crowd and took the game into his own hands by going right at the basket to score. Drew even took a crucial charge at the end of regulation that helped push the game into overtime.
Afterward, he was wondering why his effort wasn’t matched.
“I don’t think guys – for whatever reason may be – were all the way into the game on the defensive end,” Drew said. “It’s disappointing.”
I can think of some reasons, some out of their control. Shabazz Muhammad had the flu, but still managed to put up 22 points (imagine if he was healthy). Travis Wear had just come back from a concussion he suffered on the road.
Change can be a good thing, but the concept seems lost on coach Ben Howland at times.
Like on Wednesday, when he once again refused to use his three bench players to appropriately spell his starters. With the minutes David Wear, Norman Powell and Tony Parker played, it’s fair to wonder if three oxygen tanks might be a better investment for UCLA. Those three saw the court for just 16 percent of the available time and zero minutes combined in overtime. Meanwhile, UCLA was bricking away jump-shots and getting hammered on the offensive glass.
USC interim coach Bob Cantu, only on the job for a few weeks, used his bench to his advantage, giving his five subs 28 percent of the minutes. The Trojans withstood multiple players getting in foul trouble to outlast the Bruins.
Howland was again lamenting the fact that he didn’t play his reserves more often, a confession that rings hollower with every game he repeats it.
He won’t change his ways and neither will his team. The Bruins are one-dimensional, a team that needs its high-tempo offense to score and can’t adjust if the offense isn’t working. The starting five has to get the job done or this team won’t win.
The most puzzling aspect of “Quick Change” is the fact that you can never find where the lady’s old dress is after she changes into a new one. For one night in Arizona a week ago, we saw what the Bruins can be. They quickly changed.
USC 75, UCLA 71 (OT): Trojans play party crashers in first visit to Pauley Pavilion, upset Bruins
Posted: 01/30/2013 11:25:39 PM PST
Updated: 01/31/2013 06:06:27 AM PST
USC 75, UCLA 71 (OT) | PHOTOS
In an otherwise dour season, USC players will probably remember nothing more than storming the court at Pauley Pavilion at the end of an overtime victory on Wednesday night.
And why not? The Trojans shocked UCLA 75-71 in front of an equally stunned 12,821 who probably expected a comfortable Bruins victory in the crosstown rivalry.
"It's history to come in here and come out with the victory in their new building," USC point guard Jio Fontan said. "This whole week we took it serious. We wanted the win."
USC (9-13, 4-5 Pac-12) does not have many wins this season, but played like a different team against the Bruins, with five players scoring in double figures. It was the kind of game former coach
Kevin O'Neill envisioned before the game, but never really materialized.
But it also had some bumps as the Trojans blew a 52-37 lead in the second half and were forced to overtime when UCLA went on a 21-8 run.
"This is just a huge win, it's UCLA," USC interim Bob Cantu said. "We were never going to hang our heads in the overtime. The guys hung in there. This was about the team and keeping our poise."
Forward Dewayne Dedmon, who overcame the flu and played 16 minutes, said, "This is a big win. This should get our wheels rolling."
Coach Ben Howland was unhappy with the Bruins' rebounding as USC won that battle 44-36.
"I'm obviously very disappointed with the loss," Howland said. "'SC played tough, inspired basketball. However, rebounding hurt us again. They were more physical than us in the first half. It comes down to us doing a better job blocking out."
UCLA (16-6, 6-3) had the crowd roaring and nearly won the game as guard Larry Drew III missed a 3-pointer at the buzzer. But the Bruins still entered the extra period with momentum. UCLA
USC's Eric Wise contests a shot by UCLA's Kyle Anderson in the first half. (John McCoy/Staff Photographer)
Shabazz Muhammad's jump shot gave UCLA a 71-70 lead but Byron Wesley's layup and two free throws by Ari Stewart with 11 seconds left gave USC a 74-71 advantage. Fontan's free throw with three seconds left sealed the victory.
"Jio was huge in so many ways," Cantu said. "The guys looked to him. He didn't get rattled."
