UCLA Refuses to Make Shots, Loses to Arizona 58-52
31.3% from the field is going to lose you a lot of games.
If you did not watch UCLA’s matchup against Arizona today, then let me summarize how it went. Thankfully, it’s really easy: UCLA refused to hit shots all game, and they lost as a result. That’s it.
Arizona is going to get some talk nationally about its defense in this game, but the reality here is that UCLA could not hit an open look to save their lives. Tyger Campbell went 5-18 from the field, Jaime Jaquez went 5-17, and Jaylen Clark went 4-13. That’s just not going to get it done on the road, especially against an opponent in Arizona that is going to get some points. I don’t even know that Arizona’s size and length were a particular problem for UCLA because the Bruins completely dominated this game on the glass, including grabbing 18 offensive rebounds but only getting nine second-chance points. They simply could not hit open looks, including going an awful 4-20 from distance. That’s the long and short of it.
UCLA is in an offensive funk at this point. It is not so much the design of the offense as it is the guys being unable to hit their shots. Nothing shows this more than the free-throw line, where there isn’t even a defender to worry about. UCLA struggled to even generate free throws in this game, but even when they went to the line, they shot a poor 54.5% (6-11) from the line. Jaime Jaquez in particular continues to struggle from the charity stripe, going 1-3 in this game, and he really had a poor road trip that should quiet any discussion of him in the national player of the year talks, which might be for the best.
UCLA’s defense struggled at times in this game. They would finish the game shooting 38.8% from the field, but found a lot of success going inside to Oumar Ballo, who just presented a matchup problem for every UCLA big. Adem Bona seemed to figure things out by the end of the game, but Kenneth Nwuba felt unplayable in his minutes, which makes it even worse that he was allowed to muck things up for 10 minutes while Mac Etienne only saw the court for three (and hey, guess who had a much-better rebounding rate?). UCLA has been able to survive Mick Cronin’s wild interior rotation choices in large part due to the improved play of Bona, but if he’s going to continue to sit him in the first half when he gets fouls, the Bruins either need Nwuba to step up in a way he has never really shown he can for a consistent amount of time or allow Etienne to have an actual go at filling those minutes.
The defensive issues weren’t limited to the interior, though. Arizona was able to generate some open looks in large part due to the disinterest of their veterans on that end. Specifically, Jaquez took whole stretches of this game off on defense while Campbell kept going for unnecessary switches that threw the rest of the defense off. This was the first game in a while where the Bruins really could have used Amari Bailey, not so much for what he potentially brings on offense but because he’s a better defender than David Singleton, who the Wildcats targetted relentlessly. In fact, this was by far Singleton’s worst game of the season, not scoring a single point in 35 minutes and looking hesitant to even shoot the ball late in this game.
There are some positives to take from this game, however. As I said, Bona started to figure things out late, doing a much better defensive job and becoming more active on offense (also a problem that UCLA did not look to get him lobs until late in the game, but that’s a whole different problem). Amari Bailey is reportedly close to returning, which should help fix some of the bench issues, and I can’t see UCLA shooting this poorly in the rematch at home. Maybe the best sign was the last few minutes, where UCLA finally turned up the full-court pressure and remembered that Arizona loves to turn the ball over, which allowed them to turn a 10-point lead into a four-point game in a matter of 30 seconds. Cronin looked hesitant to employ the fullcourt press that has become a staple of their defense in this game, likely afraid of running at Arizona’s preferred pace, but perhaps this gets him to utilize it a bit more in the rematch.
And, in the grand scheme of things, this was a game UCLA could afford to lose. I don’t like writing that, but it is a basic fact. The Bruins have done exactly what they needed to do up to this point in conference play, and are still firmly in the driver’s seat going forward. The Bruins just have to improve from this game instead of letting it put them in a funk.
Tyger Campbell led the Bruins with 13 points and seven assists. Jaime Jaquez led the team with 11 rebounds. Oumar Ballo led the Wildcats with 16 points.
Three Takeaways
Shooting Has to Improve - Again, you aren’t going to win a lot of games shooting 31.3% from the field, especially if you can’t convert your open looks. UCLA was forced to scratch and claw for points less because of Arizona’s defense and more because they simply could not hit an open shot. That’s this game in a nutshell.
Bona Shows In-Game Improvement - Adem Bona played poorly to start this game, picking up two fouls and only playing seven minutes in the first half due to Cronin’s refusal to play someone with two fouls (unless that player in Kenneth Nwuba apparently). The second half started poorly as well, but Bona noticeably improved as the half went on, showing increased awareness of what Oumar Ballo wanted to do and making things harder for him. Ballo finished with 16 points but only four of those came in the second half, and he only shot one free throw in that half compared to 10 in the first half, all because Bona improved. He still makes some mistakes, but this was a huge positive to take away in a game without many options.
I Need to Start Seeing it from McClendon - Will McClendon’s story since coming to UCLA has been tragic, and I really want him to succeed, but we are starting to reach Steven Manfro territory here, where all we hear is how amazing McClendon is in practice, about how he’s the best shooter on the team, and then he gets into games and…nothing. He’s made one three-point attempt all season and is shooting 17.6% from the field. His defense has also been average at best, again likely a result of not being fully back from his knee injury. At this point, I would much rather see Dylan Andrews be allowed to make mistakes and learn or see what Abramo Canka can do in consistent non-garbage minutes than watch McClendon play a level of basketball that raised the floor but lowers the ceiling.
The Bruins return to LA this week but not necessarily to home, as they take on Southern Cal this Thursday in a game that could make or break the Trojans’ hopes for a postseason bid. Tip-off is scheduled for 6:00 PM PT.
Go Bruins.
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In fairness to Bona, the refs took him out of the game less than a minute into the game on a clean block. Not a great way to start, but that's the SPTRs for you.
Super frustrating game, but ultimately it's not necessarily harmful to the season, as long as the offense can get back on track. I would like to see some more in game adjustments when we are having a hard time finding baskets, because scoring has been a real problem lately, both against stupid $c and Colorado, so yesterday's futility is not as flukey as it might seem. But if the shots aren't falling, the team needs to make a better effort to get some easy shots and/or get to the FT line, or turn up the defensive intensity, and I didn't see any of the former, and little of the latter until the last few minutes, at all yesterday.
I feel like our team gave too much respect to AZ's inside defense yesterday and didn't attack the rim enough. I would have liked to see Bona get the ball in the low post more. He's developed some decent inside moves and the refs proved yesterday that they would blow whistles for virtually anything either way, so he had as good a chance at drawing a foul as he would at getting stuffed. But we needed to make the investment at going at the rim if only to put more pressure on the AZ down low and maybe get some more FTs. Remember that AZ made more FTs yesterday than we even attempted. Can't surrender like that. And if AZ wanted to double Bona (or JJJr) on the low box, he's shown the ability to find an open shooter, or we need the open man to slash to the rim. None of that happened so we were reliant on perimeter passing for more contested jumpers or JJJr trying to create a shot. Oh well. Lesson learned. Get better for next game.
And the refs...Man they were all new levels of horseshit yesterday, and both ways. Outside of the absurd foul on Bona 36 secs in that sent him immediately to the bench, (why, Mick??) I don't think they really tilted the game one way or the other, but they sure made it difficult to watch for everyone. And these kids playing D1 BBall in a P5 conference deserve better.