ANAHEIM “”mdash; The assumption that UCLA could parlay its height
advantage into a victory over Kentucky proved to be just another
tall tale.
An undersized Wildcat frontline boasting no starter taller than
6-foot-8 bested 7-footers Ryan Hollins and Michael Fey, who were
shackled with foul trouble the entire game.
Both Hollins and Fey played uncharacteristically tentatively,
particularly in the first half, after each picked up two quick
fouls in the game’s opening four minutes.
Fey, who was averaging 15 points per game, tallied just five
points on 1-of-5 shooting from the field as the Bruins (2-1)
suffered their first loss of the season.
“The foul trouble really affected me,” the 257-pound
sophomore said. “I had to be more hesitant than I would have
normally. I couldn’t play as aggressively as I wanted to
because I knew I couldn’t pick up any more fouls.”
Most of the 17,816 fans in attendance at the Arrowhead Pond were
still rubbing the sleep out of their eyes Saturday morning as Fey
was charged with his first foul at the 18:23 mark of the first
half. Seven seconds later, the UCLA big man got slapped with a
second after he mauled Kentucky forward Erik Daniels, forcing Ben
Howland to call upon his already depleted bench.
When Hollins picked up his third personal with 13:56 to play in
the first half, UCLA, already trailing 12-4, was at an even greater
disadvantage.
“Getting them into foul trouble was huge,” Kentucky
forward Chuck Hayes said. “That was part of our game plan. It
took away their aggressiveness, and made them go to their
bench.”
Inserting the Bruin backups was something Howland was reluctant
to do because the absence of forwards Trevor Ariza and T.J.
Cummings left him with only 6-foot-8 junior Josiah Johnson as a
viable option off the bench. Although Johnson logged a career-high
26 minutes, Howland nonetheless played Hollins and Fey for long
stretches of the game, even after they picked up their third and
fourth fouls.
“Normally I wouldn’t leave anyone in the game in
that situation, but we were forced to because of our lack of
depth,” Howland said. “We’re very thin inside,
and it showed.”
Neither Hollins nor Fey fouled out in 28 and 25 minutes,
respectively, but both were often reluctant to put a body on a
Kentucky player near the basket.
Hollins let Kentucky forward Erik Daniels waltz down the lane
for a dunk in the first half rather than risk a fourth first-half
foul by stepping up to take the charge. Fey, too, seemed to shy
away from contact several times, especially after picking up his
third and fourth fouls in the first two minutes of the second
half.
The Kentucky frontline outscored UCLA 17-4 in the first half,
and 23-15 for the game. To his credit, Hollins did remain active in
the second half, playing solid defense and pulling down a number of
key rebounds
“Mike and I getting into foul trouble was tough, but I
felt like we did better late in the game,” Hollins said.
“We positioned ourselves better and really got it done on the
defensive end.”
Too bad for the Bruins, it was too little, too late.