UCLA men’s basketball loses to Alabama 56-50

A week ago against Kentucky, it took 18 shots and nearly eight minutes for UCLA men’s basketball to score its first basket.

Playing at Alabama Sunday, UCLA needed just 10 seconds to get on the board.

Getting its next basket was more of a challenge.

The Bruins’ next field goal didn’t come for another seven and a half minutes, as UCLA struggled offensively again in its third straight loss, falling to Alabama 56-50.

After a dunk by senior guard Norman Powell to open the game, UCLA (8-5) fell into a repeat of last week’s nightmare performance. The Bruins missed their next 12 shots before a layup from sophomore guard Bryce Alford finally bumped the Bruins up to five points.

UCLA has struggled almost all season with slow starts, but the Bruins have taken those troubles to the extreme in these last two games, scoring just seven points against Kentucky by halftime last week and trailing 29-17 at halftime Sunday.

Despite more than doubling its shooting percentage from the first half of last week’s game, UCLA still shot a paltry 17.9 percent in the first half against Alabama (9-3).

The Bruins’ struggles extended beyond the scoreboard, as they committed 10 first-half turnovers, lost the rebound battle and missed all seven of their first-half 3-point attempts.

The Bruins’ ugly first half shooting was mitigated by a nearly equally poor offensive showing by the Crimson Tide. Alabama managed to build just a lead of just 12 points at halftime despite UCLA’s offensive ineptitude.

The Crimson Tide shot just 33 percent in the first half and relied almost exclusively on junior guard Ricky Tarrant, who outscored UCLA by himself, with 18 points on six of 10 shooting in the first 20 minutes. The rest of the Crimson Tide shot just four of 20 from the field.

Coming out for the second half, the Bruins made the most of the closer-than-it-should-be score, notching a quick 10 points mostly courtesy of a pair of 3-pointers and a pair of free throws from sophomore guard Isaac Hamilton, to pull within two.

Alabama began to wake up after that, giving its lead a bit more of a cushion, but UCLA remained within striking distance for the remainder of the second half with a more efficient shooting percentage that hovered around 50 percent in the second half.

A 3-pointer by Alford followed by a steal and a dunk by freshman forward Kevon Looney brought UCLA within one with 9:40 to play – the closest the Bruins had been since the 17:42 mark in the first half.

Six minutes later, with the Bruins now down four, Alford again hit a big shot, nailing a step-back 3-pointer from the top of the arc to bring UCLA within one point once again, with 3:34 left.

About a minute later, the comeback was complete.

Alford drove to his right, then dished it off to Hamilton in the corner, who drained another 3-pointer, evening the score at 48 with 2:15 remaining.

Then the Bruins’ issues returned. Alabama hit a shot to take a two-point lead, and on UCLA’s next possession, the turnover problem resurfaced. Looney found himself trapped on the baseline and tapped an errant pass to Hamilton, who tipped the ball but couldn’t keep it from going out of bounds.

Looney and Hamilton quickly made up for the miscue, however. On the next possession, Looney stole the ball and then missed his layup attempt, but Hamilton bailed him out with a putback to even the score at 50 with 1:06 remaining.

The Crimson Tide retook a one-point lead off a free throw with 49 seconds remaining, leaving the Bruins with an opportunity to win the game in the final minute.

With a victory within their reach, the Bruins nevertheless let the game slip from their grasp. Alford missed a 3-pointer short and air-balled a heavily contested 3-pointer just seconds later after fouling Alabama. UCLA’s final effort ended with Hamilton dribbling the ball off his foot and out of bounds, and the Bruins failing to overcome their dismal first half.

Compiled by Kevin Bowman, Bruin Sports senior staff.