This week presents a completely new situation to the UCLA men’s basketball team.
For the first time all season, the Bruins really don’t have anything to play for. There are just two regular season games left, which isn’t enough time to make a significant move in the Pac-12 standings. And with a record barely over .500, the Bruins don’t have a chance of attaining an at-large berth to the NCAA Tournament. UCLA (15-14, 6-10 Pac-12) isn’t even on ESPN’s College Basketball Bubble Watch anymore.
Even if UCLA wins both of its games this week – on Wednesday against No. 9 Oregon and on Saturday against Oregon State – the highest the Bruins can finish in the Pac-12 standings is ninth.
So sit the Bruins, firmly in limbo.
Nothing will change their NCAA Tournament fate until next week, when the Pac-12 tournament begins in Las Vegas.
“We just know, going into the conference tournament – which is season three … you get a clean slate,” said coach Steve Alford. “I’ve been a part of five conference tournament champions. … So it can happen.”
Alford has faced circumstances just like this before. During the 2001 season, his team at Iowa finished the regular season by losing seven of its last eight games, only to win the Big Ten tournament title.
Similar to the Bruins this year, that 2001 Iowa team started strong, but struggled mightily down the stretch. Akin to UCLA – which has lost seven of its last 10 games – Iowa entered its final two games of the season with little momentum and minimal NCAA Tournament hopes. The 2001 Hawkeyes were 18-11, and 8-9 in the Big Ten, at the end of the 2001 regular season.
But Iowa rendered that entire slump meaningless at the Big Ten tournament in March 2001. The Hawkeyes won four games in four days to capture the Big Ten tourney title and an automatic bid to March Madness.
UCLA will need to do the very same thing in its conference tournament to earn an NCAA Tournament berth this year.
“There’s a lot of parity in this league,” Alford said. “And there’s a lot of wiggle room from (teams) one through 12, where things can happen.”
As important as the Pac-12 tournament is, Alford and the Bruins said they’re still very motivated to win both of their games this week. Wednesday’s game against Oregon (23-6, 12-4) – the league’s top team – provides a perfect opportunity for UCLA to tune up and get ready for the high level of competition at the conference tournament next week.
“We get probably the toughest assignment in Oregon,” Alford said. “They put a lot of pressure on your defense, and I think that’s what we need. Before we get into conference tournament play, we need to have that experience.”
There are also other motivators for the Bruins to win, such as sending their lone senior – forward/center Tony Parker – out on a good note.
“I think everybody (is) very focused and very driven toward the same goal – and that’s to serve Tony well in his last two home games,” said junior guard Bryce Alford.
Alford added that winning these games is important in terms of establishing momentum heading into the Pac-12 tournament. But, as that 2001 Iowa team proved, the importance of momentum is relative.
“Every team reacts differently to it,” Bryce Alford said. “I’ve always felt that momentum is a huge thing. But then you look back to my freshman year: We got smoked at Washington State (in the last game of the regular season) and then we end up winning the (Pac-12) tournament.”
It’s merely a waiting game for UCLA at this point. The Pac-12 tournament couldn’t come soon enough.
“(I have) a Pac-12 championship (and) a Pac-12 regular-season championship,” Parker said. “Hopefully I can add to it in the last couple weeks here.”