Coach Ben Howland argues with referees over a foul called against UCLA. The Bruins totalled 16 team fouls Sunday, one less than the Bruins’ most recent loss to the Huskies.
When the Bruins lose, at least they stay consistent.
It’s the same mistakes over and over.
They know it.
And now, they’re getting frustrated.
UCLA again fell to USC on Sunday night, for the fourth consecutive game, this time 63-52 at the Galen Center.
Freshman center Joshua Smith got into foul trouble and fouled out ““ just like he did in the loss to Washington.
Sophomore forward Reeves Nelson had one big half ““ 12 points in the first ““ then disappeared in the other ““ only two points in the second.
Players said they lacked intensity, the same flaw that cost them against the Huskies.
And in this instance, they had to watch while their rivals high-fived on the court with more 40 seconds still on the clock.
Coach Ben Howland was forthcoming when explaining the errors his bunch committed. But he became terse when asked about whether this latest loss stung.
“Oh yeah,” he said. “It bothers all of us.”
Added Nelson, “It sucks to lose to anybody, but to these guys in this environment, it hurts a little more.”
Collective frustration snowballed in the last five minutes of the contest as the team watched a four-point deficit explode into an 11-point loss.
A Trojan alley-oop off a cross court pass knocked the Bruins down, then one possession later, redshirt senior forward Alex Stepheson ripped a rebound out of junior guard Jerime Anderson’s hands.
Anderson could only look up while USC’s big man ““ who had six offensive rebounds on the night ““ slammed it home.
Three minutes later, “Go ‘SC” resounded through the arena as junior guard Malcolm Lee got whistled for a charging foul.
When sophomore forward Tyler Honeycutt caught the rebound, he slammed to the hardwood.
And the Bruins (9-6, 1-2 Pac-10) were down for the count.
“I know that we were all up and ready to go, and we came out and played hard,” Anderson said. “But it’s tough. Teams show their character when they’re down. And when we’re down, we’ve got to figure out ways to chip into the lead.”
Smith was tactful at first when asked if the Trojans (10-6, 2-1) out-hustled his team.
“At times they did,” he said.
Then he let his frustration surface.
“Actually, I take that back,” he continued. “They out-hustled us on the boards in the second half, they out-hustled us in transition, they were getting wide-open layups, wide-open dunks, wide-open threes. You could kind of tell that (USC) played with a sense of urgency.”
Once again, the Bruins know they did not.
Anderson acknowledged that intensity and a sense of urgency shouldn’t have been a problem against the crosstown rival.
And he said the Bruins will need to step things up in practice if they wish to right the ship during the trip to the Oregon schools next week.
Now the Bruins really have no reason not to play with a sense of urgency.
They’re below .500 in conference, and their hopes of an NCAA tournament berth take a blow with every loss.
“I have no excuse,” Nelson said. “They had a good game plan, and they executed.”