Bruins Do Some Deficit Expending

It was the biggest win of the season, Michael Fey said. Bigger than the upset of Washington, bigger than the victory at Oregon. A losing streak-ender, a season-saver.

UCLA came back from an 18-point halftime deficit and beat USC, 72-69, in a Pacific 10 Conference game at the Sports Arena.

Saturday’s win ended a three-game losing streak for the Bruins (11-6 overall, 5-4 in the Pac-10). It also was their first victory over the Trojans (9-11, 2-7) after four consecutive losses.

More important, though, was the way UCLA won.

Senior Dijon Thompson was the catalyst for the comeback by scoring 16 of his game-high 24 points in the second half and playing intense, inspired man-to-man defense that helped him get three steals. And point guard Jordan Farmar, while scoring only seven points, kept his poise against USC’s constant pressure and made big defensive stops against good friend and fellow freshman Gabe Pruitt late in the game.

That’s not unexpected.

Other contributions were.

* Arron Afflalo, a talented freshman guard whose shot had been off-target and who took only two shots in the first half, made three three-point shots within a 94-second span in the second half. The first got UCLA even, 54-54, for the first time since the opening tip. The second put the Bruins ahead, 59-57, and the third gave them a 62-57 lead and a sense that they might own control of the outcome.

“I told Arron those were very big threes,” Thompson said. “Arron Afflalo stepped up big when I’m sure his confidence wasn’t the highest.”

* Freshman center Lorenzo Mata, who had been banished to third string after UCLA’s home losses to Stanford and California last week, took Coach Ben Howland’s criticisms of his defensive intensity and rebounding enthusiasm to heart.

Mata had a season-high eight points as well as four rebounds in his 13 minutes. A smooth, one-handed putback of a Thompson miss cut USC’s lead to 50-42 with 13:50 to go.

That was as close as the Bruins had been since they trailed, 31-25, before the Trojans sprinted away with 12 points in a row to finish the first half.

“Lorenzo gave us huge minutes off the bench,” Howland said. “Lorenzo had a big heart,” Fey said.

* Often unheralded because he wasn’t a McDonald’s All-American like Afflalo and Farmar, Josh Shipp (13 points, seven rebounds) made a crucial three-pointer when it seemed the Trojans had stopped a bit of UCLA momentum. That shot started a 20-5 UCLA run.

“That was a huge three,” Howland said. “And Josh did a lot of things before that to keep us in the game.”

But it almost didn’t matter. Not Shipp’s three-pointer or Afflalo’s deadly shooting or Mata’s unbending effort. Because in the first half UCLA stumbled and fumbled its way into a dreadful hole.

Offensively the Bruins continued the same, stagnant pattern they had showed against Cal last Saturday when they scored only 51 points. UCLA had two field goals in the first 11 minutes against USC and shot six for 22 (27.3%) from the field for the half.

And it wasn’t as if they were making up for things on the defensive end. The Trojans scored 20 points in the paint and 14 off UCLA’s 13 turnovers while making 17 of 32 first-half shots.

When the Trojans scored the final 12 points of the half -- eight on fastbreak layups -- to take a 43-25 lead, it seemed the Bruins were on their way to a fourth consecutive Pac-10 loss, a demoralizing situation for a young team.

“We were tired,” Howland said, “we had a couple of bad turnovers and we dug a hole for ourselves. In the second half we played with the emotional intensity we’re capable of.”

Said Thompson: “Getting out of our losing streak, that’s big at this point.”

If the second half had been the same as the first, would it have been the end of UCLA’s season?

“Nobody will know,” Thompson said. He gave a tiny smile and maybe a half wink.

“I’m only going to live in the present now.”