Photo Credit: Gary A. Vasquez-US PRESSWIRE

(You love us, huh? I know you do. Be sure to ‘love’ us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter. Kiss-kiss.)

Our UCLA Bruins trounced Stanford in Los Angeles 72-61 on Thursday night, keeping their undefeated, in-conference home record safe from harm.

The crazy thing about this game? It was the same as any other, except for the final few minutes.

That speaks volumes about the story of our season. Despite having the same issues, the same flaws offensively and defensively, UCLA’s been in numerous similar situations, be it up by a few points with a couple of minutes to go (as they were Thursday night) or up huge early in the game (as they started the game with a 25-9 lead). The game of basketball is a game of runs (get your mind out of the gutter, nasty) so it isn’t as if the second-half surge by Stanford was something to be pissed off about. Rather, had UCLA lost this game — as they have done so many times in similar situations — we’d be talking about the same things we’re going to talk about now. Here were some key points and implications of the game:

Free-throw shooting. Why don’t teams just hack-a-Bruin? For the kajillionth time this season, UCLA’s piss-poor free-throw shooting nearly cost them the game.  We were 17-for-26 from the line and missed FT after FT after Stanford had begun to foul late to extend the game. And while in the end it didn’t matter, the fact of the matter is that, if our shots from the charity stripe went in more consistently, we’d have at least three more wins than we have now, in-conference.

We didn’t choke. For the first time this season, UCLA looked really damned composed late in the game (or at least relative to other close games all year), something we highlighted not too long ago. Jerime Anderson and Lazeric Jones came up huge late in the contest to propel our Bruins to a late-game surge to put a team away. Considering the way our season has been, it’s not a stretch to say this was the first time “putting a team away” was used in an affirmative sense in relation to our basketball squad.

No, dude, we didn’t play that well on defense. The way the box-score looks, we did pretty damn well on defense. But that’s why games are televised — because box-scores don’t tell the entire story. Late, as Stanford surged to pull within three points, David and Travis Wear struggled to keep up with penetrators down low. Easy shot after easy shot for Stanford nearly lost us the game. Something tells me that, if Stanford had continued to take even the tiniest lead available to them, we might not be talking about how great of a win this was. Speaking of …

This was a great win. With 10 losses under our belts, “great wins” are consolation prizes. What this says, though, is that this team is capable of winning tight games consistently when they keep their composure. Mental toughness plays a huge role here, because as we’ve seen time and time again, they cannot put teams away on the road, when composure is tested to the max. That’s how we lost the majority of our road losses in-conference, and until we figure out how to stay composed in hostile environments, don’t expect us to get too far.

That said, let’s have some faith. We can be pessimistic and sarcastic all we want, but being hopeful and cheering on your team is never a bad thing.

Implications: We are still sixth in the Pac-12 standings, but with the conference’s parity (a result from everyone in the conference sucking), we’re only two games out of the top spot (remarkably). With all of our “tough” games remaining are at home (vs. Cal and Washington) and our easy games on the road (save for Arizona), it wouldn’t be too much to ask for a 7-1 record to finish out the season, 6-2 at worst. If our composure carries on to road games, or if we build an insurmountable lead — we’re talking 50 points because this is UCLA , remember? — we should have a legit shot at topping the regular season standings.

Of course, this team has been pretty horrible on the road, but if the squad can pull their crap together, perhaps we’ll be surprised.

GO BRUINS!!!

Feb 4 2012; Pullman, WA, USA; UCLA Bruins center Joshua Smith (34) dunks the ball against Washington State Cougars forward D.J. Shelton (23) during the first half at the Beasley Performing Arts Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: James Snook-US PRESSWIRE

They needed this one.

Badly.

And it wasn’t easy; nor was it pretty.

First off, UCLA was without forward Travis Wear, who suffered a high ankle sprain in the Bruins’ loss to the Washington Huskies two nights before.

And they didn’t play particularly wonderfully against Washington State’s Cougars in the Palouse, as Brock Motum torched Ben Howland’s squad for 19 points in the first half, with Wazzu taking a 34-29 lead after the game’s first 20 minutes.

As for the second 20 minutes?

Apparently it was a combination of Howland implementing a 2-3 zone defense, the Bruins getting fed up with playing below their capability, and them not wanting to get swept on the road for the second straight time, because UCLA held Washington State without a point for over five crucial minutes in that second half, and the Bruins showed tremendous grit and guts in beating the Cougars, 63-60, in front of 4,204 disappointed fans at Pullman’s Beasley Coliseum.

The win was UCLA’s 19th straight over the Cougars, and only their second triumph on the road this season.

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As I had said before UCLA’s battle with Washington in Seattle, I didn’t expect the Bruins to beat the first place Huskies.

Not on the road.

But what ended up happening was much worse, as Washington outscored Bruins 16-4 in the game’s final seven minutes, going on a 13-0 run in the process after Ben Howland’s team had taken a ten-point lead.

