The UCLA Basketball team lost their fourth game in a row to crosstown rival USC in another defense-less effort that now has the Bruins in a minor downward spiral.
This was not like the loss to Oregon. This was exactly like the loss to Arizona. The UCLA Basketball team, which has been ranked in the Top 10 since they beat then #1 Kentucky in mid-December, has now lost two games in a row in a very bad way.
It was the crosstown showdown and UCLA had every reason to come out firing on all cylinders. They just got embarrassed by Arizona last Saturday and had a chance to break a three-game win streak against the Trojans.
Instead, UCLA did what they usually do around this time of the season under Head Coach Steve Alford and forget how to play.
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It did not matter that UCLA started 8-0 and even jumped out to a 20-10 lead, USC braved those first few minutes and came back stronger and with more force.
USC even gave the Bruins several chances to fight back as the Trojans shot an unimpressive 40.3% (27/67) from the field. Even though the Bruins shot slightly better, 48.4% (30/62), the Trojans were relentless and did not give up on any play.
USC put out an incredible effort on defense as they put pressure on the ball, took care of rebounds and most importantly, got into passing lanes. USC had 12 steals in this game. UCLA could only muster 4.
USC was even better at shooting threes. The Trojans knew the Bruins were non-existent on defense from the corner and kept firing away. Though they only hit 13/34 (41.2%), it was worlds apart from UCLA’s 6/21 (28.6%) performance.
The Bruins seemed to think they could remedy their deficit with a plethora of outside shots. Once again, Lonzo Ball was firing incomprehensible shots well beyond the arc, though he was not alone in making bad shooting decisions.
Bryce Alford, Aaron Holiday and Isaac Hamilton all got a little overzealous in their approach to trying to fight back and had underwhelming performances.
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But that was the thing. There was no fight. There were a lot of attempts to force their will on their opponent and USC was having none of it. That is also the hard reality of what UCLA is doing right now and it does not look good for their post-season aspirations.