Another close game, another close loss. Let the Blame Game commence.
Fans, spoiled by three consecutive Final Four runs and 11 National Championships, quickly descended into panic mode after UCLA’s 82-81 loss to Washington State University on Saturday. It sounded like the apocalypse had arrived.
There was enough blame to spread around: It was the refs. Shipp can’t make a layup. Holiday isn’t what we expected. What happened to the defense? Why does Howland always run out of timeouts?
Coach Ben Howland does have a curious habit of burning all his timeouts well before the game ends, and it caught up to UCLA on Saturday.
Yet, despite the post-game haranguing from the Bruin faithful, the season will go on. Just don’t expect it to last until late March.
NCAA Tournament games are often close and boil down to a key possession or two. Unfortunately, this is the type of contest that has plagued the Bruins all year.
In games decided by five points or fewer, UCLA is 3-4. That doesn’t include losses to Washington and Arizona State: It was 67-66 in Seattle with 6:13 remaining before the Huskies closed the game on a 20-8 run. UCLA led 67-66 in Tempe, but the Sun Devils scored the game’s final eight points.
Even the 85-76 win on Thursday against Washington was more luck than execution.
It was 69-60, and then the Huskies went on a 9-2 run. Justin Dentmon drained a wide-open three. He then drove by Michael Roll to make it 69-65. UCLA’s offense, as it has so many times this year, fizzled like the economy. Is there a stimulus package for clutch half-court possessions?
Out of timeouts, Washington scored on a layup to cut the lead to two.
With the score 71-69 and 3:47 left, in arguably the biggest possession of the season, the Bruins passed the ball around like it was a hot potato. Finally, the Huskies had a major mental error, and Jrue Holiday streaked in from the wing for an uncontested hoop to beat the shot clock. The ensuing possession was equally as futile, resulting in a deep Alfred Aboya jumper as the clock faded away.
Sure, Aboya drained the shot and the Bruins converted four big points, but they were an extremely lucky four points. More often than not, that type of trip dooms UCLA in close games. On Thursday, they escaped in spite of them, not because of them.
Saturday, the Bruins weren’t so fortunate. Trailing Washington State 59-57 with 10 minutes to play, UCLA managed just two points in the next 4:57. By then, the Cougars had opened up an eight-point lead that would prove to be insurmountable. UCLA scrapped from behind, unleashing a ferocious press and a barrage of key 3-pointers, but the defense couldn’t stop senior guard Taylor Rochestie.
In a memorable performance, Rochestie netted the final 14 of 16 Washington State points, highlighted by two cold-blooded triples and a logic-defying, Hail Mary tip-in of his own shot among the trees. Collison missed twice to seal UCLA’s fate.
After the loss, I asked Ben Howland about consistently coming up short in close affairs, and if there was anything in particular he could change to remedy the problem. He offered nothing specific ““ perhaps a crafty PR move or maybe he simply had no answer. The players couldn’t put their finger on it.
“I don’t know,” Josh Shipp said when asked the same question. “Sometimes, it goes our way.”
Not this year, it hasn’t.
Forty-five minutes after the final horn on Saturday, Collison and Shipp stood in an empty walkway in a vacant Pauley Pavilion. Their mood was somber, their body language a combination of dejection and frustration. They exchanged a few words under their breath about what would have, could have, should have happened.
Then, a young fan and his mother, decked out in UCLA garb, approached them for an autograph.
“Shipp!” the boy beckoned. The senior signed his name, his expression never changing. The mother thanked the players, and as she was walking away, offered words of encouragement.
“Keep up the hard work, and just know that we’re all supporting you,” she reminded them. And before leaving, added, “And just know it will pay off. It will pay off.”
Unless UCLA discovers a miraculous antidote for its late-game woes, the only payoff will be an early Tournament exit.
If you believe that UCLA can make an NCAA Tournament run, contact Taylor at btaylor@media.ucla.edu.