It was an impressive performance for Cantu, who wants to keep the job. Whether a victory in Pauley Pavilion improves his chances remains to be seen, especially because sources say USC wants to hire a big-name coach.
Nevertheless the victory would be something Cantu could always put on his resume.
"It's a huge win," he said. "It's UCLA."
USC is now 5-5 in its past 10 games at Pauley Pavilion after snapping a four-game losing streak to the Bruins. It was arguably USC's biggest victory since it defeated the Bruins 67-46 in 2010.
Fontan and forward Aaron Fuller each scored 15 points while forward Eric Wise added 12 points and 11 rebounds. Fuller made his first six shots and missed only one.
"Aaron Fuller was unbelievable," Cantu said.
UCLA was led by Muhammad's 22 points, but he missed 11 of 18 shots. Travis Wear added 16 points.
"I'm not sure about the loss," Drew said. "It seems the guys were not really into it. We just never got a chance. We have to really figure out what we've been doing wrong."
USC's also overcame Fontan's foul trouble.
Fontan picked up his fourth foul with 9:55 left in regulation and the Bruins outscored USC 10-4 to cut the Trojans' lead to 61-56 with five minutes left. Cantu was forced to put Fontan back in to try to stop the Bruins' momentum.
The savior for the Trojans in that span was Wise, who scored three baskets and helped USC maintain a 63-56 lead with 4:22 remaining.
"It was tough playing with four fouls," Fontan said. "There were one or two steals I could have gotten but I wasn't able to and they took advantage of it."
JILL PAINTER on COLLEGE BASKETBALL: Trojans get well quicker than Bruins on this night
Posted: 01/30/2013 11:25:38 PM PST
Updated: 01/30/2013 11:42:38 PM PST
The USC and UCLA rivalry basketball game started with a Twitter war for most sympathy between star starters.
USC center Dewayne Dedmon tweeted a photo of his "day of preparation for (Wednesday's) battle USCvsUCLA" with a picture of his arm attached to an IV for fluids.
He had the flu.
Awww.
Shabazz Muhammad did the same thing, using instagram photos on Twitter with this caption: "Only the strong survives Gametime!!!!!" He had the IV going as well.
Muhammad and Travis Wear (concussion) both played, even though their status was in doubt, as did Dedmon. The week leading up to the game was all about injury reports and questions of who would play.
Perhaps, the Bruins got caught up in that.
UCLA was sick - and not in the good way - from behind the 3-point line, where it missed 17 of 19 shots, and allowed USC to make 50 percent of its attempts from long distance.
USC, playing inspired basketball for interim coach Bob Cantu following the midseason firing of Kevin O'Neill, was sick in a good way.
The Trojans didn't get the memo that Pauley Pavilion was a tough road game.
USC's Jio Fontan scored 15 points and four of the Trojans' five starters were in double figures as USC upset UCLA 75-71 in overtime.
Dedmon had just four points on five shots but was on the floor, and that was a hit with his teammates.
"I knew there was no way Dewayne wouldn't play," Cantu said. "He couldn't get out of bed (Tuesday). He was dizzy. This morning, the medical team did a great job getting him where he needed to be."
UCLA fell behind early, but went on a 21-8 run over the final 10 1/2 minutes of the second half to force overtime.
"That shows we're playing with poise and calmness," Cantu said. "We don't get too high or too low. We maintained our composure."
After the game, Cantu tweeted the final score with "Fight on." Simple and effective to get word out that the Trojans are not out of this conference race. At all.
USC was down by one in overtime when guard Byron Wesley scored for a 72-21 lead, and Muhammad missed a 3-pointer at the other end. Ari Stewart - who lived up to his "Ace" nickname - was fouled and made both free throws with 11 seconds left.
Players were chest-bumping at midcourt and celebrating their first win in the renovated arena. This was not just like football. USC won this time.
"The win makes up for everything," said Dedmon, who still was sniffling after the game.
Muhammad scored 22 points but missed two 3-pointers in the final minute of overtime, perhaps a sign of fatigue. The missed 3-pointers were contagious as five players - none of whom were named Muhammad - combined to go 0 for 13.
