Bruins start out solid, but dysfunction and go limp against the Beavers, before coming back big to squeeze out a 62-57 victory, with Smith and Jones rising to the occasion to make the money shots
If UCLA’s effort ever lasts for the entire 40 minutes, call a Doctor.
At first, it looked like UCLA’s pathetic loss to their crosstown rivals had actually motivated a huge season turnaround. The Bruins came out super-strong against Oregon State, immediately taking a 9-0 lead. They kept the pressure on, completely shutting down the Beavers, while building a 17-point lead. Tyler Honeycutt dominated the Boards early, and UCLA controlled the Boards and the Paint for the entire 1st Half. By consistently getting the ball inside, the Bruins shot 65% from the floor. And on the other end, Malcolm Lee literally shut out OSU’s highest scorer, and the Bruin Defense held OSU to a miserable 23% shooting before the break. The only problem UCLA was having was ball handling: They committed 12 Turnovers against the OSU Zone. But even with a 12-4 deficit in that category, the Bruins still took a 37-22 lead into the locker room. Then all hell broke loose.
The sloppiness continued, but all the good things went away, as a Beaver spurt of 21-4 completely erased the Bruins’ 17-point, 2nd Half lead. Both Joshua Smith and Brendan Lane got into severe Foul trouble, as UCLA suddenly couldn’t execute on Offense, protect the glass, or keep the OSU Offense bottled up. OSU got their first lead of the night with under 3 minutes to play, as the Corvallis, Oregon crowd went nuts. The Beavers BEAT Arizona last week in this arena, so they should not have been taken lightly, and the Bruins didn’t… until they built such a big lead that they got complacent. Then, when they actually lost their lead, they woke up again. It didn’t hurt that Oregon State blew a lay-up that could have given them the late edge, but the Bruins did what they had to do — And it was the NEW Bruins who really came through. When they were down by two, just moments after Honeycutt blew two Free Throws, Joshua Smith stepped up to the line and sank both of his. Then Lazeric Jones hit a jumper while standing on the three-point line, and Smith hit two more Free Throws to ice it. UCLA, after falling behind 57-55, scored the game’s final 7 points to SURVIVE (and to shockingly COVER the 4-point spread).
For this shaky, inconsistent young Bruin team, any win is a good win, especially a Conference Road win. But when you analyze how they went into a total funk for the majority of the 2nd Half, it’s understandable if you consider this victory a “moral defeat.” However, it’s still a W in the standings, putting UCLA at 2-2 in the Pac-10, AND, it should go a long way to help the Bruins’ mindset, the next time they get a big lead.
Stats-wise, Jones and Reeves Nelson led the team with 13 Points each, and Jerime Anderson led the team with 4 Assists, in just 20 minutes. That looks good, until you see that he also committed 4 Turnovers in that 20 minutes, and he scored only 2 Points. Just be happy that Jones’ injured finger is on the mend. Honeycutt and Nelson each had 7 Rebounds, but Honeycutt got 5 of his in the first few minutes of the game. Smith led the team with NINE Caroms, and finished with 10 Points, while playing 23 minutes (He was not in the starting line-up, in a FAILED effort to keep him out of Foul trouble). But the best thing that Smith did, besides sinking 4 straight clutch Free Throws, was NOT picking up his 5th Foul, while playing the final 6+ minutes of the game. If he could show that kind of maturity and restraint for 30 minutes, he will cruise to the Pac-10 Freshman of the Year Award, and UCLA will be in good shape.