On Friday afternoon, coach Ben Howland talked about his choice for Pac-10 Player of the Year.
His choice was easy: either sophomore Darren Collison or junior Arron Afflalo, both probable All-Pac-10 players.
On Saturday against the Huskies, the two did nothing to support Howland’s choice.
In the Bruins’ double-digit loss, the Bruins’ backcourt combined for an atrocious 6-for-29 shooting, including 4-of-14 from behind the three-point line.
“They out-physicalled us. They out-played us. It’s embarrassing,” Afflalo said. “I don’t know what it was.”
The players’ problems started off early on as the Bruins quickly fell behind 9-0, and Collison and Afflalo only made one of their 10 shots in the first half.
Afflalo’s first basket came with 8:54 left in the first half, while Collison didn’t score his first basket until there was 18:52 left in the game and the Bruins were down 10.
“We just came out flat,” Collison said. “It escalated throughout the whole game. It became contagious (for the whole team) after that.”
The Bruins certainly needed Collison’s and Afflalo’s best on Saturday as the team shot a season-low 31.4% from the field for the game, and scored a season-low 20 points before halftime.
The Bruins were missing one of their key contributors in Alfred Aboya, and couldn’t afford to have a subpar effort against the Huskies, which came into Saturday’s game with a 15-2 home record.
“When you are playing a team as talented as Washington, you have to come out with a good start, and we did not,” Howland said. “They played great defense; you have to give them credit.”
Afterwards, Afflalo couldn’t understand why the Bruins couldn’t match the Huskies’ intensity from the beginning, especially when the Bruins are considered to be a veteran team.
“I don’t know if its because we won the Pac-10 title or what; it’s unacceptable. We have been down this road before,” Afflalo said. “We were high-fiving and clapping when we made our run during the second half, but that should have been there from the start.”
But Afflalo was not the only to struggle on Saturday.
Collison’s lackluster effort, for one, was the continuation of a bad stretch of games for the Bruins’ point guard.
Since dishing out 15 assists and being called the best point guard in the nation by Arizona coach Lute Olson two weeks ago, Collison has only scored in double-digits once, and has shot under .500 from the field in all four games.
In fact, Collison, who was at one point the Pac-10’s leading 3-point shooter, is only 1-of-9 from beyond the arc in that time.
“I was off today. I had some good looks,” Collison said. “The shots were right there on the money, but they didn’t go in.”
“We would like Darren to shoot better,” Howland said. “He missed some shots that he would normally make.”
The key for the Bruins now, especially Afflalo and Collison, is to take the loss against Washington and use it as extra motivation as the Bruins head into postseason play.
Because once the NCAA Tournament comes, both players won’t have a second chance.
“Thus far, we have done a good job of learning from our experiences and bouncing back for weeks at a time,” Afflalo said. “Hopefully, we can do that this time around.”
DRIBBLERS: The Bruins have now appeared in seven games this season that started before noon, losing three of them. The Bruins have only lost one night game this season. The Huskies have now won their final home game every year since 1996, when they lost to Arizona. Washington has won 11 of its last 13 home games against ranked foes. The Bruins have now lost three consecutive times to Washington on the road. Saturday’s loss was the first double-digit loss for the Bruins this season.