Haggard Bruins Swift-ly lose their Rhythm, their Range, their Pride, and their Season, with no Trace of Rimes or Reason, as Rich Bears Cash in, 85-72
Parton is such sweet sorrow. And UCLA fans can now part ways with any wild hopes of a magical miracle run to March Madness, as the Bruins have been eliminated by Cal.
The 85-72 come-from-behind victory by the Bears sends the Bruins into NCAA hibernation, and sends Ben Howland on the Recruiting trail, looking to infuse next year’s line-up with some shooters, ball-handlers, and rebounders. The Bruins struggled in all three of those areas, with the main issue being their 39% shooting after Halftime.
In the 1st Half, the Bruins played as well as you could expect, with Michael Roll lighting it up for 16 Points, as UCLA built a 10-point lead. But right before Intermission, Cal scored 5 quick points to make the Halftime score 39-35 UCLA.
When the 2nd Half started, the Bears’ roll continued, but UCLA’s Roll didn’t. The Bears made 9 of their first 11 shots after the break, and ran off a 21-5 blitz. And on Defense, they figured out how to put the clamps on Roll, who didn’t score until after the run (but ended up with a career-high 27). While the Bears were able to get lay-up after lay-up after lay-up against the Bruins’ hole-y Defense, UCLA was settling for jumpers, and missing them. Nikola Dragovic tried to pick up the slack when Roll got smothered, but Nikola shot a pathetic 1-8 from behind the arc. Malcolm Lee didn’t fare much better, hitting only 2 of 7 shots. Tyler Honeycutt was in foul trouble once again, and only took two official shots in the whole game, making one. He also shot 5 Free Throws, making 4, but he committed FIVE Turnovers as well. Even Reeves Nelson was not at his best, and definitely not as effective as the night before. He scored 8, but also committed FIVE Turnovers. Brendan Lane was not a big liability in his 12 minutes, but he took only one shot (and collected ZERO Rebounds).
So where was the offense going to come from? Would you believe Jerime Anderson? JA scored 15 with 4 Rebounds and 4 Assists, with only 1 Turnover, in possibly his best game of the Year. Of course, that is not saying a whole helluva lot. But it does give Bruin fans a glimmer of hope that Jerime CAN produce at this level, even in a big game.
Even though the Bruins led the entire 1st Half, they ended up getting beat by a better, more experienced team. That experience paid off down the stretch, as the Bears hit 13 of their last 14 Free Throws to keep the Bruins at arm’s length. But with Drago cold and with Jerime as the second-leading scorer, the Bears could have missed 80% of those Free Throws, and stil would have won.
The Bears get Washington on Saturday, after the Huskies pulled away from Stanford on Friday night. Based JUST on Friday’s games, the Bears should be able to beat UW. But the Dawgs need the win to go Dancing and the Bears don’t, so with THAT extra motivation, Washington may just make it interesting. And if they win, then the two Preseason favorites — despite all the topsy-turvy, parity-driven chaos of the season –will probably be the only two Pac-10 teams coming down with March Madness.
Below are 17 photos from Friday night at Staples. They are mostly UCLA Dance Team, along with Cheerleaders from Cal and Washington. There are more pics of Washington, only because I happened to be seated in their section. It does not imply that the Stanford and Cal girls were any less entertaining or good-looking. UCLA is (of course) still #1, but there were definitely a lot of cuties on all sides of the court.
As usual, you can “zoom in” by clicking on the photos, and if you just “mouse over” the photos, a hidden caption should pop up. I hope you like this little photo collection, as there are a lot more just like them, coming very soon.
WARNING: If you are offended by sexy Cheerleader photos of non-UCLA squads, PLEASE, FOR GOD’S SAKE, DO NOT SCROLL DOWN. And if you ignore this polite advice, don’t write in complaining. You’ve been warned.
Comments
6 responses to “BRICKS & DONE”
And where are the UCLA Cheer pictures? How can you always be so PARTIAL to one team and not show the other team at all? They were not there last night, but you said you had tons of pictures. You even show the cheer teams from other schools, what about our UCLA CHEER SQUAD girls and guys? Not fair or balanced. Some people really want to see the Cheer Squad. They deserved it!
[T-H’s Note: Yes, I promised that I will be sharing a lot more photos of the unparalleled UCLA Cheer Squad in the near future, and I will. It’s just that I was lucky enough to go to the game on Friday night (thanks again, JR), and I must first share these brand new pics. Unfortunately, the Cheer Squad was not at Staples on Friday night, just 5 Dance Team members. Maybe they were at Galen? I don’t know, but I have every intention of following up on my promise to you. Just give me a little patience, please, while I quickly post the shots from other schools, which are racier, and therefore very popular amongst a large percentage of my “readers.” Then there will be TWICE AS MANY PEOPLE WHO WILL SEE the more respectful photography that shows off the beauty, athleticism, and grace of the UCLA Cheer Squad. Just give me a few days. Thanks.]
You made a country music reference??? I’m shocked!!!
[T-H’s Note: Maybe cuz’ “you’re always on my mind” but now more than usual? Nah — I was just thinking about UCLA being “done.” Then I thought about Dunn & Bradstreet, which no one would get, and then Brooks & Dunn. But I didn’t even know one single song that they do. I had to Wikipedia them, but decided to go with adding other artists into the sub-headline instead. I should have called you, oh God of Nashville!! Party on, Cletus. I hope all is “well.”]
“Bricks” is a perfect description of some of the shots by our Bruins, one after another, time and time again, specially by one in Bruin in particular. Wow.
The UCLA Dance Team is on another level. The other squads are lovely too, but the UCLA Dance Team are in their own league. No one comes even close in the country. And you can tell there’s a certain standard they uphold to…I hope we continue this domination for many years to come.
When will you be posting pics of the new cheerleading squad, didn’t they just have tryouts?
[T-H’s Note: I think final auditions are in May.]
Oh, okay. Thanks.