They played like champions. In the biggest game of the year thus
far, the Bruins played their best basketball and found a way to
win. The team leaves Berkeley just where it wanted to be: in
control of its own destiny, heading toward the No. 1 seed in the
Pac-10 Tournament.
The sports cliche saying that “it came down to the final
seconds” isn’t good enough. The last seconds in
regulation came and went with Cal’s Theo Robertson hitting a
game tying 3-pointer and the Bruins not being able to answer.
The Bruins needed more. Elite teams win the big games that are
so close that fans can’t breathe and so hectic that the
stomping of the student section vibrates the basket as the road
team shoots free throws.
The Bruins needed more, and they got it.
All year Howland and his team have needed more in the big games
and not received it. Each time UCLA has been knocking on the door
of the club for elite teams with the same invite: Win and
you’re in. Time and time again, the Bruins couldn’t do
it.
On New Year’s Eve, at home against Cal, UCLA was ready to
crack the top 10 and lost the game 68-61. Against Washington, the
Bruins were ranked 11th and 13th, respectively, and lost both big
games. Add to that a 60-56 loss to then No. 12 West Virginia at
home on Jan. 21, and UCLA’s resumé didn’t look
that good. It didn’t include a marque win ““ until
now.
All the speculation before the game at Cal was on how the team
would come out of the starting gates.
Conventional wisdom was that the Bruins had to change. A team
can afford a clumsy first half against teams such as Oregon and
Oregon State and still have enough time to come back and win the
game convincingly.
The popular response to that was, “Cal is not one of the
Oregon schools.”
It seemed like the Bruins had learned their lesson. They were
not playing well in the first half by any stretch of the
imagination, but they were also not falling behind.
And then they relapsed. The halftime score was 31-20 after UCLA
watched Cal go on an 11-0 run.
The second half started and the Bruins stormed back into the
game ““ shows how much conventional wisdom is worth. Somewhere
in the locker rooms of Haas Pavilion, they realized what they were
doing and what they were playing for.
That invitation was staring the guys right in the face once
again. Win and you’re in. The Bruins could have panicked when
Cal’s Ayinde Ubaka opened overtime with a three. They
didn’t. Like a title-bound team, UCLA battled back.
That’s when clutch time came. When Arron Afflalo hit a
crucial 3-pointer on a pass from Jordan Farmar, you could see the
powder-blue ice in his veins. After a defensive stop, Farmar hit a
jumper that gave the Bruins a five-point lead and control of the
overtime period.
Farmar and Afflalo combined for a total six points and five
turnovers in the first half. That is certain death for a team that
depends on its guards. For the two main threats from Westwood, it
was time to prove themselves or go home.
They both found a way to win in the end. Afflalo’s point
total skyrocketed, and he ended the game with 25.
Farmar’s did not, and he finished the game with eight
points, going 2-of-10 from the field.
The Bruin floor general showed something the Bruins have waited
to see all season despite a frustrating game: determination when it
counted. Farmar’s key assist and jumper came at just the
right moment to get the Bruins the W.
The door is open guys. Welcome to the club.
E-mail Gordon at bgordon@media.ucla.edu