Afflalo Works Out Loss on His Own

He was on his back. He was across his stomach. He was at his knees.

During a long Saturday afternoon at the business end of a strong West Virginia will, UCLA leading scorer Arron Afflalo was muscled to the most improbable of locations.

Then, nearly three hours after the game, he was spotted at one more.

Still here.

Still at Pauley Pavilion, still on the Nell and John Wooden court, still in basketball shorts and T-shirt and shoes.

After he scored a season-low four points in a 60-56 loss to the 12th-ranked Mountaineers, Afflalo promised to “get back in the gym and take care of it.”

Who knew he meant, like, right away?

Who knew that, even as workers were breaking down the court, he would still be trying to build up his game?

As a guy worked a broom behind the basket, he was firing jumpers in front of it.

As a woman was folding up sideline chairs, he was grabbing four of them, placing them on the court and dribbling around them.

One basket was torn down, and he was still shooting three-pointers into the other basket.

The building had long since grown cold, and Arron Afflalo was still sweating.

“We can keep saying we’re a young team ... but, at some point, that excuse gets old,” Afflalo said.

I’m guessing that point is right now.

“If I had gotten going even a little bit, we would have won this game,” Afflalo said.

I believe he believes it.

As I’m writing these words, the 12:45 p.m. game is a distant memory. There is a man mopping at my feet. There are workers loudly setting up folding tables. There are guys wearing Velcro belts lugging equipment around the sidelines.

Half the lights are turned off. Most of the doors are locked. It is nearly 6 p.m.

Afflalo, having practiced for more than an hour now, is still shooting free throws.

“Don’t you have a party to go to?” shouted a writer from the press area.

“I had four points today, and we lost,” Afflalo shouted back, and returned to his shooting, needing to say no more.

A cynical type might say that this sophisticated Los Angeles athlete was just putting on a show for the media.

Except there was only a handful of media remaining, and Afflalo is only 20, and last week he was physically pulled out of the gym for practicing during a day off.

“Before the season, I went to Coach Howland and told him I was ready to do it at both ends of the floor, I wanted to be out there all the time,” he said.

This includes, apparently, overtime in games that don’t go overtime.

This is why, even when this joyful and persistent UCLA team loses, it seems to win.

The loss to Big East beast West Virginia showed that the Bruins aren’t yet as good as their 15-4 record and top-20 ranking.

But it also showed that they will be.

Featuring a 20-point deficit cut to three and a second half in which the Bruins outscored the Mountaineers by 13, the game was less a picture of defeat than a portrait of promise.

Even with two of their toughest players lost to season-ending injuries, if the Bruins keep growing like this, they will turn Sweet 16 in March.

After witnessing the kid’s willingness to be held accountable Saturday, who would doubt them?

After the game, before Afflalo took the gym floor, running mate Jordan Farmar commanded the locker room floor.

He had scored 22 points but missed an open three-point attempt down the stretch and had five turnovers, including being picked by Mike Gansey in the final seconds to clinch the West Virginia win.

The first thing he said to his teammates?

“I told them, ‘My bad,’ ” he said. “I could have done better as a leader. I put it on my shoulders.”

Afflalo then followed suit by following Farmar to the interview room, where he knew he was going to be grilled about hitting just one of nine shots, missing all six three-point attempts and being burned for 24 points by senior Gansey.

Afflalo could have refused to show up to answer questions. Some kids do. Ben Howland’s kids never do.

“You’ve got to take the good with the bad,” Afflalo said. “If I had 25 points, I’d be the first one in this room. As one of our leaders, I can’t hide from the bad. That’s life. That’s basketball.”

And that’s this team, running smoother with every day because of their willingness to admit when they stumble.

“This was a lesson for us,” said Howland of Saturday’s loss.

And this was a lesson for us, watching his kids scramble back to almost fell another giant, this loss mirroring the loss to highly ranked Memphis.

They play team defense -- the Mountaineers shot 29% in the second half.

They play smart down the stretch -- the Bruins had only four turnovers in the second half.

And they do it with tired legs and uncertain kids and nobody complaining.

“We have to keep getting better, and we will,” said Howland.

Something special is happening in Westwood again, even if you have to stick around five hours to see it.

“Last one! Game on the line!” shouted Afflalo’s blue-jeaned shooting partner late Saturday afternoon.

As workers dropped their equipment and watched, Afflalo calmly shot a free throw ... and missed.

The partner howled. Afflalo grimaced.

Proving that no UCLA game is ever over, Afflalo grabbed the ball again and shot another free throw.

This time, he sank it. And sank it. And sank it....

Bill Plaschke can be reached at bill.plaschke@latimes.com. To read previous columns by Plaschke, go to latimes.com/plaschke.