UCLA Basketball: Things we can Takeaway from Bruins loss to Arizona
By Jamaal Artis
The UCLA basketball team had a disappointing loss last night to the Arizona Wildcats. What exactly does this loss mean for the Bruins?
When ESPN “Bracketologist Joe Lunardi continued to rate the UCLA basketball team as a three seed in the NCAA tournament, Bruins fans were quite upset about Lunardi’s analysis. After Friday night’s loss to the Arizona Wildcats in the Pac-12 tournament semi-finals Bruins fans may not have much of an argument.
Despite only losing four games this year and finishing the regular season ranked third in the nation, UCLA won’t be seeded higher than a three seed in the tournament. After finishing behind both Oregon and Arizona in both the regular season and tournament play makes it impossible to leapfrog those two for a better seeding in the West.
Whatever seeding the Bruins get it won’t matter in the tournament if they have another performance the way they did against Arizona. The Bruins shot 4-25 from three-point range and their biggest culprits were their two leaders.
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Senior Bryce Alford shot a miserable 2-12 from the field and 1-10 from the three-point line, he can’t have another night like that. The Bruins offense relies on finding the open man on the perimeter, Bryce Alford needs the ball on the “catch and shoot” he missed some wide open shots against Arizona that will need to fall during the tournament.
The Bruins offense will only go as far as Lonzo Ball can take them, the freshman sensation was not at his best in Friday’s game. Ball was 2-7 from the field and 1-6 from three-point land. His inability to get penetration against Arizona’s tall defenders made it hard for Ball to distribute the ball and the Bruins suffered for it.
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The Bruins “inside-outside” game relies on Ball being able to get into the middle and find Alford on the perimeter when that breaks down like it did against Arizona then the outcome is predictable. The Bruins have a week to clean up their game before the tournament starts, or else it will be a short March Madness for them.