HEART SURGIN’ CAN’T STOP NEW YEAR’S GRIEVE

Never-Say-Die crippled Bruins rally from 17 down to gain new life, but can’t stop ball from dropping for Huskies in 74-63 year-ending loss

What a Massive End-of-Year Sail for the Washington Huskies — First the Dawgs BeatSC in Overtime on Wednesday night, then their Football team upsets heavily-favored Nebraska in the Holiday Bowl on Thursday night, and finally, they stave off a furious rally by UCLA on New Year’s Eve to complete the Trifecta.

Despite Joshua Smith being in foul trouble, Lazeric Jones being injured, and Tyler Honeycutt being stone cold, the Bruins still showed courage, by refusing to fold when they found themselves down by 17 to UW in the Second Half.  The Bruins were so short-handed in this game, that even rarely-used Blake Arnet saw action in the First Half.  Thanks to Jones hurting his middle finger, Ben Howland had little choice but to employ Arnet off the bench, and to use Jerime Anderson for 22 minutes at the Point.  Unfortunately for Howland, neither Anderson, Arnet, nor Jones hit a single field goal.  And neither did the other back-up Guard Tyler Lamb.  For that matter, NOT ONE reserve hit a single bucket, as Brendan Lane and Anthony Stover also came up empty.

The Bruins shot 35% on the day, as the Husky Defense did a great job of anticipating the Bruins’ every move.  The Bruins missed open shots too, but the solid UW Defense was the main reason for UCLA’s lack of Offensive production.  Jerime Anderson didn’t embarrass himself, but he could not do what Jones had been doing in the last few games.  JA hit all 6 of his Free Throws, but he couldn’t seem to find open men or get the Bruins’ Offense into a good flow.

Malcolm Lee had another stellar First Half, scoring 10 points to lead the team, but he scored only 2 more after Intermission.  It was Reeves Nelson who kept the Bruins in the game, and led the charge back from the 17-point deficit.  Nelson finished with 19 points and 10 Rebounds, both team highs.  Honeycutt added 12 points, but only 2 Boards, well below his average.  Honeycutt picked up 2 very early fouls that hampered his overall production, but it didn’t cause him to go 4-for-12 from the field.  With no one hitting from outside, the Bruins should have forced the ball in to Smith, who scored 2 inside buckets in the game’s first few minutes.  But with Smith in worse foul trouble than Honeycutt, he was a non-factor for most of the rest of the game.

Washington used a good defensive gameplan — and lots of elbows — to control the Bruins for most of the game.  On one play, a Husky had his arm going up through Nelson’s crotch, but somehow, Nelson was whistled for the foul.  It may be the first time ever that Refs felt a foul was committed by a player’s erection.

In addition to the tight coverage — it was like a glove — the Huskies also stopped the Bruins’ transition game, and that discipline in getting back on D was another cause of the Bruins’ 35% shooting.  And on the other end, the Dawgs knew how to exploit the foul trouble on Honeycutt and Smith, repeatedly getting to the hoop without much resistance inside, thus dominating the points in the paint category. 

UW was the better team on this day, but the Bruins showed a ton of heart and tenacity by coming back from such a deep hole.  Even with a gimpy Jones and a foul-laden front court, they were able to cut the margin to 4 a few times before the Huskies finally put it away.  UCLA may be overmatched for the rematch in Seattle, but if they get to play the Dawgs in Staples in the Pac-10 Tournament, with a fully-recovered Point Guard, the Bruins would definitely have a reason to be confident.

But based on this past week’s games, usc should absolutely be favored when the Bruins visit Galen next week… especially if Jones’ middle finger is still in a splint.  Either way, Happy New Year to all non-trojans, and a healthy middle finger to everyone else.