UCLA Bruins Basketball Has A Long Way To Go After Split With Colorado & Utah

Jan 18, 2014; Salt Lake City, UT, USA; Utah Utes guard Brandon Taylor (11) defends against UCLA Bruins guard Zach LaVine (14) during the second half at Jon M. Huntsman Center. Utah won 74-69. Mandatory Credit: Russ Isabella-USA TODAY Sports

CURRENT RECORD:

14-4 overall, 3-2 and tied for fourth place in the Pac-12 Conference

Anyone who thought that UCLA’s hoops squad was on the brink of major success in the Pac-12 Conference after beating 21st-ranked Colorado in Boulder on Thursday got a rude wake-up call in Salt Lake City.

It wasn’t just that the Bruins lost to an unranked but underrated Utah team, which for the moment maims their conference standing and RPI as they now sit at 3-2.

It was also the fact that for the fourth consecutive game, Steve Alford’s team shot under 50% after entering Pac-12 play second in the nation in shooting at 52%.

This means, quite obviously, that these band of Bruins are in a slump, illustrated by leading scorer Jordan Adams not scoring a single point in the first half of the Utah game and spending a significant amount of time on the bench with four fouls.

Not to put specific blame or make a scapegoat of anyone, but Bryce Alford – Coach Alford’s son – has been worse than Adams as he didn’t make one single basket against the Utes, the second straight time he has gone without a point as he went 0-for-7 against the Buffaloes.

It was certainly a lost weekend for the freshman as he missed all 11 of his shots total; people are now calling for his benching.

But enough about Bryce, he doesn’t need to suffer any more wrath from Bruin Nation.

The bigger issue is this…

Simply put, UCLA is not as good as it can be right now as their weaknesses on defense – slowness of foot and blown coverage from too many players – has been exposed along with their recent shooting woes.

To their credit, the Bruins didn’t fold against Utah as they mounted a furious comeback to make get within one possession with 22 seconds left, Kyle Anderson leading the way with a game and career-high 28 points.

But it was a classic case of what an old baseball coach of mine called “coming back too late”.

And one thing to consider was that UCLA beat a Colorado team without its biggest star, Spencer Dinwiddie, who was out for the season with a torn ACL and which greatly helped the Bruins’ chances against the Buffs.

Jan 18, 2014; Salt Lake City, UT, USA; UCLA Bruins guard/forward Kyle Anderson (5) dribbles up the court during the first half against the Utah Utes at Jon M. Huntsman Center. Mandatory Credit: Russ Isabella-USA TODAY Sports

I give Utah, who is a stellar 14-1 at home, all the credit for playing a great game not only against UCLA, but against USC as well as they swept the Los Angeles schools.

But there was no way that a ranked Bruin team with the talent that it has should have lost to an unranked Utah team, though the Utes could be ranked after their showing this weekend; they would certainly deserve a ranking after what they did this weekend.

Going forward, Alford’s squad is going to have a pretty tough challenge against his next opponents as the two Bay Area schools, Stanford (who like UCLA has a Pac-12 record of 3-2) and a 5-0 and tied with top-ranked Arizona in the conference California team come to Pauley Pavilion.

That 5-0 mark is the Golden Bears’ best start in the Pac-12 in 11 years, and after beating Washington on Saturday night the Cardinal will be no slouch.

It is crucial that UCLA sweeps these Bay Area teams at home, else they will find themselves in real trouble.