This post was updated Jan. 3 at 10:02 p.m.
A fragment of the Bruins’ past perused campus just days before his alma mater took the court.
Jaime Jaquez Jr. – a face of the program a season ago – walked the hills of Westwood again, now in the throes of the NBA as a guard for the Miami Heat. He led a more potent offense of the past that UCLA has grasped for in his absence.
And as fiery as it first appeared in the wake of his return, characteristic struggles only prevailed.
Marking its lowest point total all season, UCLA men’s basketball (6-8, 1-2 Pac-12) fell 59-53 to Stanford (7-6, 2-1) on Wednesday night at Pauley Pavilion. Despite cruising to a double-digit lead in the first four minutes, the Bruins couldn’t recover from a persisting offensive slump down the stretch as they ultimately fell below .500 in conference play.
“Obviously, we can’t shoot 21% in the second half of a game and have any chance to win,” said coach Mick Cronin. “The fact that you don’t get blown out is a miracle.”
Racing out to a 10-0 start, the Bruins established a strong interior presence from the get-go while limiting the Cardinal, who reached triple digits in an upset of then-No. 4 Arizona last Sunday.
Cronin started freshman forward Berke Buyuktuncel alongside sophomore forward/center Adem Bona for the third consecutive game – a decision that paid immediate dividends. All of UCLA’s first six points came from the two players operating in the paint.
The Cardinal eventually found their way onto the scoreboard to cut the Bruin spurt at just over 3 1/2 minutes long.
But the hot hand stayed with UCLA – rattling off seven consecutive made shots en route to a 16-6 lead – all while avoiding its weakness. It attempted just four 3-pointers in the first half as the team with the country’s No. 308-ranked 3-point percentage.
Stanford was much the contrary in the early going, draining not one of its first five shot attempts from deep despite making a program-record 16 triples in its previous outing.
Yet it wouldn’t need to replicate a historic evening in order to keep pace.
UCLA only cooled off from there – sinking just one of its 10 subsequent field goal attempts, making three in a row, then missing seven of its last eight of the frame as Stanford headed to the locker room down 30-26.
“I would say we got a little comfortable. But I mean, we can’t let that happen anymore,” said freshman guard Sebastian Mack. “We have to go out there and score.”
After a pair of free throws by Buyuktuncel extended UCLA’s lead to 36-33 out of the break, it became mired in a nearly five-minute scoring drought. The opposition took advantage, finding its form from beyond the arc and sinking a trio of 3-pointers to tie and eventually take the lead for the first time all night with just over 10 minutes remaining.
A sprint out of the first-half gates then turned into a second-half limp.
UCLA, opening the contest 8-for-9 from the field, went just 11-for-49 the rest of the way, including a span of 16-plus minutes with just two made field goals.
“Our aptitude is a big issue for us right now. The most important thing for a teacher is for his students to have aptitude, or they can’t learn or can’t apply,” Cronin said. “Your rate of progress and development is way too slow.”
Bona and Buyuktuncel were the only sources of life amid the slump, accounting for three of the team’s four second-half makes before the final minute. The duo finished with 12 and 13 points, respectively.
Poor ball handling only made matters worse. UCLA totaled 16 turnovers that resulted in as many points for the Cardinal, with sophomore guard Dylan Andrews and Mack surrendering the ball seven times against a 7-for-26 combined shooting clip.
“The goal is to take care of the ball. I guess we got a little sloppy today,” Bona said. “The more shots we get, the more chances for us to get rebounds and the more chances for us to get points.”
Mack drained back-to-back 3-pointers in garbage time to extend the evening, finishing with 14 points of his own, but the conclusion had already been written.
A season-worst offensive night sealed the Bruins’ fate.
