CORVALLIS, Ore. “”mdash; Well, UCLA finally clinched it.
No, the Bruins didn’t gain entry into the Pac-10
tournament like they had hoped to Thursday. Instead, they
solidified their spot as one of the most downtrodden and desperate
teams in the conference after losing 65-56 to lowly Oregon State at
Gill Coliseum.
UCLA actually still controls its own destiny. A win Saturday
against Oregon at noisy McArthur Court puts them into the
eight-team conference tournament, which begins next week. The
Bruins can also back into a berth with either an OSU or Washington
State loss in their games against Cal and USC, respectively, also
on Saturday.
But if UCLA loses and both OSU and WSU win, creating a four-way
tie between the three teams and USC, the Bruins will miss the
tournament based on tiebreakers.
Yes, it’s just as confusing to Joe Blow as it is for UCLA
coach Ben Howland.
“Wow, thanks for filling me in,” Howland said
softly.
The Bruins (11-15, 7-10 Pac-10) lost their 12th game in 14
tries, this time to OSU (12-15, 6-11), a team that had previously
lost nine of 12.
The reason? UCLA offset a poor shooting night from OSU (36
percent) by committing 18 turnovers.
“We had some bad turnovers at key junctures that became
magnified,” Howland said.
The turning point came when the game was tied at 37-37 in the
second half and UCLA turned the ball over on three consecutive
possessions to spark a 9-0 OSU run.
Guard Chris Stephens, who finished with a team-high 18 points,
came up with the initial steal on bumbling ball-handler Trevor
Ariza and scored on a three-point play. He proceeded to hit a
jumper after center Ryan Hollins threw an errant pass.
UCLA point guard Cedric Bozeman also committed his fourth foul
on a charge with 10:44 remaining. Ryan Walcott, who wilted under
similar circumstances, came on and played decently, but ultimately
was unable to generate enough offense to lead a UCLA comeback.
“It was tough,” Bozeman said. “Sitting on the
bench was not fun at all. They capitalized on our turnovers. That
was tough.”
“We got out there and attacked their ball-handlers,”
said OSU guard J.S. Nash, who finished with 11 points.
Guard Dijon Thompson was seemingly the only player Walcott had
to turn to. Thompson scored a season-high 25 points, making
seven-for-nine three-point attempts to mark a career high and tie a
building record. His point total was just one off his career
best.
T.J. Cummings added 12 points, including 10 in the second half,
and six rebounds coming off his worst performance of the season
against Notre Dame.
David Lucas had 13 points, and Angelo Tsagarakis scored eight of
his 10 points in the first half for the Beavers.
UCLA got the game to as close as 54-53 with 2:27 remaining, but
the Bruins could only manage a Thompson three-pointer the rest of
the way. Oregon State hit its free throws down the stretch to seal
the win.
“It’s very disappointing,” Howland said.
“We had opportunities. To not be able to finish on close
games hurts.”
Said Hollins, “We have to win (Saturday), but we should
have had this one.”
UCLA trailed 28-24 after the first half, a sloppy one that
featured 18 turnovers between the teams, including 11 by the
Bruins.
Over the past 11 games, the Bruins have lost every time they
have been outrebounded. Last night, OSU had 33 rebounds, as opposed
to UCLA’s 29.
Now, the Bruins really have to rebound.