March Madness: UCLA’s 5 Most Disappointing Tournament Losses

Number 5: Villanova, 2009

The 18th-ranked UCLA Bruins, coming off of three consecutive Final Fours, were in the tournament once again under coach Ben Howland. Howland, who is likely UCLA’s second-best overall coach at UCLA, still needs to buy his own drinks in Westwood because of performances like this one.

After losing three players to the NBA in the 2008 draft (Kevin Love, Russell Westbrook, Luc Richard Mbah a Moute), Howland coached the Bruins to a 24-9 record, second in the Pac-10. UCLA came in as a five-seed in the East regional, and after squeaking by a plucky VCU squad in the first round, faced three-seed Villanova, an at-large team from the Big East.

Though the Wildcats returned nearly their entire roster from a Sweet 16 team, the team still accrued seven losses during the regular season and were eminently beatable.

It was obvious from tipoff, however, that this UCLA team was not the squad that was going to beat them. With Bruins’ starters Darren Collison, Josh Shipp and Nikola Dragovic scoring in double figures, the rest of the team – including future NBA star Jrue Holiday – wilted immediately against the athletic, versatile Villanova squad.

The game was a mismatch from the opening tip and was never close. UCLA fans had to swallow a dose of reality that Howland’s teams were never going to win a title relying on defense, but could not handle the frenetic pace of finely-tuned offensive squads. The Bruins lost, 89-69, in a game that was over before the Sunday morning crowd could even finish their first mimosa.

One would think that Howland’s three consecutive Final Fours would ensure that a coach would be lauded, feted and lionized. However, it is due to the sluggish pace of play and high-profile losses like this one to Villanova that the coach still probably needs to buy tickets to see a game at Pauley Pavilion.