UCLA fades in loss to Villanova, spoiling chance to bolster its March resume
PHILADELPHIA — At some point soon, valiant showings against quality competition in tough environments aren’t going to be enough.
UCLA arrived here needing not just a quality effort but a victory. Near-upsets against Marquette and Gonzaga in the Maui Invitational that might have boosted spirits did little for the Bruins’ early NCAA tournament resume with only a handful of major-conference opponents remaining before the start of Pac-12 play.
Even after falling out of the national rankings during a recent three-game losing streak, Villanova still represented a chance for UCLA to notch a quality road victory.
Bruins coach Mick Cronin returned to the team after testing positive for COVID-19, and is focused on getting UCLA ready for its game against Villanova.
The Bruins couldn’t get it, unraveling in the final minutes of a 65-56 defeat against the Wildcats on Saturday night at the Wells Fargo Center.
It was another opportunity lost, especially after UCLA (5-3) held a 45-41 lead with 8:24 left after sophomore center Adem Bona drove for a layup and was fouled, making the free throw he was awarded.
Villanova rallied amid a flurry of three-pointers, starting with one from Hakim Hart in the corner after the Wildcats (7-4) rebounded a missed free throw. UCLA coach Mick Cronin pointed to that missed box-out and twice leaving Villanova sharpshooter Brendan Hauser open for three-pointers as big reasons his team was outscored 24-11 to end the game.
The Bruins also committed a lane violation that gave Villanova an extra point and failed to box out a player on an airballed jumper, leading to an easy putback.
“We’re just not tough enough right now; our margin for error isn’t what it has been,” said Cronin, whose team is ranked No. 320 out of 362 Division I teams in experience by the metrics of basketball analyst Ken Pomeroy. “We’re the youngest team in the country playing a team that’s maybe the oldest team in the country, so we can’t have those kind of mistakes.”
It didn’t help that sophomore point guard Dylan Andrews sat out the final 8:24 with leg cramps, throwing his team’s offense into disarray. The Bruins struggled to find good shots and freshman guard Sebastian Mack couldn’t handle pressure on one possession, losing the ball out of bounds for a turnover.
When Hauser buried his second open three-pointer, the Wildcats were up 52-45 with 4:38 left and the Bruins needed a quick answer that was not forthcoming.
“You can’t have that kind of breakdown and let him shoot two open shots late in the game like that; if you do, you should lose,” Cronin said. “Even if he’d have missed them, we would have deserved to lose for letting him shoot, in my opinion. We got exactly what we deserved.”
Adem Bona ran into foul trouble and Berke Buyuktuncel sustained an injury as UCLA narrowly avoided an upset with a 66-65 comeback win over UC Riverside.
Junior guard Lazar Stefanovic (14 points on five-for-19 shooting to go with nine rebounds) and Bona (11 points, eight rebounds and three blocks before fouling out) were the only Bruins to reach double figures in scoring, illustrating their team’s epic offensive woes on a night UCLA shot 36.7%.
Cronin singled out Bona for not developing into an elite rebounder, noting that two lesser Villanova players grabbed 10 each.
“If he wants to be who he needs to be, he’s got to get some games with 12 and 15 rebounds — he’s got to go get the ball, man,” Cronin said. “[He had] multiple chances to be a dominant rebounder and we’re not going to win until that happens; we’re too young everywhere else. He’s got to be an all-league player for us, so I’ve got to figure it out, I’ve got to get him there, I’ve got to get that out of him.”
Bona, who took the blame for the missed box-out on Villanova’s airballed jumper, agreed he needed to do a better job rebounding.
“We got to improve our toughness level,” Bona said. “I can’t be sleeping on the last box-out. I got to be sharp the whole time. Yeah, I take that as a challenge to myself because I also expect myself to be getting more rebounds. Being one of the [leaders] on the team, I should be setting the tone for the freshmen and everyone on the team. So, yeah, I take that on myself.”
Shohei Ohtani, who earned two-time MVP honors with the Angels, is staying in Southern California and will join the star-studded Dodgers lineup.
Even before Andrews departed, the Bruins were already shorthanded with freshman forward Berke Buyuktuncel sidelined by the ankle injury he sustained last week against UC Riverside.
UCLA shrugged off his absence and built a 29-25 halftime lead on the strength of two 10-0 runs featuring some strong three-point shooting. Will McClendon and Andrews combined to make four of six shots from beyond the arc and the Bruins befuddled the Wildcats with strong defense that included some rare 2-3 zone usage from Cronin.
It was such ugly basketball with eight minutes left in the first half that Villanova was shooting 22.2% … and held a one-point lead on the strength of making one more three-pointer and two more free throws than UCLA. But the Bruins surged ahead after making five of 10 three-pointers by the game’s midpoint.
The good times would not last. Another chance to make a statement ended with the Bruins basically telling the basketball world once again that they’re not ready to win these types of games.
“If we don’t figure it out, we’re not going to be where we want to be,” Stefanovic said. “So, we got to sit down and see and realize — and I think we know what we got to do better. It comes down to going out there and executing and being the toughest team and playing smart and knowing the scouting report and all that stuff. We gotta take our game to the next level as a team, as a group, and everybody individually.”
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