Though The Season Was Tough, UCLA Men’s Basketball Proved They Belong

And just like that, the 2014-15 UCLA Men’s Basketball season is over. At the beginning of the second half against Gonzaga in the Sweet Sixteen, the Bruins went on a six point run to get to within one point of the Bulldogs. Unfortunately, Gonzaga made the next 12 points and though it was early in the half, Bruin fans could tell where this was going.

Mar 27, 2015; Houston, TX, USA; UCLA Bruins players Bryce Alford (20) and Gyorgy Goloman (14) react after losing to the Gonzaga Bulldogs in the semifinals of the south regional of the 2015 NCAA Tournament at Reliant Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kevin Jairaj-USA TODAY Sports

UCLA ended their season with a 74-62 loss to the #2 team in the South Region. Oh well, that is how life goes. There was no way the Bruins would blow out such a talented and well coached team, but many believed that UCLA could get a close upset, this guy included. Though the Bruins showed they could hang with Gonzaga, they were not ably to take it the distance against a seasoned team.

Still, before the season, would you have believed the Bruins would make it this far? Not I.

UCLA was looking to rebuild after last season’s Sweet Sixteen appearance, despite losing five Bruins to the NBA (Jordan Adams, Kyle Anderson, Travis Wear, David Wear and Zach LaVine). Though UCLA would have a s0lid group of freshmen coming in, lead by Kevon Looney, things started off worse than expected.

UCLA Bruins

Potential transfer PG Jonathan Octeus was denied admission and in-coming freshmen Jonah Bolden was deemed ineligible by the NCAA, so already, the Bruins had depth issues. No Problem. Well, a little problem. Without Octeus, UCLA would use to non-point guards as their floor generals in Isaac Hamilton and Bryce Alford. So from the start, this was an experiment.

UCLA started out the season hot, yet scrappy behind upperclassmen Norman Powell and Tony Parker. There was some excellent scoring in their first four games, albeit against cupcakes, as the Bruins averaged 95.3 points per game. But then the Bruins has a dose of reality served to them.

The Bruins were out-manned by Oklahoma and North Carolina in the Battle 4 Atlantis and a few weeks later, had to endure a tough five-game losing streak to Gonzaga, Kentucky (which we will never talk about again), Alabama, Colorado and Utah. Though UCLA never got below .500 during the season, it felt like it going into conference play.

Jan 8, 2015; Los Angeles, CA, USA; UCLA Bruins forward Tony Parker (23) reacts after a dunk in the second overtime of the game against the Stanford Cardinal at Pauley Pavilion. UCLA won 86-81 in double overtime. Mandatory Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports

But things changed in their first Pac-12 home game against Stanford. Though the Cardinal were thought to be one of the better teams in the conference, UCLA did not let that bother them. After being down 13 in the second half, the Bruins fought back to force two overtimes in a 86-81 victory.

It was a tale of two Bruin teams. One that could do no wrong at Pauley Pavilion (UCLA was 9-0 at home in conference) and one that would go on the road and almost do no right.

Fortunately, by the end of the season, the Bruins were coming together. Wins again Utah, Oregon, Washington, Washington State and USC had helped them end the season 8-3. In the Pac-12 Tournament, the Bruins destroyed USC in the second round and almost upset #1 Arizona.

UCLA had indeed come together at the end of the season and with that, they were rewarded with an invite to the NCAA Tournament as an #11 seed. Everyone said they did not belong.

Feb 21, 2015; Tucson, AZ, USA; UCLA Bruins guard Norman Powell (4) celebrates after dunking against the Arizona Wildcats during the first half at McKale Center. Mandatory Credit: Casey Sapio-USA TODAY Sports

UCLA showed everyone by beating #6 SMU 60-59 and #14 UAB 92-75. They made it to the Sweet Sixteen for the second consecutive year. This was not the same team that took the floor against Montana State back in mid-November.

Though they lost to Gonzaga in their final game, the Bruins proved everyone wrong. You cannot argue the Bruins did better than expected. They improved. But it is over.

Now it is time to prepare for next season.