TEMPE “”mdash; Ray Young steals a pass and has a clear path to
the basket, but the official can’t get out of the way and he
loses the ball out of bounds.
Ryan Walcott and Cedric Bozeman are whistled for rare
five-second dribble penetration calls on consecutive plays.
Ryan Hollins holds the ball under the basket and is ready to
dunk it, but an official inadvertently blows his whistle, forcing
the Bruins to inbound the ball.
Ladies and gentlemen, this is your 2002-2003 UCLA basketball
season.
Not that the details matter anymore, but the latest
game-as-microcosm-of-season loss came in front of 9,242 at Arizona
State’s Wells Fargo Arena on Saturday by a score of
85-69.
“It’s getting old,” said Bozeman, who did not
play in the second half because of an injury to his right
shoulder.
Indeed, the Bruins’ (5-16, 2-10 Pac-10) tenth consecutive
conference loss looked just as formulaic as the nine before it:
UCLA plays stifling defense in the first half, keeps it
close.
Bruins come out flat to start the second half.
Opponent goes on run.
Bruins narrow opponent’s lead to six or seven.
Opponent answers back. Coaches clear their benches.
Game over.
“There was no one part that you could put a finger
on,” UCLA head coach Steve Lavin said. “It was a
multitude of things.”
Like, for example, UCLA’s 19 turnovers. Or the 32-24
rebounding edge for ASU (17-7, 9-4).
Or Sun Devil forward Ike Diogu, who turned the paint into his
own private playground in the second half. Diogu, the leading
candidate for Pac-10 Freshman of the Year, finished with 26 points
and seven rebounds, despite UCLA keeping him in check throughout
most of the first half.
“Our plan was to have an idea of where he was at all
times,” freshman Ryan Hollins said.
But Diogu scored 12 of his 26 in the final 7:30, and it was his
two three-point plays down the stretch ““ after T.J. Cummings
had pulled the Bruins to within seven ““ that really sunk any
chance at a UCLA comeback.
“In the first half, I think we did a decent job of
controlling the paint, and making sure that they got limited
touches,” Lavin said. “When they did get touches, we
were effective in getting double and triple teams.”
As usual, a big run dug UCLA into a hole that proved too be too
deep. The Sun Devils went on a 14-2 blitz at the start of the
second half.
“Once they got rolling, it was like an avalanche,”
Young said.
It came just two days after Arizona ran off a 26-2 stretch to
put UCLA away.
“It wasn’t as potent (as Arizona’s), but it
got us down,” senior Jason Kapono said.
Kapono was the only Bruin who finished in double figures,
compared to four ASU players. Though they were sure not to use it
as an excuse, many UCLA players found it difficult to catch a break
because of what seemed to be wildly arbitrary officiating.
When they weren’t running into a fast-breaking Young or
blowing an inadvertent whistle, the referees seemed to vacillate
between calling a tight game with lots of touch fouls and calling
nothing at all.
The questionable calls went both ways, and each foul seemed to
be part of a perpetual cycle of makeup calls, each canceling out
the one before it.
“It was hard to get into a rhythm,” Walcott
said.
“Officials are like players,” Lavin said.
“They’re capable of struggling with a rhythm just like
teams are.
“Maybe it’s contagious. We’ve struggled so
much, maybe it spread to them.”
In past years, Arizona State had been a dangerous game for a
UCLA team on its way to the NCAA Tournament. But comments by ASU
head coach Rob Evans paid testament to the two teams’
reversal of fortunes.
“This is a dangerous game, but Washington State is
dangerous too,” Evans said. “These are games
you’ve got to win. If you lose, it’s a bad
loss.”
Lavin agreed in a self-deprecating manner that’s becoming
a routine as the losses.
“I guess this doesn’t really qualify as a quality
win,” he said.