NEW YORK ““ Another bad start, another unhappy ending for
UCLA.
This has been the formula for the men’s basketball
team’s demise since going 5-0 to start the Pac-10 schedule,
and Saturday it culminated in a crushing 71-55 loss to lowly St.
John’s. UCLA fell behind by double digits in the first half
for the fifth straight game, leading to it’s fifth straight
loss.
“We talk in the locker room about not coming out slow, and
then come out like we’re depressed,” center Michael Fey
said.
The lifeless defense is the main cause of UCLA’s sad state
of affairs, though that was anything but what coach Ben Howland had
promised and expected to bring to Westwood when he was hired away
from Pittsburgh of the Big East conference.
Still, it was clear in Howland’s first game coaching
against a Big East team since leaving Pitt that his players just
aren’t up to the task of playing stoutly. After all, the
Bruins fell behind 41-24 at halftime to a team that was previously
4-13.
This happened even after Howland shook up his defense. After
UCLA nearly came back to beat USC last Thursday due to a
second-half switch to zone defense, the scheme was hoped to
jumpstart the team against St. John’s.
Howland cited matchup problems created by quick Red Storm guards
Elijah Ingram and Daryll Hill, who excel on the dribble drive
enough that slow-footed juniors Cedric Bozeman and Dijon Thompson
alone could not be counted on to contain them.
But ironically, back at Madison Square Garden, where Howland
first made a name for himself for coaching a hard-nosed Pitt team
to the 2001 Big East Championship game, his current team softened
up against spirited St. John’s.
“Even in our zone, they were still able to beat us off the
dribble, penetrate, and kick (out),” Howland said.
This allowed the Red Storm to connect on eight three-pointers in
the first half. Ingram led the way, making 5 of 10 of his
three-point attempts.
“Ingram was absolutely spectacular,” Howland said.
“He was coming down the court on the break, pulling up for
three, and it was money in the bank when he shot it. He’s a
good player.”
Then again, Ingram did have help.
“Their zone was a little bit soft,” he said.
“It wasn’t an aggressive zone. I took the shots that
were there.”
UCLA switched back to its man-to-man defense in the second half,
and that didn’t even work.
St. John’s continued to get second-chance opportunities,
dominating the rebounding edge 49-30.
“Maybe the most disappointing stat of the game was that we
were outboarded by 19,” said Howland, whose team has failed
to control the boards once during its five-game losing streak.
“We did a very poor job of blocking out.”
But with a lackluster start, losing the game from the get-go was
richly deserved.
“They started off well and we didn’t start off well,
so with those two things working against us, we had an uphill
battle for the whole game,” forward T.J. Cummings said.