MANHATTAN, N.Y. “”mdash; The UCLA men’s basketball team has spent much of the night so far trailing No. 7 Villanova’s guards. And that’s exactly why the Bruins are trailing the Wildcats 44-29 at halftime of this NIT Season Tip-Off semifinals at Madison Square Garden.
Though UCLA (3-0) kept the game close for most of the half ““ it was within three with 4:31 left ““ a flurry of quick, streaking layups by Villanova (4-0) stretched the lead to a game-high 15 going into the break.
UCLA sophomore forwards Tyler Honeycutt and Reeves Nelson, who each had double-doubles in the Bruins’ win over Pacific last week, are just not finding the basket, going a combined two-for-nine from the floor. Junior point guard Lazeric Jones leads the team with eight points mostly off two deep jumpers early in the half.
Jones and Honeycutt ““ the team’s main ball distributors ““ have been held assist-less and have three turnovers each.
The ‘Nova guards seem to have found a shortcut to the basket though, or UCLA’s defense just can’t keep up. Guards Corey Fisher, Corey Stokes and Maalik Wayns have combined for 34 points already.
The crowd at this neutral site seems to be siding mostly with the Philadelphia-based Wildcats, but a surprisingly strong Bruin contingent can be heard at times.