Go Joe Bruin
Fansided

UCLA Basketball: Aaron Holiday’s 2nd half performance can’t save the Bruins

By Mike Regalado

KANSAS CITY, MO - NOVEMBER 20: Head coach Steve Alford of the UCLA Bruins reacts from the bench during the National Collegiate Basketball Hall Of Fame Classic game against the Creighton Bluejays at the Sprint Center on November 20, 2017 in Kansas City, Missouri. (Photo by Jamie Squire/Getty Images)
KANSAS CITY, MO - NOVEMBER 20: Head coach Steve Alford of the UCLA Bruins reacts from the bench during the National Collegiate Basketball Hall Of Fame Classic game against the Creighton Bluejays at the Sprint Center on November 20, 2017 in Kansas City, Missouri. (Photo by Jamie Squire/Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit

The UCLA basketball team once again losses steam late in a game and allows a sub-.500 Stanford team to win in double overtime. The Bruins missed on several opportunities while Aaron Holiday was the only one to shine.

The UCLA basketball team looked like they were destined to start the Pac-12 season 3-0. The Bruins were cruising in the second half with a 13-point lead over Stanford, Aaron Holiday had come alive after the break with 20 points and Bruin fans were the louder than Stanford fans in Maples Pavilion.

But like every basketball game, nothing matters until the clock hits 0:00. Stanford (7-8, 1-1) knew this, but it seems as if UCLA (11-4, 2-1) could not figure that out.

The Bruins started the game out of sorts as Holiday could not make a single basket. It was even a bit more difficult task with Thomas Welsh missing most of the first half after getting a fist to the nose early in the contest. He returned just before halftime, but was clearly out of sorts himself, especially in the second half when he had to wear a protective face mask.

Related Story: 5 things we learned from the non-conference schedule

At the break, the Bruins held onto a 41-36 lead, which is not bad considering Welsh and Holiday combined for 2 points. Things improved after the break as they lead by 13 with nine minutes left to play. Part of that had to do with Holiday making every shot he put up in the second half. Holiday finished 10/21 from the field and 3/7 from downtown to finish with 31 points.

More from Go Joe Bruin

Unfortunately, as we saw against Michigan and South Dakota, the Bruins had another late meltdown. A combination of a weak defensive performance, horrible free throw shooting (UCLA was 19/35 from the charity stripe) and lack of adjustments allowed Stanford to not only creep back into the game but uncover several of the Bruins’ weaknesses.

Stanford’s Dorian Pickens hit a three-pointer with five seconds left in regulation to tie the game at 85. Holiday had a chance to take it downcourt for the win, but before he could get a shot off, he lost the ball. The perfect summation for this game.

With the game going to overtime, Stanford was in complete control. It looked as if the Cardinal was walking away with this as Kezie Okpala hit a free throw to push the Stanford lead to 94-91, but Holiday was not done. He got three of his 31 with a last second shot to tie the game at 94 and force double overtime.

New life for UCLA? Not really. Three Bruin big men had fouled out. Welsh, Kris Wilkes and Gyorgy Goloman were not available for the end of the game (to be fair, 3 Stanford players fouled out by that time as well). Still, Pickens was the one with the hot hand late in the game as he had a ream-high 26 points and pushed Stanford past UCLA for the 107-99 win.

Next: The UCLA Basketball All-Time Team

Let’s not sugarcoat this, it was a bad loss. Despite being on the road, UCLA should have routed Stanford. The Bruins had a ton of momentum after beating Kentucky and the Washington schools but that is all gone with a loss to a team that will not make the NCAA Tournament. If UCLA cannot finish games late, if they cannot beat teams they should beat, then they will have a hard time in the Big Dance and head coach Steve Alford could have a bad offseason with a very hot seat.