For a team that prides itself on its smothering defense, this
rivalry loss was especially deflating. For a team that faced a
shorthanded club that was without its most productive scorer, this
one was a little confusing. For a team that is starting to see a
late season trend develop, this has to be alarming. No. 19
UCLA’s 71-68 loss to USC at the Los Angeles Sports Arena was
widely attributed to the team’s soft defense. It was a timid
unit that was consistently penetrated by the USC guards, who
seemingly dribbled right past UCLA’s post players for layup
after layup. Inside the Bruin locker room, the reason for the loss
was echoed in unison. “Defense. That’s what it
is,” sophomore point guard Jordan Farmar said. The Bruins
(20-6, 10-4 Pac-10), who just five weeks ago disposed of their
crosstown rival 66-45 at Pauley Pavilion, couldn’t contain
the Trojans’ slashing guard play even though sophomore guard
Gabe Pruitt was not on the floor. Pruitt, USC’s leading
scorer during conference play with an average of 18.9 points per
game, has been sidelined since he suffered a fractured bone above
his left knee. The Trojans (16-9, 7-7) lost three consecutive games
in his absence until Sunday night against the Bruins. “This
one hurts. This is a team that we beat pretty well not too long ago
and now they’re minus one of their best players if not their
best player, and we come in here and don’t perform
well,” sophomore guard Arron Afflalo said. The defensive
breakdown came as the post players couldn’t find a way to
keep the ball in front of them. USC, who had five players score in
double digits on the night, shot 56.3 percent in the game,
including 63.6 percent in the second half. The Trojans only had a
higher field goal percentage in one other game and that was an
82-48 shellacking against UC Riverside back in November. “We
couldn’t stay in front of the ball the whole game and they
saw that and used that to beat us off the dribble and get easy
lay-ups,” freshman forward Alfred Aboya said. “If
you’re a team that prides itself on defense you can’t
let guys just penetrate at will,” said Afflalo, who scored 19
points. Perhaps most disconcerting for the Bruins is that their
defensive lapses are starting to become more of a trend at the
worst time of the season ““ right before March. They have
allowed at least 70 points in four of their last five games. Of
course, the game sandwiched in-between is the 50-30 victory at
Washington State which was the lowest point total of a UCLA
opponent since the John Wooden era. And the Bruins know any success
they have in the following month will largely depend on whether or
not they can tighten up the defensive front. “If we’re
going to go far, it’s going to be on the defensive
end,” Afflalo said. “We’re not Washington,
we’re not Arizona, we’re not going to run 80, 90
points. “We need to defend. If we’re not defending,
we’re not going to win. We got exposed tonight. We
couldn’t keep our man in front of us. All of us were guilty
of that.” UCLA coach Ben Howland credited the USC game plan
and execution on offense but also said that his team’s
defensive post play was so troubling that he has completely opened
up competition for the starting center position for the upcoming
game against Oregon State. The starter, he said, will be decided by
who gets the most defensive rebounds this week in practice.
ABOYA HEALED: Aboya, who played 16 minutes and
registered four points and five rebounds, reiterated that his
defense was subpar. However, it was not due to any nagging groin
pains. Aboya suffered a mild groin strain in practice last Thursday
but intimated that he was feeling fine on Sunday. “It
didn’t bother me,” he said.
FARMAR’S ANKLES: Farmar, who aggravated
his left ankle sprain when he stepped on a teammate’s foot in
UCLA’s loss at Washington, said that his status hasn’t
changed and he will most likely have to get through the season at
less than full health. He has injured his right ankle on four
separate occasions this season. Farmar said he will maintain his
current practice schedule, doing rehab on the left ankle during the
week to keep from re-injuring it before the Oregon State game.
WHOSE CHARITY?: UCLA once again had trouble
making its free throws, shooting 10-for-18 from the charity stripe
and marking the fifth time in seven games that UCLA has been unable
to shoot at least 70 percent from the free throw line.