Combine Husky guard Terrance Ross’ 18 points in the second half (22 for the game) and UCLA’s eight turnovers in the second half with the Bruins going on a fateful four-minute stretch without scoring, then add a missed 10-foot jumper by Norman Powell right before the final buzzer that could have tied the game, and you have a 71-69 loss to the Huskies in front of an excitingly delirious crowd of 9,756 U-Dub fans.

It was a bitter loss as UCLA’s road woes continue; they still have only one win in opposing arenas, their record falling to .500 in the Pac-12 Conference at 5-5 with this loss being their tenth overall against 12 wins.

Worst of all, this marks the Bruins’ 8th straight loss to the Huskies in Seattle, as the last time UCLA won a basketball game in that city was in 2004.

“It was a game we really wanted…for it to come down at the end like that, people are really upset,”  guard Lazeric Jones said.

UCLA Bruins center Joshua Smith (34) fighting for a rebound in the closing seconds

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UCLA’S UPCOMING OPPONENTS:

Washington Huskies,  Alaska Airlines Arena, Seattle, WA, Thursday, February 2, 6:00 p.m.

Record:  14-7, 7-2 in the Pac-12 Conference

Well, I regret to say that the UCLA Bruins have another Pacific Northwest trip to worry about, and just two weeks after getting beat by the Oregon schools in that same part of the country.

When I saw that the schedule makers have the Bruins playing a first place Washington Husky team on Thursday evening, I wondered if they had some kind of vendetta, because these Dawgs from Seattle are good.

So much so that, as much as I hate to say it, I don’t expect Ben Howland’s team to win this game – especially since it’s at their place, which is considered the toughest for visiting teams in the Pac-12.

Here’s why:

These Huskies from U-Dub run on a three guard set with players at that position being the team’s top three scorers, led by freshman guard Tony Wroten and his 17.1 points per game.

Sophomores Terrance Ross and C.J. Wilcox join Wroten in the backcourt and have likewise done damage for Washington, with Ross averaging 15.1 points a game and Wilcox averaging 14.8.

7′ 0″ junior Aziz N’Diaye is a threat on the boards at center with his 8.1 rebounds a contest, and he will provide a real threat for Joshua Smith down low.

When one puts this all together, combined that they will be in front of their fans, and it spells a situation where the Bruins (12-9, 5-4 in the Pac-12) will have to play a near-perfect game in order to beat them.

The Wear twins, forwards David (12) and Travis (24), have a tough task against the Washington schools this week

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Just when you were expecting people to remark about how UCLA’s basketball program can beat up on weaker teams like Utah but go belly-up against good teams with winning records, the Bruins do this.

In front of their largest crowd of the season at the Sports Arena – 9,253 – Ben Howland’s team turned in a performance that many said was the best of the year, shooting 60% and getting 26 assists, their largest total in six years, in beating a Colorado Buffaloes team that was tied for first place in the Pac-12, 77-60.

Colorado scored nine of the game’s first 11 points and 12 of the first 16, but after the Bruins battled back to take a four point lead at halftime, UCLA went on a 22-5 second half run to end any doubts

“That’s how basketball was meant to be played,” Howland said after the game, as the Bruins improved to 12-9 and 5-4 in the Pac-12 Conference with ten games left to play (nine in the conference).

Here are the highlights from the win:

Highlights: Colorado – UCLA on YouTube

UCLA center Joshua Smith driving against a Colorado defender

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I remember this happening before – UCLA coming off some losses and on a bit of a downturn, then facing a very beatable team and handling their business.

It happened earlier this season when the Bruins beat up Pepperdine after losing to two ranked teams, Kansas and Michigan, which left them at that time with a 1-4 record.

And it happened on Thursday night when, after two tough losses in Oregon, Ben Howland’s squad faced a pretty bad Utah team and used a balanced scoring attack, nine three-point baskets, and a shooting percentage of nearly 60% – while holding Utah to 37% – to blow out the Utes 76-49 before a  rather mellow crowd of 4,434 at the Sports Arena.

The win was Howland’s 200th as the Bruin head coach.

Here is a highlight clip of the win:

Highlights: Utah – UCLA on YouTube

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For the first 20 minutes of UCLA’s basketball game against Oregon at Matthew Knight Arena in Eugene, OR, things were great as the Bruins’ defense held the Ducks to a mere seven baskets in 31 shots in taking a 37-24 halftime lead.

The second 20 minutes? Not so much as reality hit in the form of Oregon scoring the second half’s first 11 points while inducing turnovers and grabbing ten offensive rebounds in that time frame, and making 28 of 32 free throws for the game.

Meanwhile, the Bruins absolutely stunk at the charity stripe as they made only ten of 21 baskets there, including a pathetic one basket in eight tries during that awful second half.

In short, the Ducks showed what a first place team looks like – they are now tied with California atop the Pac-12 at 6-2 – in beating UCLA 75-68 in front of a large (and I’m sure hostile) crowd of 10,830 this past Saturday.

Guard Jerime Anderson, who fouled out after scoring ten points, said, “It’s devastating to lose after having a 13-point lead.”

