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UCLA Basketball: Bruins remain without a road sweep, get burned by ASU

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) /
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The UCLA basketball team was able to get the ever important split on the road, but considering the momentum they were riding, were let down with a loss at Arizona State.

The UCLA basketball team was riding high after dominating Arizona in Tucson last Thursday. With that came the hope that the Bruins could get the road sweep at Arizona State, go on a five-game winning streak and get closer to the top of the Pac-12 standings (if UCLA would have beat ASU and USC defeated Arizona, the Bruins, Trojans and Wildcats would all be in a first-place tie, with UCLA holding the tie-breaker for both).

Sadly, that was not the case as the Arizona State Sun Devils, who have been beaten up in conference play after going 12-0 in the non-conference, has regained their footing and had a sweep of their own. First beating USC on Thursday and now UCLA.

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For UCLA, they have to pick themselves up after this bad loss and try to find another way to get to the top of the standings another way.

Though UCLA should be glad they made it out of the desert 1-1, it is a bit disappointing knowing what could have been, especially since the Bruins started the game with the energy we saw against Arizona.

Unfortunately, the Sun Devils were no match for the Bruins  who took off midway through the first half and never looked back.

ASU was not at the top of their game either. They had only shot 42.2%, but capitalized on UCLA’s mistakes early and kept the Bruins at bay for the last three-fourths of the game.

UCLA did a better job of scoring in the second half, especially behind Aaron Holiday’s late surge which got him a team-high 20 points, but the Sun Devils matched everything the Bruins had.

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UCLA now heads back home where they await the Oregon schools. Last time UCLA played both teams, they got swept on the road. Hopefully this loss is motivation to get back on track and aim for a Pac-12 title, but at this point, they are going to need some help. USC beating Arizona later tonight would be a good start.