Bruins without much room for error

Arizona State will likely try to use guard Jahii Carson, left, to break down UCLA's zone defense in Sunday's game. DANNY MOLOSHOK, AP

By RYAN KARTJE / ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
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Published: Jan. 11, 2014 Updated: 7:18 p.m.

LOS ANGELES – UCLA did almost everything in its power to make Thursday’s loss to top-ranked Arizona look at least somewhat encouraging.

It mounted a late 13-0 run, held its own on the boards against one of the nation’s best rebounding teams, and forced 17 turnovers. It had the battle-tested Wildcats on the ropes, before a tying, corner 3-pointer from Jordan Adams narrowly missed and free throws finally doomed them. There were strides, UCLA coach Steve Alford said afterward, and it was difficult to deny him that.

“I’m not one for moral victories,” point guard Kyle Anderson said after the 78-75 defeat, “but we fought hard.”

In the short term, there were reasons to feel hopeful. But the big picture and the bottom line are somewhat less heartening: Midway through January, UCLA is still without a marquee victory to boost its NCAA Tournament resume, with losses in each of its three true challenges this season. Its best victory through 15 games is against 9-4 UC Santa Barbara.

The Pac-12 certainly didn’t do UCLA any favors, in terms of boosting its profile. After Thursday’s loss, the Bruins won’t get another shot at knocking off Arizona until the conference tournament, leaving them with only a few statement-making opportunities left on their schedule.

“There’s a lot of the season left, but we’re trying to stay in a conference race,” Alford said Saturday. “Teams that lose multiple home games early, that makes it a difficult climb.”

UCLA’s next chance to establish footing in the conference comes Sunday in its only matchup with Arizona State this season. Before the month ends, road games against Oregon and Colorado should also give a much clearer picture of where UCLA stands. Victories in those games are now at a premium.

Lose those games, and UCLA could render itself helpless in March, when its cupcake nonconference slate could come back to bite it.

That early schedule, as Alford has pointed out before, wasn’t his doing, outside of matchups with Duke, Weber State, and Drexel. Nonetheless, UCLA’s breezy nonconference slate has forced his team to deal with adversity, without much room for error.

That’s a lot of pressure for a team that has yet to prove it can win under such circumstances – especially on the road. And even Alford, while paying lip service to his “one game at a time” policy, acknowledged that the pressure, even in mid-January, is already mounting.

“I do think there’s pressure,” Alford said. “Our guys know that, and we have to be able to perform under that pressure. Last thing you want to do is have two home games during the course of a league race and lose both of them. That urgency tomorrow night (tonight) has got to be there for us.”

THE CARSON SHOW

He is the Pac-12’s most perplexing backcourt matchup, and Sunday, speedy Arizona State point guard Jahii Carson should be at the center of the Sun Devils’ game plan to exploit UCLA’s zone-heavy defense, which is still very much a work in progress.

“He’s terrific,” Alford said of Carson, who’s averaging almost 19 points per game. “Very few guards that I’ve seen on tape that can break down defenses like he can. He’s just very explosive and can score and score quickly. … You’ve got to keep eyes on him the entire 40 minutes.”

Carson scored 22 points in his only trip to Pauley Pavilion last season, but an improved shooting stroke should make him an even more dynamic weapon this time around. After hitting just 32 percent from 3-point range last season, Carson is shooting 51 percent this season – good for fifth-best in the Pac-12.

Contact the writer: rkartje@ocregister.com