Things were actually looking good for the UCLA basketball team one week ago. After a solid couple of wins against the Oregon teams at Pauley Pavilion, the Bruins looked like they had actually turned a corner this season as they went 5-1 in their last six games, topped off by a 72-63 victory over the Oregon Ducks. Unfortunately, a trip to the desert put UCLA’s tournament hopes on ice after losing to a mediocre Arizona State team and then getting run out of the McKale Center in the last ten minutes in their loss to the Arizona Wildcats.
UCLA Bruins
As of now, there is no telling what will happen to the Bruins this post-season.
Last week, Go Joe Bruin writer Jake Liker evaluated the Bruin’s chances of making it to the big dance. Though, in his opinion, UCLA could possibly make the tournament going 3-2 in their last five games (against Arizona State, Arizona, Washington, Washington State and USC), it seems that now the Bruins need to do something spectacular to go dancing.
UCLA blew two chances this past weekend when they could not put away the lowly Sun Devils or could not capitalize on a solid second half performance that had the Bruins leading #7 Arizona. UCLA needed at least one of those games to have a solid shot at post-season play.
As of now, the best they can do is finish 11-7 in conference and 19-12 overall with wins over the Huskies, Cougars and Trojans who all travel to Pauley Pavilion for the Bruin’s final three games. The plus side of that situation is that the Bruins are 13-1 this season and a perfect 6-0 home conference record.
Jan 8, 2015; Los Angeles, CA, USA; UCLA Bruins head coach Steve Alford and guard Bryce Alford (20) react to a blocked shot 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 as Liker put it, a 3-2 record “should be enough to get the Bruins a first round bye” in the Pac-12 Tournament. Though to get to the NCAAs, UCLA would most likely have to make it to the conference tournament championship. That would be a stretch at this point.
Currently, UCLA is a half a game out of fourth place behind Stanford, a team they beat twice this season. Now if UCLA is to get that fourth place finish (and keep it) and get that first round bye in the Pac-12 tournament, a few scenarios need to happen. First, the Bruins have to win their last three games.
Jan 12, 2014; Eugene, OR, USA; Oregon Ducks Mike Moser (0) runs downs the court as Oregon Ducks guard Joseph Young (3) dribbles the ball past Stanford Cardinal guard Marcus Allen (15) at Matthew Knight Arena. Mandatory Credit: Scott Olmos-USA TODAY Sports
Second, Oregon, Stanford and/or Oregon State need to lose a few games in these last two weeks of the regular season. As for games remaining, Oregon takes on Stanford and OSU in two of their last three games, Stanford plays Oregon, OSU and Arizona in three of their last four games and Oregon State, as stated, have Oregon and Stanford in two of their last three games. So if these three teams can beat up on each other, that will make it easier for UCLA.
Still, at this point, is unknown what to make of the Bruins, though if the season ended now, at least one expert thinks UCLA has enough on their resume to warrant an NCAA bid. Joe Lunardi of ESPN released his most recent Bracketology today (February 23) and has the Bruins as one of the ‘Last Four In’. If that is true, then UCLA has to win their last three games to stay in or improve upon that spot.
Needless to say, with UCLA playing three teams in the bottom half of the conference, it should not be hard to do.
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