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| Kyle Anderson tallied 16 points, 11 rebounds and six assists against Arizona (photo by Don Liebig) www.uclabruins.com |
By Jack Wang, Los Angeles Daily News
Another strong opening act, and another show that UCLA couldn’t quite close out.
Earlier this season, the Bruins walked into Mizzou Arena and Madison Square Garden and played lights out. Both times, they left with 17-point losses, the first to Missouri and the second to Duke.
Thursday night was different, not in just in locale but outcome: in a 79-75 loss to Arizona, UCLA didn’t collapse. Before a season-high sellout crowd of 13,283, the Bruins buckled down for what was arguably its most encouraging showing under first-year head coach Steve Alford.
It’s just that against the No. 1 team in the country, effort alone wasn’t enough.
The Wildcats (16-0, 3-0 Pac-12) entered Pauley Pavilion for their only regular-season date with UCLA, and left with fans bellowing “U of A!”. They withstood eight ties, 12 lead changes and a late 15-2 run. They shot 53.8 percent from the field, and allowed just 40 percent — tied for the Bruins’ second-worst performance of the season.
For the first time since Ben Howland was fired, UCLA left its home court without a win.
“I think we did all that we could,” said sophomore point guard Kyle Anderson, who led the team with 16 points but on 6-of-15 shooting. “We fought hard. I’m not one for moral victories, but we did fight hard.”
With 2:23 left, UCLA tied the game at 68 as Jordan Adams drilled a clutch 3-pointer. The team had been down by 13 points just four minutes earlier, stymied by an Arizona squad that arrived in Los Angeles second in the country in defensive efficiency.
Thirty-nine seconds later, freshman Bryce Alford sank a pair of free throws, giving the Bruins a one-point lead.
It didn’t last. Forced to the free throw line again and again, the Wildcats slowly pulled away. Arizona made 8 of 10 attempts in the final 63 seconds.
Some seven minutes earlier, UCLA (12-3, 1-1) had missed five straight.
“I liked our fight,” Alford said. “Those are strides. You’d like for those strides to be made in wins, obviously, but I’ve seen strides in a lot of different areas with this basketball team.”
His team controlled the pace of the game early, forcing four turnovers in the first five minutes for a 10-9 lead over the top-ranked team in the nation.
More so than at any other point this season, the Bruins hit the glass hard. Forwards and guards squeezed into the paint for loose balls. Even when they couldn’t secure them immediately, a well-placed tip to a teammate often preserved the possession.
At the break, UCLA actually held a 20-19 edge on the boards — negating what Arizona’s most significant advantage.
“They did a very good job on the backboard,” Alford said. “What happens is, you can’t allow those other things to slip. … You can’t now get beat dribble-drive. You can’t have poor closeouts. You can’t have bad help and recovery.”
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