All the Bruins had to do was score one time in the final eight minutes of regulation.
One basket would’ve sealed a victory.
One basket would’ve held serve at home against one of the best Pac-10 teams and put UCLA alone at the top of the conference standings.
They couldn’t do it.
The Bruins’ offense fell inept when it mattered most and UCLA (14-3, 4-1 Pac-10) suffered its third loss of the season 61-58 in overtime to Arizona State (15-3, 4-2 Pac-10) on Saturday.
In those final eight minutes of regulation, the Bruins coughed up an 11-point lead and were forced to settle for overtime, where their offensive struggles continued.
When Alfred Aboya hit a baseline jumper with 55 seconds left in overtime, it had been over 12 minutes since the Bruins’ last field goal ““ a massive offensive collapse from which UCLA could not recover.
After the stunner, nobody could put their finger on just what exactly went wrong.
Coach Ben Howland put the blame on himself for over-playing his starters.
Senior guard Darren Collison thought they lost their mental focus in the final stretches and senior guard Josh Shipp saw it as a lack of execution.
Whatever it was, it stung.
“It’s my fault and my responsibility,” Howland said. “I didn’t use our bench well enough in this game. I thought we got a little tired and little worn down.”
The Bruins’ offense, which mostly settled for outside jump shots against ASU’s matchup zone, couldn’t find anybody to step up when they needed it.
At Howland’s direction, the Bruins held the ball at the top of the key to burn time off the clock in the final minutes but it resulted in an offense that appeared complacent and failed to attack the zone.
“We hit a few shots early in the half and we kind of got OK with that, just slinging the ball around the perimeter waiting for those shots, not driving,” Shipp said. “At the end of the day, we got to get in there more and get those easy baskets.”
The final play of the game summed up the Bruins’ struggles.
With 11 seconds left in overtime and down by three, Howland directed Collison to drive and get a quick two-pointer so the Bruins could foul and get the ball back.
It didn’t work out that way.
“I told Darren with 11 seconds to go that we wanted to go all the way to the basket,” Howland said. “We didn’t need to shoot a three but we brought it up too slowly.”
Stopped on the perimeter by ASU pressure, Collison couldn’t get a screen and was forced to get rid of the ball. The Bruins passed the ball two more times 25 feet from the basket before the buzzer surprised them all.
“Again, that’s my responsibility,” Howland said. “We didn’t even get a shot off. That’s poor coaching.”
But the entire game cannot be pinned on one play. Despite UCLA’s offensive woes, they still had plenty of opportunities to prevent a defeat from being snatched from the jaws of victory.
Up 54-52 with 22 seconds left in regulation, Shipp fouled James Harden about 45 feet from the basket as Harden was bringing the ball down court. Harden, who put up a game-high 24 points, is one of the best players in the country. Instead of forcing ASU to make a shot against the Bruins’ tough man-to-man defense, the foul put Harden on the line.
He calmly hit both free throws.
“Obviously we wanted to not foul,” Howland said. “Josh knows that. We were up two. You don’t want them to tie the game at the foul line. You want to make them make a basket.”
But even after those mistakes, all the Bruins had to do was make one shot before regulation expired and they could’ve forgotten about it all.
With the game clock winding down, Collison shook free from his man and got an open look at a mid-range jumper. It rattled out.
“You gotta give them credit,” Collison said. “They did what they had to do. I had some good looks and it went in and out. What can I do? We just got to attack the zone better and it starts with me.”
Now the Bruins will start again from scratch.
With 13 conference games remaining, there will be plenty of time for UCLA to show this was not the beginning of a trend.
“Good teams, they always bounce back,” Collison said. “This loss really hurts but we’ll see if we can bounce back and become a better team.”