This post was updated Feb. 25 at 9:20 p.m.
Comebacks are remembered when they lead to ultimate victory. They’re forgotten when only defeat follows.
The Bruins were presented with two opportunities to accomplish the feat Saturday night, both times against double-digit deficits.
They delivered on the first comeback attempt. But the second resulted in the kind of pain only rivalry losses bring, leaving its predecessor to be forgotten.
Failing to follow through on a late first-half revival, UCLA men’s basketball (14-13, 9-7 Pac-12) dropped its last-ever regular-season Pac-12 affair against USC (11-16, 5-11) by a 62-56 score at Pauley Pavilion. The Bruins battled their way back from a 14-point deficit to tie the game heading into halftime, but had no response for the double-digit lead the Trojans gained out of the break.
“They were more physical, they had humility, they came in here looking for redemption,” said coach Mick Cronin. “We had no humility. Show me somebody that’s not humble, and I’ll show you somebody that’s getting ready to get humbled.”
The Bruins had to endure an early Trojan downpour, as their opposition sank seven of 13 attempted 3s in the first half and six in a row at their hottest point. UCLA couldn’t match that pace, making three of 11 from deep.
Fittingly, it was a triple from guard Kobe Johnson that pushed an early Trojan lead to 33-19 with just under six minutes remaining in the first half.
But the rivalrous occasion had some drama in store.
With the Bruin offense finding a groove, a jumper in the paint from sophomore forward/center Adem Bona was followed by a pair of layups from himself and freshman forward Berke Buyuktuncel, bringing UCLA within eight.
USC guard Boogie Ellis interrupted the spurt with a free-throw make, but the charity stripe was where the Trojans punctuated their shooting struggles in the latter stages of the first half, going 3-for-8 from the line while Ellis himself was 3-for-6.
UCLA kept pouring it on – with each bucket, a roar from an arena formerly starved of noise. And with a layup from freshman guard Sebastian Mack to mark a fourth straight successful trip down the court, the crowd’s chorus reached its forte.
The Bruins had delivered a 15-1 run to knot the score at 34 apiece. Seemingly on a dime, a blowout had become a battle.
But already-turning tides took a new direction out of the locker room. The Trojans ripped off a 10-0 run of their own in response, buoyed by a trio of layups and nine consecutive missed field goal attempts from the Bruins.
“We started the game slow, came back, kind of get energy going on our side,” said junior guard Lazar Stefanovic. “And then again, second half, we come out. And again, we start slow – without fight, without energy.”
USC hadn’t returned with the barrage of 3-pointers it had relied on earlier in the evening, but 4-of-8 from the field was enough to regain a 44-34 lead, and UCLA’s 1-for-14 mark following the comeback allowed its rival to stay in front.
Bona, who led the Bruins with 14 points on 5-for-5 shooting, took accountability for the slow start.
“I got my third foul that sent me to the bench,” Bona said. “I should know better to stay in the game, head in the game.”
The scoring for the Trojans came in the paint to fuel their offensive resurgence, with their first eight field goals of the second frame coming by way of the layup. Ellis, who racked up 17 points in the first half alone, was held to seven in the second en route to 24 points on 9-for-18 shooting.
Cronin had called Ellis a “Bruin killer” earlier this season and said his team had a pregame plan to stop him.
“Do not let him get the ball. Do not let him shoot. Make somebody else beat us. That’s it,” Cronin said. “How’d that work?”
Spurred by a Bona dunk, the Bruins eventually summoned offensive life, with freshman center Aday Mara and Mack pitching in a layup and jumper, respectively, to trim the Trojan lead to seven.
That was the closest UCLA would come to replicating comeback magic.
Few mistakes in the early going turned into error-laden offense for the Bruins, as three first-half turnovers quadrupled to 12 in the second frame alone. And despite a bevy of open looks, they rarely knocked them down.
The Trojans found the bottom of the basket down the stretch, and the game stayed out of reach.
“We had our worst week of practice of the season, I failed miserably to get my team ready for the fight that was coming today, and I’m thoroughly embarrassed,” Cronin said. “I apologize to the people wearing the four letters.”
There would be no second comeback.
