Tuesday, February 16, 1999
Lack of heart leaves Bruins flailing in Cal
M. HOOPS: 18-point loss attributed to poor performances; UCLA
swept in Bay Area for first time in 11 seasons
By Brent Boyd
Daily Bruin Senior Staff
OAKLAND – It was difficult to tell which was tougher for the
Bruins to take Saturday: the 85-67 beating at the hands of
California or the verbal assault they took from Baron Davis
afterwards.
"It’s tough to come in here against a good team and just lay
down and let them walk away with it," the sophomore guard said. "We
got our butts kicked, they took our hearts out and stepped on them,
and we didn’t do anything about it but cry."
Actually, crying would have been more emotion than these Bruins
showed all day long in front of a Pac-10 record crowd of 15,676 at
the New Arena. After a tough loss to Stanford two nights before,
UCLA looked lethargic, distracted and lackadaisical throughout the
contest.
"You saw who the hungrier team was today," Davis continued. "We
just didn’t bring it."
The loss meant UCLA (17-7, 8-5 Pac-10) was swept in the Bay Area
for the first time in 11 seasons and kept the Bruins in a
third-place tie in the Pac-10 with Washington. On the other hand,
Cal (14-8, 5-7) got a much needed victory and stayed alive in its
hopes to obtain a bid for next month’s NCAA tournament.
"We told them before the game that Cal was probably the best
team in the nation with its record and that we better be ready to
play," UCLA head coach Steve Lavin said. "I think Cal has more
talent than Stanford – not more experience – but more talent. And
they needed this win – it was NCAA or NIT for them."
Apparently, Davis was the only Bruin listening. He finished with
team-highs in points (27), assists (4), rebounds (9) and had the
Bruins’ only blocked shot of the afternoon.
Other than his performance, there was little else for UCLA to
smile about.
Freshman forward JaRon Rush also had nine rebounds, but missed
14 of his 17 shots.
Earl Watson had four turnovers. Dan Gadzuric had seven.
In Travis Reed’s seven minutes of action, the only marks he made
on the boxscore resulted from his three fouls and one turnover.
It was just a terrible day for the Bruins all around.
When the nightmare had finally ceased, UCLA found itself with 21
turnovers compared to 13 assists (Cal had 14 and 21), had only four
steals, the one blocked shot, and allowed two Golden Bears to reach
double-figures in rebounds and five to reach that plateau in
points.
The Bears’ 85 points was nearly 20 points more than its scoring
average of 66.9 – which ranks ninth in the Pac-10 – and the Bruins
were out-rebounded despite the fact that Cal is second-to-last in
the conference in rebounding margin.
This could be partially attributed to the fact that freshman
forward Jerome Moiso missed the game due to his sore feet, and
seven-footer Dan Gadzuric played sparingly in the second half
because of poor play in the first 20 minutes – but that would be
making excuses for a team that had no excuse whatsoever for its’
play.
"Today was a classic example of us just being outcompeted and
not playing to the level that we are capable of," Lavin said. "We
didn’t respond with the necessary aggressiveness for a game this
late in the season. Tonight we didn’t have the effort we’ve had in
every game but a few, we just played horrible."
There was a reason for this post-game Lavin tirade. He wanted to
get a message across to his players – that is, if it wasn’t
delivered in a convincing manner during the game.
A team that has featured a fluxing lineup all season long, saw
its most interesting lineups of the year Saturday.
Senior guard Brandon Loyd and junior forward Sean Farnham played
13 and 11 minutes, respectively. Before this, they had played only
100 minutes … combined.
In the second half, Gadzuric played only eight minutes, while
Reed and sophomore guard Ryan Bailey never got off the bench.
And, according to Lavin, this is no one-time deal. Rather, this
is a trend that will at least continue until Wednesday’s contest
against USC.
If Lavin stays true to his word, and it wasn’t just the result
of letting off some steam in the post-game aftermath, Loyd and
Farnham will both start, and sophomore guard Todd Ramasar (who has
played 20 minutes all season long) will be the first player off the
bench.
"It’s fool’s gold to repay players for lack of effort," Lavin
said. "We’re going to go with the guys that played their
hardest."
No matter how hard some of these Bruins played, it wasn’t enough
to make Saturday’s contest close.
UCLA trailed only 23-21 with under six minutes remaining in the
first half, but Cal went on an 11-2 run to reach a halftime lead of
34-23.
The deficit remained pretty close to the 10-point mark
throughout the first few minutes of the second half, but an 11-3
Bear run left California holding a 57-41 lead with 11 minutes
left.
UCLA would cut the lead in half with an 8-point run of its own,
and would get to within 61-54 with six minutes remaining, but would
never seriously threaten after that.
Over these final six minutes, Cal made 14 of its 16 free throws
and outscored UCLA 24-13.
It resulted in Cal’s largest home victory over UCLA in 50 years
and the Bruins’ worst loss of the season.
But perhaps more importantly, it showed the Bruins one thing.
Without their hearts in it, they can be beat by anybody.
And with the NCAA Tournament just around the corner, it’s a
lesson that can not be forgotten.CHARLES KUO/Daily Bruin
Ryan Bailey’s maneuvering around the Cal defense was not enough
for the Bruins, as Cal beat UCLA 85-67.
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