First times are often learning experiences. For Jordan Farmar,
there was a lot to digest in Thursday’s loss to Texas Tech.
Beaten on the defensive end by the Red Raiders’ precision
motion offense, the freshman point guard looked to redeem himself
on the offensive end in his first NCAA Tournament game. He may have
tried too hard. “I wasn’t trying to force too much, but
at times I did because I was struggling,” said Farmar, who
finished with three points on one-for-nine shooting. With the
Bruins trailing by seven points midway through the second half,
Farmar drove one-on-four into the heart of Texas Tech’s
defense, hoisting up a shot that never had a chance of going in.
Unable to recover in time defensively, Farmar and the rest of the
Bruins lagged behind as the Red Raiders had an easy fast-break when
UCLA failed to rotate over. After hitting his one field goal of the
contest with eight minutes left in the second half, the freshman
seemed even more inspired to erase the Bruins’ deficit. But
by firing up hurried jumpers that weren’t falling, Farmar,
and the rest of the Bruins, were forced into playing extended
periods of defense against a team that was content with protecting
its lead. “I couldn’t get into a rhythm, and they just
kept grinding it out,” Farmar said. After Farmar missed a
3-pointer early in the shot clock that would have trimmed the Red
Raiders’ lead to four with six minutes left, Texas
Tech’s Jarrius Jackson came down on the other end and hit a
long jumper in Farmar’s face that extended the lead to nine.
That lead only grew larger in the waning moments of the game.
Despite his poor shooting performance, Farmar felt as though
opportunities were there for him. “I was struggling, but all
my looks felt good,” he said. “It just wasn’t my
day today. Combine that with not getting it done on the defensive
end, and it gives us this result.” Howland was pleased with
the overall performance from his young point guard, complimenting
Farmar for handling the ball well and placing most of UCLA’s
struggles on having an off-shooting night. “We missed a
number of open looks,” Howland said. “Part of that is
playing defense for long periods of time. It takes your legs away
from your shot.” When Farmar goes back to review the game
film from Thursday night, he will study how the structured Red
Raider offense picked apart UCLA’s defense. He will see some
of his missed jumpers and the reasons behind his four turnovers.
But most importantly, he says he will learn from it all because the
situation is one he would like to be in again in the future.
“I’m going to be hard on myself after this one, but
I’m looking forward to getting started for next year,”
Farmar said. The point guard already pinpointed a couple lessons he
hopes to take from the opening-round loss. “Team basketball
and toughness,” Farmar said. “The same thing coach
preaches everyday.”
GOING OUT STRONG: Going into Thursday night, it may not have
been how senior Dijon Thompson envisioned his final game as a
Bruin. But once he reflected back to the beginning of the season,
he couldn’t have been too frustrated. “The main goal
was just to get into the NCAAs,” Thompson said. “If you
look at it that way, we accomplished what we wanted to do.”
Sitting at the press-conference podium following the Bruins’
loss to Texas Tech, an emotional Thompson tried to balance the
disappointment of the loss with the strides the Bruins made over
the year. “Stepping onto the practice court with the media
and the crowd felt really good,” said Thompson, the only
Bruin on this year’s squad who had previously played in the
NCAA Tournament. “I’m not satisfied with the season,
but I’m proud of how we came back and fought because no one
expected us to make it this far.” The overriding reason the
Bruins had made it to the tournament was because of Thompson. And
in his last game, he was the biggest reason UCLA even had a
semblance of hope against Texas Tech. Thompson finished the game
with 22 points, seven rebounds, four assists, and an optimistic
outlook and sense of appreciation. “I take a lot of pride
wearing the four letters,” he said. “I’ll always
be a part of the Bruin family. This year was a stepping stone and
next year’s team will go far.”