The teams staged a fashion duel, with UCLA wearing new blue-out uniforms and requesting its fans participate in a blue-out, too. Head-to-toe blue. You know how that kind of stuff goes in Los Angeles.
Fail.
This was no blue-out for UCLA. It was a wipe-out.
"We've got some soul-searching to do," UCLA coach Ben Howland said.
USC wore new uniforms as well, consisting of black shirts and shorts, but those were hard to see from the glare of its too-bright yellow shoes, which looked as though they could double as rain shoes.
UCLA, the team that had a 10-game win streak earlier this season, is reeling in the Pac-12. UCLA has six Pac-12 victories but has lost three of its last five.
USC made like the Clippers' bench as it had 24 points and 16 rebounds from its reserves.
UCLA already is looking forward to the rematch next month at the Galen Center.
"I know how I'm going to approach the game, to go out there and kill them," Larry Drew III said.
"When we play 'SC again, it's going to be war."
UCLA running back Johnathan Franklin led fans in an eight-clap during a timeout and earned a standing ovation. Franklin didn't employ the throat-slashing gesture he used when UCLA beat USC in football.
UCLA has much to figure out if it will get back to its winning ways. And USC is on the right track.
Maybe there's something to those dreadful, yellow shoes and IV bags after all.
jill.painter@dailynews.com
Trojans leave Bruins feeling ill in overtime
LOS ANGELES – A few hours before UCLA's matchup with crosstown rival USC, freshman Shabazz Muhammad sat in a whitewashed room, an IV attached to his arm, trying desperately to get over flu-like symptoms that had ravaged his body for the past 24 hours.
Muhammad would be just healthy enough to start UCLA's game against the Trojans – his team similarly beaten and tired, having lost two of its last three games. But with just a few minutes remaining in overtime after USC controlled the game during regulation, Muhammad's Bruins were the ones on life support.
USC players whoop it up after defeating UCLA in overtime Wednesday at Pauley Pavilion. From left are: Omar Oraby, Chass Bryan, Ari Stewart, and Dewayne Dedmon.
ARMANDO BROWN, FOR THE REGISTER
Still, they had Muhammad keeping them alive, the freshman phenom having scored 17 points since halftime and shot 50 percent from the floor in that span. With a minute left and UCLA down by one point, the ball found Muhammad's hands, his feet just inside the 3-point line.
But the shot fell woefully short as Muhammad labored back up the court. He'd get one more shot, with just six seconds remaining and the Bruins down three points, but this time, the 3-point attempt went long, Muhammad's second-half crusade falling short, as his Bruins lost to a USC team that had just eight wins prior to Wednesday night's matchup, 75-71 in overtime at Pauley Pavilion.
Muhammad wouldn't speak to the media after the game, and his teammates struggled to find words to describe what had just happened – both Larry Drew II and Travis Wear looking just as ill on the podium following the loss as their young teammate looked before the game.
"We can be really, really good at times and really, really bad at times," Drew II said. "I try to not tend to focus on the negatives ... but within the last week we've lost three games and we've won one. We have to figure out what it is that we're not doing consistently."
But there was no denying how different this loss was from the previous two. The Bruins' loss to Oregon seemed almost justifiable with the Ducks now a top-10 team, and against Arizona State, UCLA had been tired and somewhat overlooked a better-than-they-thought Sun Devil squad. But Wednesday's loss erased any positive vibes that remained from the Bruins' upset victory over Arizona last week. The loss to USC was not only the Bruins' third in four games, but it came at the hands of their hated rival, a team that ranked 130th in RPI.
"It's always worse when you lose to your rival and lose at home, lose two games in a row, three of four now," UCLA coach Ben Howland said, his voice drifting off. "We've got some soul searching to do."
What that means at this point, halfway through the conference season, remains to be seen. The Bruins have been on a roller coaster ride as of late, their effectiveness on offense ebbing and flowing with each game. On Wednesday, it was again a poor shooting effort – just 38 percent from the floor – and a lack of effort on the boards – they lost the rebounding battle, 44-36 – that would doom the Bruins.
