Seeds of doubt for UCLA

Whether UCLA gets an NCAA tournament No. 1 seeding Sunday doesn’t even matter anymore. What’s more important for the shell-shocked Bruins is that they find their missing shots, their defensive heart, their tough soul.

Because in a matter of a week it has all disappeared.

The top-seeded and fourth-ranked Bruins grimly lost their Pacific Life Pac-10 tournament quarterfinal game to eighth-seeded California, 76-69, in overtime Thursday at Staples Center. For the first time all season, UCLA (26-5) has a two-game losing streak -- the Bruins got beat at Washington last Saturday.

Arron Afflalo, UCLA’s junior guard who earned conference player of the year honors earlier in the week, was held scoreless for a half and finished with three points. “It was my worst game in a long, long time,” Afflalo said.

But more than a single, bad individual effort, the Bruins struggled to find the unflappable will and confident physicality that had carried them to a definitive 53-45 road win last Thursday against Washington State at Pullman.

Then the Bruins chest-bumped in a hallway while they celebrated their second straight regular-season conference title and the possibility that not only would they get a No. 1 NCAA seeding but also the possibility of the top overall seeding. Thursday they stared at the walls and shuffled through the corridors with their heads down.

“After the two losses,” UCLA center Alfred Aboya said, “I think we lost the No. 1 seed. I just hope we can stay in California.”

The Bruins, who had beaten California (16-16) twice in the regular season, have been public in their desire to play their first two NCAA games in Sacramento and if they won twice to play in the San Jose regional for the semifinals and finals.

When UCLA beat Cal in Berkeley two months ago, Afflalo held their point guard and leader Ayinde Ubaka scoreless while scoring 27. This time Ubaka had 29 points, including a three-point basket at the end of the shot clock that tied the score, 59-59, with 54.4 seconds left in regulation.

It wasn’t only Ubaka’s individual brilliance that brought down the Bruins, though.

They were beaten by their first-half defensive renitency, by their willingness to accept a 16-point deficit before they got seriously interested, by their casual free-throw shooting (15 of 29) and finally by their fatigue, mental and physical.

After trailing, 29-13, midway through the first half and 37-25 at halftime, UCLA seemed recharged. The Bruins took the lead, 42-41, on a Josh Shipp layup, were ahead, 53-49, on a Lorenzo Mata hook shot and clung to a 61-59 lead on a Darren Collison driving layup (he had a career-high 20 points but made only five of 15 shots) with 39 seconds left in regulation.

Ubaka then tied the score with 15.4 seconds left when he lifted a high, floating bank shot over the hands of two defenders and Collison missed a three-pointer with two seconds left, a shot UCLA Coach Ben Howland called “a good look, wide open.”

“I think we were fatigued at that point from making our comeback,” said Aboya, who had fouled out with 5:09 left and UCLA ahead, 53-51. “Our fatigue caused us to make some errors at the end.”

Afflalo scored his only basket to start the overtime, but the Bears scored 11 of the next 12 points, including another Ubaka three-pointer that put them ahead, 72-64, with 1:13 left.

Afflalo, despondent over his own performance, was also not optimistic about what he and his teammates will see when the NCAA tournament field is announced Sunday. He answered “No,” when asked if UCLA would still be seeded No. 1.

“There are some other teams that are playing very well right now,” he said. “I understand that it is all about timing. Whatever we’re handed, we’ll deal with it and make the best of it.”

California Coach Ben Braun gave credit to his team’s defense. “Keeping Arron Afflalo and Darren Collison to zero points at the half was a large reason why we were up,” he said.

UCLA had also trailed by 16 at Washington last Saturday. At the time it seemed a natural letdown after the Bruins had played so well two nights earlier in the conference clincher.

Now it’s a bad trend.

“I’m disappointed in the fact our last couple of opponents have been able to go up by 15 points or more,” Howland said.

And as far as being seeded No. 1, Howland said it doesn’t matter. “I don’t even care. It doesn’t matter who we play. If we don’t play better than we’re playing right now, anyone in the field of 64 can beat us.”

diane.pucin@latimes.com