Bruins Stuck in the Slop

Gone were the good feelings from five days earlier. Dropped. Kicked. Thrown away.

No. 25 UCLA committed 18 turnovers in the second half (26 in all) and cost itself a chance to upset No. 2 Arizona on Thursday night, left instead with a 76-61 defeat before 12,002 at Pauley Pavilion. UCLA has its worst start in Pacific 10 play in 12 years and another unwanted opportunity to look deep within, because the only thing the Bruins didn’t turn over was a new leaf.

They may have been typically inconsistent, unable to sustain the play that led to the win at North Carolina on Saturday or the offensive execution that helped erase an early deficit against Arizona, but even this stands alone in certain depths. At 1-3, and 10-5 overall, this is their worst Pac-10 opening since the 1987-88 club began 0-3 in Walt Hazzard’s final season as coach.

Jason Kapono, the most consistent Bruin in recent weeks, had 10 turnovers alone, or one more than the previous five games combined. That went along with four fouls and six misses in 10 shots. And that went along with him saying:

“Me personally, this was the worst game I’ve ever played, ever in my life.”

It didn’t help that he wasn’t alone. Dan Gadzuric was three of seven from the field and had three turnovers and four fouls--and one rebound in 21 minutes. Earl Watson went six for 14 overall, but missed all six three-pointers.

UCLA as a whole was three for 21 (14.3%) from behind the arc, helping waste 22 points and 14 rebounds, both season highs, from Jerome Moiso.

There was no denying the importance of the game in the standings, the Bruins getting their one chance at home against the conference leader and needing to avoid falling into an even bigger hole after losing two of their first three Pac-10 games.

There was also no avoiding the grander implications: The Bruins needed to prove they can be a consistent team.

The only way they had shown that earlier in the season was through a series of uninspired performances, just before the roller coaster ride (Washington to Washington State to USC to North Carolina) started.

That made the visit by a national power to Westwood an opportunity for UCLA to maintain the high level that delivered the victory over the Tar Heels, then the No. 13 team in the country.

With that, the Bruins fell behind, 19-7, but recovered and stayed close the rest of the half, despite missing all 11 three-pointers. They were still 42.4% from the field, but were 63.6% from inside the arc. Moiso, showing an individual carryover from Saturday the whole team hoped to emulate, had 12 points on six-of-nine shooting and seven rebounds.

It came against an Arizona team that arrived ranked second, winners of six in a row and 4-0 for its fourth time in Pac-10 history--the three previous resulted in conference titles--but also looking vulnerable. It wasn’t only the absence of starting small forward Richard Jefferson because of a broken foot suffered in the Jan. 8 showdown win at Stanford, a loss of a high-energy player Lavin compared to the Bruins missing the intensity of the suspended JaRon Rush. It’s that the Wildcats were coming off two close wins at home to seldom-respected Washington State (five points) and Washington (seven).

The Wildcats went up by 10 points midway through the second half and then got into the UCLA bench when Watson got his fourth foul. The Bruins briefly kept it close, staying within a reachable seven points, but then Gadzuric got his fourth personal too, and the dam broke.

Arizona went ahead by 15, 60-45, with 5:41 remaining. With Kapono making a pair of three-pointers and Billy Knight converting a steal in the backcourt into a three-point play, UCLA was still within 63-57 with 3:55 left, but that’s as close as the comeback got, before Arizona answered by scoring nine of the next 11 points to win with little threat in the final two minutes.

*

ROBYN NORWOOD

With freshman Gardner leading way against UCLA, Wildcats are not out of their depth.

Page 8

UCLA WOMEN WIN

Martin, Gomez score 19 apiece to lead balanced Bruins over Wildcats, 79-68.

Page 8

BUCKEYE BULL’S-EYE

George Reese came off the bench to lead Ohio State over Michigan State. Page 8