ANN ARBOR, Mich. — In the game’s waning seconds, when the
Crisler Arena crowd began calling out the words to "The Victors,"
the school fight song, UCLA trailed by just three points.
Yet it was clear that the Bruins weren’t the ones who played
like victors, and ultimately, they got what they deserved, losing
70-66 on Saturday.
Granted, UCLA did spend the entire second half clawing its way
back from an 11-point second-half deficit before Michigan’s Dion
Harris sealed the win by hitting a free throw with 6.6 seconds
left. But the Bruins’ blunders, both mental and physical, made in
the game’s final minutes made the loss a maddening one for
them.
"We have to play harder and with a lot more heart," guard Dijon
Thompson said. "It comes down to being tough."
UCLA (4-3) committed 20 turnovers, with three of them coming
after it had whittled down the lead to three points with 2:41
remaining. Point guard Cedric Bozeman traveled twice, and forward
Trevor Ariza had his memories of putting up career highs of 15
points and 14 rebounds erased by dribbling over and back the
half-court line with 52.3 seconds to go.
"Their pressure really bothered us," UCLA coach Ben Howland
said. "We’re not able to simulate the pressure we saw today in our
practices."
Michigan (8-1), a physical Big 10 team, also made UCLA’s first
road game of the season a rough one by muscling the Bruins around
in their first ever trip to Ann Arbor.
UCLA actually out-rebounded Michigan 39-30, but its interior
defense was inadequate. Wolverine center Graham Brown scored on two
consecutive possessions after UCLA had cut the lead to three, and
forward Courtney Sims tied a career high with 12 points to go along
with the block he had on Bozeman to force a traveling call with
17.5 seconds left and Michigan leading 67-63.
"They were doing whatever they wanted inside," said forward T.J.
Cummings, who along with centers Michael Fey and Ryan Hollins each
had two fouls by halftime. "We have to have more pride."
Thompson led all scorers with 21 points, hitting four 3-pointers
in the second half to make the game close and replace the
production of injured shooting guard Brian Morrison.
But Michigan guard Daniel Horton, who scored a team-high 19
points, had the most significant 3-point shooting spurt at the end
of the first half. He hit two consecutive treys to cap off a 9-2
run and give Michigan a 36-28 lead at halftime. He made another on
the opening possession of the second half.
"We were fighting an uphill battle the rest of the game,"
Howland said.
UCLA scored many of its points in the first half in waves. Runs
of 12-0 and 9-2 brought the Bruins back after Michigan had scored
the first six points of the game.
"They’re a team that gets down the floor faster than we
thought," Michigan coach Tommy Amaker said. "They really blew by
us."
The loss comes right before UCLA’s first Pac-10 game
Friday against Oregon State.
"We’re disappointed to be 4-3," Howland said. "We feel like
we’re better than that."
Unfortunately for the Bruins, they didn’t act like it.