LAWRENCE, Kan. — The Bruins experimented with almost everything
on Saturday.
They tried running the floor, and they tried slowing the game
down.
They tried a big lineup, a small lineup and a mixed lineup.
They tried pressing, and they tried a half-court defense.
They even tried showing some energy and intensity in the second
half.
But in the end, nothing they tried was able to save them from
another embarrassing loss, this time at the hands of No. 19 Kansas,
87-70, in front of 16,300 at Allen Fieldhouse.
"It is hard to find combinations that work, and for each of us
to find our roles," said guard Jon Crispin.
Kansas led wire-to-wire and basically won the game after its
dominant first-half performance. The Jayhawks opened the game with
a 14-2 run, and after UCLA pulled within eight points, they went on
another 14-0 run to open up an commanding 33-11 lead.
During that stretch, the Bruins looked apathetic and
overmatched, and they went into the locker room down 48-25 at
halftime.
"We weren’t even competitive in the first half," said forward
Dijon Thompson, who led the Bruins with 21 points.
"We came out too stiff," added guard Ryan Walcott. "We were just
standing
around and not moving."
One need only look at the first half stats to grasp just how
ugly it was for the Bruins. Consider the following:
– UCLA’s highest scorer at the half was Andre Patterson, with
six points.
On the other hand, Kansas had three players – Nick Collison,
Wayne Simien and Kirk Hinrich – in double figures by halftime.
– The Bruins committed 14 fouls in the first half, versus just
four for Kansas. Walcott and Patterson both had three fouls, and
three other players had two.
– Kansas beat the Bruins 22-10 in points in the paint, 16-5 in
points off turnovers and 12-2 in fast break points.
– UCLA never got to the free throw line in the first half but
gave Kansas 13 free throw opportunities.
– Kansas shot 18 for 31 (58.1 percent) from the field, while
UCLA only managed to go just 11 for 33 (33.3 percent). Kapono and
Cummings, two of UCLA’s major scoring threats, were both 1 for 6
from the field. Ray Young was 2 for 6, and Cedric Bozeman was 1 for
4.
"We didn’t play our style of basketball," Young said. "We
weren’t as crisp and as aggressive as we normally are. We let them
take the tempo."
And as for the 10 first-half turnovers, Patterson, who made his
first career start, blames nervousness as the culprit.
"We came out too tentative," he said. "We didn’t want to make
any mistakes, but as a result of our reluctance to be aggressive,
we made too many mistakes."
The Bruins did manage to turn the momentum of the game around in
the second half. They started to use the full-court press to force
turnovers, and were more aggressive in getting in the paint on
offense. In fact, UCLA cut Kansas’ lead to just 11 with 4:09
remaining in the game, and then Kapono got a steal
to give the Bruins a chance to make it a single-digit game.
But after a TV timeout, Patterson threw up a brick and Simien
got alay-up to help extend Kansas’ lead and end UCLA’s
momentum.
"We lost focus," said Kansas’ Collison. "We made too many
mistakes and
the offensive and defensive ends."
The Bruins, on the other hand, credited their second-half run to
the stepped-up intensity they showed.
"We brought a lot of energy, which is a good sign for us,"
Crispin said. "We showed a lot of character in coming back."
But costly missed shots and turnovers eventually stifled a
chance for UCLA to pull off a miraculous win.
"We came back, but we got careless with the ball and took some
bad shots," said UCLA head coach Steve Lavin, who was coaching in
his 200th career game. "Before you knew it, the game ran away from
us."
Despite shooting a season-low 38.7 percent from the field, the
Bruins did manage to have three players – Thompson, Kapono and
Patterson – all finish in double figures.
Kansas had four, including a game-high 27 points from
Hinrich.