The UCLA basketball squad’s issues late in games on the road shouldn’t be surprising. Save for California, every road game our Bruins have played have been close and were decided in the final five minutes (or less) of games.
And though it shouldn’t be surprising, today’s loss to the Arizona Wildcats (21-9 overall, 12-5 in conference) shocked the hell out of me.
UCLA didn’t exactly play all that well, but it was enough to force Arizona to make plenty of mistakes themselves. With just a couple minutes left, UCLA held a 5-point lead with the momentum going their way. Of course, in only the way UCLA can, they blew it and Arizona had an incredible surge, powered by their rabid home crowd on Senior Day, and the ‘Cats came away with a late-game victory.
There are a lot of fingers to point, but the late-game defense was particularly awful (as it has been with our Bruins all season long). Arizona penetrated and pounded most of their points inside, despite the fact that UCLA had the size advantage (again, as UCLA almost always does). Ben Howland stuck to his man defense (same stuff, different day) despite this, and the help defense wasn’t there.
Arizona had their momentum constantly shot down by UCLA with the guards’ daggers, particularly from Jerime Anderson, who played well down the stretch. Of course, that momentum carried on, UCLA made key mistakes defensively (while getting stifled by the Arizona defense) and here we are, crying our asses off wondering why, oh why, can we never win a close game on the road.
It’s tough to swallow, if you’re a Bruin. A win here would’ve put us in position to take a stab at getting a first-round bye in the Pac-12 basketball tournament. Instead, we’re stuck having to run the table to have a legitimate shot, and considering the inconsistency UCLA has displayed all season, that seems incredibly unlikely.
Excuse me for a second while I punch myself in the testicles.
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