You think?!

Jan 7, 2012; Anaheim, CA, USA; UCLA Bruins forward Travis Wear (24) prepares to shoot a foul shot against the Arizona State Sun Devils during the first half at the Honda Center. Mandatory Credit: Kelvin Kuo-US PRESSWIRE

It was the sixth time since 1964 that UCLA was swept in the state of Oregon, as losing to the Ducks and their Oregon State rivals this past weekend has buried the Bruins deeper in the conference standings with a record of 3-4 and 10-9 overall.

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It is generally agreed by the pundits that for a Pac-12 basketball team to win the conference this year, it needs to win on the road.

So far, UCLA hasn’t shown that they can do that, allowing Oregon State to shoot 58% and go on a 19-8 run in the second half at Gill Coliseum on Corvallis, losing to the Beavers 87-84 before a crowd of 6,019 fans who, suprisingly enough, didn’t storm the court after the final buzzer, which should say a lot about how far UCLA’s mystique has gone down.

It was OSU’s first win against the Bruins since 2005, snapping a 13 game losing streak against them and leaving Ben Howland’s team at 3-3 in the Pac-12 and 10-8 overall.

“After three consecutive wins, this is disappointing,” Howland said after the loss.

The offense wasn’t too much of a problem as the team shot 57% for the game, with five Bruins scoring in double figures, led by Lazeric Jones’ 17 points and eight assists.

Travis Wear and his twin brother David scored 16 points each and combined for eight rebounds, with Travis collecting five, while Jerime Anderson had 11 points and Joshua Smith had ten in 19 minutes.

The issue that killed UCLA was their failure to stop forward Devon Collier and the Pac-12′s leading scorer, guard Jared Cunningham. Those two Beavers combined for 41 points, Collier with a career-high 20 on 8-of-12 shooting and Cunningham with a game-high 21.

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UCLA’S UPCOMING OPPONENTS:

Oregon State Beavers, Gill Coliseum, Corvallis, OR, Thursday, January 19, 7:30 p.m.

UCLA’s basketball team has a tough road trip this weekend in the state of Oregon, starting this Thursday with OSU’s Beavers.

Coached by Craig Robinson, who happens to be the brother of First Lady Michelle Obama (does that make him the First Brother-in-Law?), Oregon State, like most of the other Pac-12 teams, has been up-and-down, beating Texas and conference front runner California and going 10-2 in non-conference action, but then losing to Arizona State, a short-handed team that the Bruins blew out, in their last game.

Currently sitting at 11-7 overall but in next-to-last place in the Pac-12 at 1-5, these Beavers are dangerous due to the fact that they have the conference’s leading scorer, senior guard Jared Cunningham, who averages 17.6 points a game and has 54 assists.

Two other guards are averaging in double figures, Ahmad Starks at 13.7 points per game, and Roberto Nelson, who’s at 10.5 a contest coming off the bench. Devon Collier is formidable at forward with his 12.8 points and 5.1 rebounds a game, and Joe Burton leads the team in rebounding at 6.2 a match.

Starks, Nelson, and particularly Cunningham, who scored a conference-high 37 points against Texas, will be a challenge for the Bruins’ guards, Lazeric Jones, Jerime Anderson and Tyler Lamb. If Ben Howland’s team is to win this game – putting aside their 1-5 conference mark – Oregon State’s guards need to be contained and whoever is guarding Cunningham must be effective in slowing him down.

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I wonder if some of the members of UCLA’s football team went to their basketball counterparts before their big hoops showdown with USC at the Galen Center this past Sunday and asked them to avenge that 50-0 gridiron humiliation at the Coliseum a few months before.

Whatever was done to motivate the Ben Howland’s team, it obviously worked – big time – as UCLA thoroughly outplayed the Trojans in beating them 66-47  before a crowd of 8,474, many of them leaving halfway through the second half because the game was no longer in doubt.

It was the Bruins’ biggest win ever at the Galen Center and their biggest road win against their crosstown rival since 1999, not to mention their third straight win and 10th of the season, keeping them in contention in the Pac-12 Conference with a 3-2 record while ‘SC fell to 0-5 in the conference and a whopping 5-13 overall.

The Trojans made a game out of it at the beginning, scoring six of the the game’s first eight points and earning a 10-10 tie with them midway through the first half.

Then, as forward Travis Wear put it, “We really stepped on the gas,” as UCLA went on a 22-4 run in the last 4:30 before halftime, which was essentially the knockout punch as they took a 37-19 halftime lead and never looked back after that.

Three Bruins scored in double figures, led by the Wear twins who had perhaps their best games as Bruins; Travis Wear led everyone with 19 points and eight rebounds while his brother David added 13 points and seven boards. Lazeric Jones, who has been playing shooting guard at times to get him more scoring opportunities, earned 15 points and led both teams with five assists.

Here’s a highlight clip of the Bruins’ win courtesy of YouTube:

Bruins Dominate Troy, 66-47 on YouTube

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