The UCLA Basketball team loses their second consecutive game to the USC Trojans in an 80-61 rout.
Forget what you knew about the UCLA Basketball team. Forget about the fact that the Bruins just lost a season series to the Trojans for the first time since the 2009-10 season. Forget about Kentucky, Gonzaga and Arizona. Forget it all.
The only thing Bruin fans need to worry about right now is this sound… “pop”.
That is the sound of a bubble silently bursting underneath the UCLA Basketball team after losing to USC in embarrassing fashion… again. That is the sound of the Bruin’s NCAA Tournament hopes fading. That is the sound of doom.
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That worst part about that sound is the fact that tonight USC was holding the needle that let the air out of said bubble. USC. Basketball. The Trojans. It is hard to believe, I know.
The Bruins needed to win this game to get to .500 in conference play and try to make the season respectable. Unfortunately they once again came ill-prepared and allowed USC — who are for real, by the way — to run right over them.
Remember a few season ago when USC Head Coach Andy Enfield said, “If you want to play slow, go to UCLA”? Well, despite being a few years early with his premonition, he is finally getting his way. For the second time this season, the Trojans beat UCLA Head Coach Steve Alford and the Bruins by double digits in a game in which the Trojans ran away from the start. A 9-0 start to be exact.
UCLA once again lacked effort on the defensive side of the ball and made matters worse with their lack of fire (and accuracy) on offense. Though the Trojans played some respectable defense, the Bruins did not do themselves any favors shooting 34.7% from the field.
Aside from the last five minutes, UCLA was within 10 points and could have made it a contest, unfortunately, their shots, just like their game, were completely off.
So now the Bruins are 4-6 in conference and sitting uncomfortably in 9th place. This was not expected after their early season success. The bad news is that things will probably get worse before they get better as UCLA heads to the desert for two games with Arizona and ASU next weekend.
If the Bruins some how garner the strength to fight back the rest of the season, it still would not be enough to get them a top four finish in the conference and get that first round bye in the Pac-12 Tournament.
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Either way, the Bruins are in a sticky situation and their streak of two consecutive Final Fours looks to be in jeopardy. Heck, at this point, if they make it to the Sweet 16 of the NIT it would be a miracle.