TUCSON ““ The Debacle in the Desert.
The Arizona Ambush.
Whatever you call it, however you look at it, last night’s
dreadful 106-70 loss to Arizona marked a new low ““ even for a
Bruin team that already drilled through rock bottom several weeks
ago.
“We fell apart,” said guard Ray Young. “We
straight fell apart.”
Starting with two minutes left in the first half, and continuing
until the final buzzer, the top-ranked Wildcats exposed the
monumental talent gap between themselves and the Bruins. It became
a practical lovefest between Arizona and its fans, filled with
highlight dunks and a barrage of three-pointers that continuously
sent the crowd into a constant frenzy.
The 14,559 fans at the McKale Center also loved seeing a
once-proud UCLA basketball program roll over and play dead, missing
dunk and layup attempts, exercising poor shot selection, and going
up for rebounds as if the ball was the enemy.
“Is that Jack Daniels?” asked head coach Steve Lavin
as he was handed a beverage after the game.
Unfortunately for Lavin, it was only soda. It’s unlikely
that even hard liquor would have allowed him forget the rout his
team took last night.
It’s not as if UCLA (5-15, 2-9 Pac-10) was dead for all 40
minutes. The Bruins were down by only three, 35-32, with just over
two minutes remaining in the first half. Despite being outrebounded
28-15 by halftime, the Bruins only had four turnovers and managed
to survive having centers Ryan Hollins and T.J. Cummings on the
bench for much of the half with foul trouble.
But the Wildcats (19-2, 11-1 Pac-10) closed the half with a 10-2
run, and opened the second half with a 16-0 run that deflated the
spirit of a Bruin team that seemed revitalized after last
Saturday’s win at Georgetown.
“It was tough to watch,” said center Michael Fey,
who scored three points and grabbed three rebounds in 10 minutes.
“We usually play badly in the first half and good in the
second half, but this time we played good in the first half but
lousy in the second half.”
Arizona built its lead to 30 with 12 minutes remaining, and
Lavin finally raised the white flag by putting in little-used subs
Janou Rubin, Marcedes Lewis, and Jon Crispin for mop-up work. They
couldn’t stop the bleeding, as the Wildcats were leading
90-51 with six and a half minutes on the clock.
UCLA never pulled closer than 30 after that.
“It was frustrating to watch them run up and down the
court smiling, and seeing everyone on their bench smiling,”
Fey said.
The Bruins currently find themselves in ninth place in the
Pac-10, chasing Washington for the eighth seed and a chance to go
to the Pac-10 tournament.
The No. 8 team will play the No. 1 team in the first round,
which will likely be Arizona given its current standing.
Therefore, there is a chance that the Bruins will meet the
Wildcats again before this season is out. Being that Arizona has
already beaten UCLA this season by 35 at Pauley Pavilion and by 36
last night, the Bruins will have to bring a better effort than what
they’ve shown in this season’s previous matchups.
“We want to play them again,” said forward Andre
Patterson, who finished with a team-high 12 points. “They are
not 40 points better than us.”
The 106 points UCLA allowed was by far the most this season,
topping the 96 points that Oregon scored in an overtime game at
Pauley Pavilion two weeks ago. Meanwhile, UCLA hadn’t scored
lower than 70 since a 69-point performance at Cal on Jan. 25th.