Sorry this is coming out to you so late, but it’s taken me a bit to really process what happened in this basketball game and provide something coherent. So let’s start with a few statements.

UCLA is good. They’re not elite yet, but they have that potential. But it leads to the biggest problem with this team at the moment: they are definitely not ready for prime time yet. That was made abundantly clear as the Bruins blew a 15-point lead in the second half to lose to Illinois 79-70.

In hindsight, the fact that UCLA isn’t ready for this moment yet isn’t that shocking. They still have six players who saw time against Gonzaga in the Final Four in 2011, but of those six, only three of them were major contributors. Jaylen Clark was just a freshman getting spot minutes, while Kenneth Nwuba and Mac Etienne saw a few minutes each before it became obvious that they weren’t ready for that stage. Of the remaining players, Jaime Jaquez Jr., Tyger Campbell, and David Singleton were all major contributors who were hitting big shots, so it should not have been surprising that those were the three Bruins who did anything of note in this game. Those three combined to score 57 of UCLA’s 70 total points and made 22 of their total 27 field goals in the game. They also played the most minutes, with Singleton seeing 33 minutes while Campbell and Jaquez saw a mind-popping 37 and 39 minutes respectively in this game.

Those high minutes were necessary because the rest of the Bruins struggled. Jaylen Clark, who had been UCLA’s best player in the first few games, reverted to the player we saw a lot of last year; a solid defender but not much of an offensive force. Adem Bona had perhaps the best offensive game of anyone outside of the top Bruin trio, showing off a raw but promising post game, but he struggled defensively. Amari Bailey really struggled to get things going against a team with Illinois’s level of talent. Kenneth Nwuba looked out of place whenever he saw the court, and Dylan Andrews was similarly swimming.

This was the first game where I really had to reflect on the losses from last year’s squad, and I’m now fully of the opinion that UCLA has a higher ceiling this year, but it may not look pretty at the start. There are a lot of guys getting accustomed to a changing landscape, whether it is being counted on to provide more substantial minutes, to just playing at the college level. The good news is that it is early and UCLA won’t be punished too harshly for these performances, especially if they come on strong later in the season. We just need to adjust some expectations for the near future is all.

This game was a pretty good example of a team that is still growing. UCLA was not very good offensively throughout the game - they shot 37.5% for the entire game - but in the first half they were able to put up a stellar defensive performance to allow for the patented 1st half run we’d seen in the previous games. Illinois was able to shoot 47.6% in the first half, but that was on only 21 shots (by comparison, the Bruins had 37 in the first half) and the Bruins were able to force 13 turnovers out of the Illini. That’s excellent play, and about what we might expect from this team at peak playing ability.

But the second half was a different tale. Illinois switched to a press that was fairly weak but still gave the Bruins fits, and were able to quickly regain momentum. I was a bit shocked that Mick Cronin did not call a single timeout during this stretch - Fran Fraschilla did mention on commentary that Cronin was trying to call one at one point but that was about it - but it completely flipped the game on its head. UCLA continued to struggle offensively, but Illinois was able to make some easy baskets and that got them to settle down. Credit to Illinois, which is a veteran team that didn’t wilt under pressure.

The Bruins will need to regroup for a game against what should be an angry Baylor team on Sunday. But I’m now not looking for a win or loss in that game. I’m looking for improvement.

Tyger Campbell led the Bruins with 22 points. Jaime Jaquez led the team with eight rebounds and five assists. Terrance Shannon Jr. led the Illini with 29 points.

Three Takeaways

1. Player of the Game: Tyger Campbell - Though this comes with a caveat you’ll see in a moment, Campbell was mostly solid in this game, hitting some threes and acting as a calming force. He was one of the main culprits responsible for the collapse early in the 2nd, but it felt so uncharacteristic that I doubt it is something we will see often this year.

2. Area of Concern: Green Light Campbell - That said, I feel we might see the end of the concept of Campbell hunting for his shot after this game. Campbell put up 23 shots in this game, and a lot of them were rushed shots, indicative of a player who was pressing in an attempt to score. I know Cronin is counting on Campbell to provide more offense now that Johnny Juzang and Jules Bernard are gone, but Campbell was hunting for his shot outside of the flow of the offense. It created choppy offensive sets where nothing of note happened, while UCLA is at its best when Campbell is the conductor of the offensive symphony.

3. Interior Defense Needs Work - Between Adem Bona being green, Mac Etienne coming off a knee injury, and Kenneth Nwuba never being a high-level player, UCLA’s interior defense has left a lot to be desired so far this year. But it was at least understandable, and now Cronin and his staff need to work their magic to get this group up to passable defense. If they can get there, UCLA’s range of lengthy wings should be enough to give the Bruins a near-elite defense.

The Bruins will play Baylor in a consolation game on Sunday. Tip-off is scheduled for 2:30 PM PT.

Go Bruins.

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