Pain Is Deeper Than One Loss

As Tyus Edney touched an index finger to his sewn-up eyebrow and pressed a palm against his bruised tailbone, as Shon Tarver limped away on a swollen right ankle, as Don MacLean inspected the two stitches on his right knee and as Mitchell Butler trudged off wearing matching bandages on his two split lips, something at Pauley Pavilion was painfully evident.

UCLA has looked better.

During some of Sunday’s 75-65 loss to Duke, the five healthiest bodies Coach Jim Harrick had to choose from in the Bruin huddle probably included Ed O’Bannon’s, with a surgically reconstructed knee, and Gerald Madkins’, with a pelvis held together by pins as the result of a motorbike accident.

Yet it is hardly the physical condition of this UCLA basketball team that at this point matters most. It’s the psychological state that Harrick and his players must address. Because sometimes, for some teams, three consecutive defeats can hurt a whole lot worse than any injury can.

“I don’t think this is a scary trend,” Edney volunteered.

Maybe not, but this team is about to take the fastest fall in the polls since Bill Clinton’s.

Once upon a time, UCLA was 21-1. The very first game of the season--on the road--was a 15-point victory over Indiana, now the nation’s No. 2-ranked team.

Today, the Bruins are 21-4. They lost Sunday--on their court--by 10 points to the nation’s No. 1-ranked team, Duke, which had injury considerations worse than UCLA’s.

The fallout?

Some will try using a creative spin, pointing out that being 24-4 with losses to Duke, nationally ranked USC and red-hot Notre Dame isn’t really all that terrible, saying: “Don’t worry, UCLA will be fine when the tournament starts.”

Others will howl that Harrick had better do something to pull this outfit out of its slump before some crummy opponent like Penn State pops up again in the first round of the NCAAs to put the poor Bruins out of their misery.

This is a superb basketball team, although you would never know it judging by the last three games.

Is it in Duke’s league?

Yes. Positively. This team can play with Duke and even outplay Duke--which it did, at least until the last few minutes of Sunday’s uncharacteristically clumsy, foul-filled, mistake-a-minute game.

UCLA hasn’t lost its chance of winning the national championship. What this team does seem to be losing is its confidence.

That’s why the Bruins should go right out now and paste somebody. Pound somebody by 30 points. Get everybody at Pauley pumped again, the way 13,023 got pumped Sunday until Bobby Hurley let the air out of them.

Unfortunately, the next time UCLA plays a game at Pauley, March 12, the opponent will be fifth-ranked Arizona, which might be ranked even higher by then.

Trying to put the best face possible on adversity, forward Tracy Murray made the obvious observation that the teams defeating UCLA are “no slouches.” And, of course, he is correct.

But when Duke shows up on your floor without one of its three best players (Grant Hill) and with another of its three best players (Hurley) in less than perfect condition, if you play for UCLA, you feel you should win.

So what happened? How could Duke go eight minutes of the first half without a basket and still beat UCLA? How could Duke have 17 points after 17 minutes and still beat UCLA? How could Duke play without Hill on your court and commit 22 turnovers and still beat you?

Everything was fine for a half. On defense, the Bruins contested every shot, bottled up Duke’s big guys and kept furiously scrambling for every free basketball, just the way assistant coach Steve Lavin had them doing the previous day in practice, making them dive after one loose ball after another. But UCLA couldn’t shoot. The Bruins missed from everywhere, at times scarcely grazing the rim. Tarver turned loose three-pointers, hardly his specialty. Darrick Martin shot a jumper over the backboard, irritating him so, he fouled the nearest Duke man deliberately.

MacLean, can’t-miss MacLean, misfired for the second big game in a row, also having to play much of the last 10 minutes flat-footed because of fouls. And Murray, never-miss Murray, was the guiltiest party as the Bruins attempted 14 three-point shots and bricked 14.

Talk about your scary trends.

It could be simply a coincidence, a fluke of scheduling, that has caused this team’s sudden turn for the worse. Or the coach could need to do some tinkering again, maybe get Martin back in the backcourt, or maybe take a second look at center at Rodney Zimmerman, who brought them luck.

UCLA is not the No. 1 team in the country. We know this now.

But that doesn’t mean UCLA can’t still become the No. 1 team.