This post was updated Jan. 23 at 10:57 p.m.
The curse seemingly lifted.
With consecutive victories, the Bruins snapped a four-game skid. In the latter, they came out on top of a tight affair via a double-digit comeback – a rare occurrence.
And with a double-digit lead against a top-15 team, another rarity, a third-straight win appeared likely.
But oh, the old familiar places.
In its loss to now-No. 9 Arizona on Saturday, a team with a starting lineup much its senior, UCLA men’s basketball allowed a 17-point lead to slip away with just under 16 minutes to go in the second frame. The final score would read 77-71 in favor of the Wildcats, and was last knotted with just under four minutes remaining at 67 points apiece.
In the eyes of sophomore forward/center Adem Bona, there was a clear upward trajectory heading into the bout with Arizona.
“We’re taking huge strides. As a team we have a saying – we call it steps,” Bona said to reporters after his team’s win over Arizona State. “We made a first step against Washington. Now against ASU, we made our second step, and we’re looking forward to making our third step.”
What actually transpired was another chapter in an already-dense book. The Bruins again dropped a down-to-the-wire battle.
The struggle to finish has been a prolonged one for UCLA, dating back to the Maui Invitational, where it fell to then-No. 4 Marquette and then-No. 11 Gonzaga by two and four points, respectively.
Four more near-wins brought about the end of nonconference play, but the near-wins didn’t come to a close with it.
Eleven defeats stain UCLA’s resume. Of the bunch, 10 have been decided by 10 points or fewer, and across 19 games played, 13 have ended within that margin.
Coach Mick Cronin, who earlier this month criticized his players for low aptitude, chalked up shortcomings to freshmen growing pains.
“99% of freshmen and young kids need experience and training and we’re gaining that, so we’re improving,” Cronin told reporters after the loss to Arizona. “That’s the way it is.”
Currently sitting at ninth place and 3-5 in the Pac-12, the team’s only double-digit loss of conference play came against Utah by way of a historic 46-point blowout.
It also happened to be the only double-digit loss the Bruins have suffered all year.
Oregon, Stanford, California and Arizona all handed UCLA losses by a margin of 10 points or fewer. In three of those meets, the Bruins either led or were tied with their opponent at some point in the second half.
Shooting woes in clutch time underlined all those games.
With the Golden Bears as the lone exception, the Bruins’ field goal percentage either stagnated or declined from the first to the second half, including 22% and 24% decreases against the Cardinal and the Wildcats, respectively. They shot 36.6% from the field across all second halves, while the opposition is a combined 42.9%.
The latest loss left freshman guard Sebastian Mack grappling with the reality of the sport.
“I mean, it’s college basketball. Stuff like this happens, but you just got to keep your head high,” Mack said. “We can only control what’s within us and just go from there.”
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