Howland said after the game it wasn't the team's attitude that needed to change. But with effort on both ends woefully inconsistent over the past week, the answer to UCLA's problems may not be a simple quick-fix.
"It seems the guys weren't really into it," Drew II said. "Stops is the reason we couldn't build the lead. We just never got a chance. We have to really figure out what we've been doing wrong."
And until then, until some of those kinks can be ironed out, the Bruins' anemic offense and lack of effort on the glass may just keep them on life support for their foreseeable future.
JERSEY RETIRED
The Bruins already have one No. 31 jersey retired -- that one belongs to Ed O'Bannon -- but at halftime UCLA retired another one, honoring one of the best shooters in program history: Reggie Miller.
Miller didn't win a national championship in Westwood, but as arguably one of the best shooters college basketball has ever seen, averaging over 50 percent from the floor in his final two seasons. Miller joins eight other Bruins with their numbers retired at Pauley Pavilion.
"I never thought something like this would happen," Miller said. "When you think about all the great players that have come through this building, I'm not even close on the radar to a lot of them. It's a little humbling."
Contact the writer: rkartje@ocregister.com
USC enjoys first visit to new Pauley with upset of UCLA
The Trojans squander a 15-point lead in the second half but prevail, 75-71 in overtime, with some extra work.
By Chris Foster
The Los Angeles Times
11:05 PM PST, January 30, 2013
It took USC five years to get its first victory in Pauley Pavilion.
It took the Trojans one night in the renovated Pauley.
"Really, five years?" USC guard Chass Bryan said. "It's good to be 1-0 here now."
There was so much for the Trojans to celebrate after a 75-71 overtime victory Wednesday.
They had let a 15-point lead slip away in the second half, and things seemed pointed toward another disappointment in a season full of them. But at the buzzer, it was the Trojans who were dancing on the Nell and John Wooden Court, while the Bruins looked tired, or bewildered, or both.
This was UCLA's third loss in four games in Pac-12 Conference play. The Bruins (16-6, 6-3 in Pac-12) have a week off to fix things.
"We got some soul searching to do," Coach Ben Howland said.
The Bruins have a week to do it, as they do not play again until facing Washington on Feb. 7. That game, too, will be at Pauley Pavilion.
Asked if his team needed a little pride in their home court, Howland said, "that's self-explanatory. That's a basic thing. We can't expect that because we're at home that we're going to win. You got to show up and you got to be tough."
The Bruins may have bigger problems.
"We can be really, really good at times and really, really bad at times," senior guard Larry Drew II said. "We need to figure out what it is we're not doing consistently."
There was a road map for the Bruins. For the second consecutive game, the Bruins shot below 40%. They were 35% from the field in Saturday's loss to Arizona State. They shot 38% against the Trojans (9-13, 4-5).
The Bruins had Travis Wear (concussion) and Shabazz Muhammad (flu) in the lineup. Muhammad was clearly off his game, making only seven of 18 shots.
The Bruins were out-rebounded, 44-36. That included a big offensive rebound by USC's Eric Wise with 20 seconds left in overtime with USC leading by one point. UCLA was forced to foul and Ari Stewart made two free throws for a 74-71 lead. Muhammad missed a three-point shot with six seconds left.
"We're an open floor, fastbreak team, that's what we do," Drew said. "We can't do that if we can't get stops and we can't get rebounds."
USC had nothing to lose, and played like it much of the game. The Trojans' season was off the rails long ago, resulting in coach Kevin O'Neill's firing two weeks ago.
"With all that has happened the past couple weeks, we just bonded as a team," Bryan said. "We're trusting each other."
The Trojans led by as many as 15 points in the second half. Aaron Fuller had a season-high 13 points, in the first half, and finished with 15. Jio Fontan also had 15 points and Wise scored 12, 10 coming after halftime.
"When we needed a basket, we got it," USC interim Coach Bob Cantu said.
