First times are often learning experiences. For Jordan Farmar,
there was a lot to digest in Thursday’s loss to Texas Tech. Beaten
on the defensive end by the Red Raiders’ precision motion offense,
the freshman point guard looked to redeem himself on the offensive
end in his first NCAA Tournament game. He may have tried too hard.
"I wasn’t trying to force too much, but at times I did because I
was struggling," said Farmar, who finished with just three points
on 1-for-9 shooting. With the Bruins trailing by seven points
midway through the second half, Farmar drove one on four into the
heart of Texas Tech’s defense, hoisting up a shot that never had a
chance of going in. Unable to recover in time defensively, Farmar
and the rest of the Bruins lagged behind as the Red Raiders had an
easy fast-break when UCLA failed to rotate over. "He got a little
anxious," UCLA coach Ben Howland said of the play. "I wanted him to
slow it up cause we were going to go right back to him." After
hitting his one field goal of the contest with eight minutes left
in the second half, the freshman seemed even more inspired to erase
the Bruins’ deficit. But by firing up hurried jumpers that weren’t
falling, Farmar, and the rest of the Bruins, were forced into
playing extended periods of defense against a team that was content
with protecting its lead. "I couldn’t get into a rhythm and they
just kept grinding it out," Farmar said. After Farmar missed a
3-pointer early in the shot clock that would have trimmed the Red
Raiders’ lead to four with six minutes left, Texas Tech’s Jarrius
Jackson came down on the other end and hit a long jumper in
Farmar’s face that extended that lead to nine. That lead only grew
larger in the waning moments of the game. Despite his poor shooting
performance, Farmar felt as though the opportunities were there for
him. "I was struggling, but all my looks felt good," he said. "It
just wasn’t my day today. Combine that with not getting it done on
the defensive end and it gives us this result." Howland was pleased
with the overall performance from his young point guard,
complimenting Farmar for handling the ball well and placing most of
UCLA’s struggles on having an off-shooting night. "We missed a
number of open looks," Howland said. "Part of that is playing
defense for long periods of time. It takes your legs away from your
shot." When Farmar goes back to review the game film from Thursday
night, he will study how the structured Red Raider offense picked
apart UCLA’s defense. He will see some of his emissed jumpers and
the reasons behind his four turnovers. But most importantly, he
says he will learn from it all because the situation is one he
would like to be in again in the future. "I’m going to be hard on
myself after this one, but I’m looking forward to getting started
for next year," Farmar said. The point guard already pinpointed a
couple lessons he hopes to take from the opening-round loss. "Team
basketball and toughness," Farmar said. "The same thing coach
preaches everyday."
Going into Thursday night, it may not have been how senior Dijon
Thompson envisioned his final game as a Bruin. But once he
reflected back to the beginning of the season, he couldn’t have
been too frustrated. "The main goal was just to get into the
NCAA’s," Thompson said. "If you look at it that way, we
accomplished what we wanted to do." Sitting at the press-conference
podium following the Bruins’ loss to Texas Tech, an emotional
Thompson tried to balance the disappointment of the loss with the
strides the Bruins made over the year. "Stepping onto the practice
court with the media and the crowd felt really good," said
Thompson, the only Bruin on this year’s squad who had previously
played in the NCAA Tournament. "I’m not satisfied with the season,
but I’m proud of how we came back and fought because no one
expected us to make it this far." The overriding reason the Bruins
had made it to the tournament was because of Thompson. And in his
last game, he was the biggest reason UCLA even had a semblance of
hope against Texas Tech. Thompson finished the game with 22 points,
seven rebounds, four assists, and an optimistic outlook and sense
of appreciation. "I take a lot of pride wearing the four letters,"
he said. "I’ll always be a part of the Bruin family. This year was
a stepping stone and next year’s team will go far."