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UCLA Basketball: Bruins bounced by St. Bonaventure, change needed?

By Mike Regalado

LAS VEGAS, NV - MARCH 09: Head coach Steve Alford of the UCLA Bruins yells to his players during a semifinal game of the Pac-12 basketball tournament against the Arizona Wildcats at T-Mobile Arena on March 9, 2018 in Las Vegas, Nevada. The Wildcats won 78-67 in overtime. (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images)
LAS VEGAS, NV - MARCH 09: Head coach Steve Alford of the UCLA Bruins yells to his players during a semifinal game of the Pac-12 basketball tournament against the Arizona Wildcats at T-Mobile Arena on March 9, 2018 in Las Vegas, Nevada. The Wildcats won 78-67 in overtime. (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images) /
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The UCLA basketball team’s trip to the NCAA tournament came with a quick exit as the Bruins did not put any urgency in their play-in game against St. Bonaventure.

That is it. It is all over. The UCLA basketball team’s 2017-18 season is done and we now look to the future, though not a lot of Bruins’ fans want to move forward with the current regime.

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It was a rough game to watch. UCLA once again showed their inconsistent tendencies as their in-game pattern once again emerged.

  1. Start the game on fire
  2. Let off the gas, allow the opponent back in
  3. Swap leads for most of the game
  4. Put out one final effort (for better or worse)

You could set the atomic clock to UCLA’s pattern of inconsistency.

UCLA indeed started out hot as they made their first five shots of the game and jumped out to a 17-9 lead six minutes in. But then ran cold and eventually finished the first half shooting 8/23 (34.7%). It got slightly better in the second half, but not much as the Bruins eventually finished the game shooting 42.0%.

But that is not the worst part. St. Bonaventure finished the game 23/60 (38.3%). That is right. The Bonnies had a worse shooting night and still managed to escape with the play-in game victory. This is what UCLA basketball has become. The consistent inconsistency was in full effect and it hit the Bruins hard.

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No moving on. No pat on the back. No “hey, good effort”. No award for a season well done. They got nothing except a trip to Dayton, Ohio which might as well have been a vacation because the Bruins did not show up to this game.

Aaron Holiday managed to secure 20 points, but it took every once of effort as he was off after the first six minutes. Holiday uncharacteristically had 10 turnovers (the team collected 20 total) and shot 7/17. Try as he might, at the end of the game, he tried to once again put the team on his back, but as erratic as this game was, Holiday could not do anything to pull his team out of their rut and instead ended his night fouling out.

Thomas Welsh also had an off night as the senior that has been averaging a double-double this season, managed to pull down 15 rebounds, but only 2 points as he only had five shots. Why they did not go to the big man more in this contest is beyond me.

So the Bruins season is over, but now questions arise about the future. UCLA has a fantastic class coming in next summer, but what will be the fate of head coach Steve Alford? This loss set off a storm on social media, calling for Alford’s termination and they might have a case.

In five seasons, Alford has only been able to win the Pac-12 Tournament once (in his first year with mostly Ben Howland’s players) and a record of 117-57 (.672). At a school like UCLA, that will not get you a lot of support, especially since he has been able to bring in top 10 recruiting classes.

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So now we wait to see what the off-season holds. Though the Bruins have a few good things to look forward to, there will be some definite changes. The most obvious is the loss of Holiday and Welsh. The Bruins need to find their next veteran leaders, but are they also going to find new leadership at the top?