Howland saw the other side.
"We had poor defensive rotation," Howland said. He pointed out a drive and dunk by USC's T.J. Terrell.
"We just stood there watching," Howland said.
The Bruins finally did, closing regulation with a 21-8 run in the last 10 minutes. Jordan Adams hit a short baseline jumper to tie it, 65-65, with 31 seconds left.
Wise had a chance to win the game in regulation, but was called for charging with three seconds left. Drew missed 30-foot shot at the buzzer.
It was a strong comeback, but Drew said, "We have the talent to come back and overcome any obstacle. But why are we down in the first place?"
chris.foster@latimes.com
twitter.com/cfosterlatimes
USC 75, UCLA 71: Where to now?
Inside UCLA, LA Daily News
Here’s the Daily News game story (with a USC focus), my sidebar on UCLA’s overtime loss, as well as Jill Painter’s column.
Now, on to some takeaways from arguably the most embarrassing outing of the Bruins’ season — one that also cemented them as the most vexing team in the conference.
Defensive lapses: UCLA shouldn’t have the excuse of youth anymore, not with more than half the season already gone. The loss to Cal Poly could be chalked up to growing pains. These Bruins made strides during a 10-game winning streak, and truly tapped into their potential with a win at Arizona.
Wednesday night undid any of that progress.
Again, UCLA’s interior defense looked soft and welcoming — even as USC’s 7-footers Dewayne Dedmon and Omar Oraby logged just 22 combined minutes. The performance of backup forward Aaron Fuller sums up the Bruins’ performance well. The 6-foot-6 senior entered the game averaging 3.5 points, but found himself with 13 by halftime. Fuller scored a season-high 15 mostly on easy looks within two or three feet of the basket. It was just his second double-digit effort of the year.
“A lot of them were layups,” Ben Howland said. “A lot of them were just poor rotations, not rotating down. … I thought a lot of the baskets that Fuller got in the first half — we had like one transition bucket where we gave up a layup over the top. We made a number of errors.”
USC forward Eric Wise, who had just two points and four rebounds at halftime, ended up with 12 points and 11 rebounds — his third double-double of the year.
Sluggish starts: Is UCLA playing down to its competition? Everyone supposedly knew how important the rivalry game was, that USC’s season could be made with one win at Pauley Pavilion. There was a full week until the next competition, so big matchup loomed as a distraction.
Shabazz Muhammad had a flu this week, but he still scored 22 points on 7-of-18 shooting. It’s not like his illness made every other Bruin miss a combined 13 attempts from downtown, or ruined UCLA’s ability to rotate on defense. The Trojans have been playing better under interim coach Bob Cantu, but they still weren’t among the top teams in the conference.
Whenever the Bruins are questioned about rebounding or defense, their go-to answer has been effort. Nevertheless, their performances this season have charted the type of path you’d find at Six Flags.
“Obviously, we have the talent to come back and overcome any kind of obstacle like that, but why are we down in the first place?” point guard Larry Drew II said. “We shouldn’t be down. We should play that hard from the jump and we have to figure that out and as a team we have to understand that and that’s the only way we’re going to get better.”
No easy answers: UCLA will return to action next week coming off back-to-back losses for the first time this season. Ken Pomeroy, who gave the Bruins an 82 percent chance to beat USC, projects three more losses through the rest of the regular season (Cal, Stanford, Arizona). That would give UCLA a 11-7 record in the Pac-12, the same as 2012.
Can they out-perform the readjusted expectations?
“We can be really, really good at times and we can be really, really bad at times,” Drew said.
“We’ve got some soul-searching to do,” said Howland, who may need a Final Four to save his job at this point.
Bonus quote, from Larry Drew II: “I know how I’m going to approach the game, to go out there and kill them. I’m very disappointed we lost this on our home court. … Obviously we have games before then and that will be our focus and main priority. When we play SC again, it’s going to be war.”
Too little, too late?
Rapid Reaction: USC 75, UCLA 71 (OT)
January, 30, 2013
JAN 30
10:26
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