UCLA Can’t Finish Strong

There were many reasons why 11th-ranked UCLA lost to the No. 13 Washington Huskies, 69-65, Saturday afternoon at Pauley Pavilion.

A center position severely weakened by injury upon injury was one. A stagnant offense that failed to maintain a 15-point lead was another. The Husky defense finally clamping down on UCLA’s perimeter shooters was still another.

But guard Arron Afflalo wasn’t buying any of it. The team’s leading scorer this season pointed his finger in only one direction. At his shooting totals on the stat sheet, and those of his backcourt mate, Jordan Farmar.

They were a combined seven for 22 from the field (Farmar was one for seven), including four for 14 from three-point range (Farmar was 0 for 3), and totaled 19 points between them.

“We get the bulk of the shots,” Afflalo said. “If we don’t knock down those shots, we are not going to win too much. There is no excuse for six for 15 and four for 11 [his shooting totals]. That’s not helping the team at all.”

Farmar, who cut his hand skidding across the floor in the first half, chose to help his team by passing the ball rather than shooting it. While tying his career low with three points, he also had a career high in assists with 12.

But with UCLA down to its last shot at victory, Farmar passed the ball one too many times. With his Bruins trailing by two in the closing seconds, he brought the ball into the UCLA front court.

Out of the corner of one eye, he spotted power forward Luc Richard Mbah a Moute racing to join him. Farmar whipped him a pass, but Mbah a Moute, caught by surprise, stumbled into a defender as he received the ball and was called for traveling.

With only 3.8 seconds left, all that remained was to slam the door shut, which Washington’s Mike Jensen did by catching a long pass down court uncontested on a breakaway and laying it through the hoop.

“I did not think he was going to pass me the ball,” Mbah a Moute said. “I was going for the rebound. I was going too fast, I guess.”

While UCLA Coach Ben Howland was happy to have a dozen assists from his point guard, he wasn’t happy with Farmar’s reticence to go to the hoop.

“Seven shots is not enough for Jordan,” Howland said. “I don’t care if he is one for 15. I want him to take more shots.”

UCLA, which dropped to 14-3 overall, 4-2 in the Pacific 10 Conference, did get a career-high 17 points out of freshman Michael Roll, including five of six from the beyond the three-point arc. Roll, who is starting at small forward in place of injured players Josh Shipp and Cedric Bozeman, was a key factor in a first-half UCLA surge that propelled the Bruins to a 15-point lead and a 40-28 edge at halftime. The Bruin defense limited the Huskies to 36.4% shooting from the floor in the half while connecting at a 60% success rate themselves.

The numbers were nearly reversed in the second half as the Bruin offense slowed down, their accuracy deserted them and their opponents’ defense tightened up. UCLA shot only 42.3% and Washington soared to 64%.

After chasing UCLA for much of the afternoon, Washington finally went ahead on a layup by Jamaal Williams with just over three minutes to play that gave the Huskies a 61-60 lead. Down the stretch, Washington outscored UCLA, 15-5.

In improving to 14-2, 3-2 in the conference and breaking an 18-game losing streak at Pauley Pavilion, the Huskies were able to win despite an off day for their leading scorer, Brandon Roy. Coming in, Roy was averaging 19.4 points but finished with only 10. But he was picked up by three other teammates who also scored in double figures, led by Williams’ 14 points.

“This was a great learning experience for us,” Washington Coach Lorenzo Romar said. “We will always talk about the fact that we came back from being down 15 to the No. 11 team on the road. We will always be able to draw from that.”