Defense is a staple for Ben Howland's UCLA Bruins. Trailing 64-62 with no timeouts left and 40 seconds remaining in the game, the Bruins needed a stop.
They played defense for nearly the length of the shot clock, forcing D'Angelo Harrison to take a long jumper with the shot clock winding down. He missed but St. John's 6'2" guard Phil Greene was there uncovered to tip in two of his 11 points to propel the Red Storm to a 66-63 win over UCLA.
Second chance points doomed the Bruins on Saturday at Madison Square Garden. Greene's tip in was St. John's 19th offensive rebound and 28th second chance point of the game.
"It happened all (game) long. It happened to everybody. It was a team effort of not blocking out and being really good at it and they hurt us," said Howland to FOX Sports Radio.
The youthful exuberance of the Red Storm (11-16, 4-10 Big East) went unmatched by the Bruins (15-12, 8-6 Pac-12) for most of the Saturday afternoon 40-minute affair. That was never exhibited more than late in the second half.
Moe Harkless missed a jumper and Sir'Dominic Parker flew in for the tip jam to put the Red Storm up 56-53. Lazeric Jones missed a shot at the other end and on the ensuing possession for the Red Storm, Harrison missed a jumper but Harkless got the rebound and in mid air found his teammate, Greene, for an uncontested layup.
The Red Storm were light on their feet. The Bruins were not.
The Fresh Five –St. John's five freshmen starters-- as they're called by head coach Steve Lavin looked, well, fresh. UCLA spent the game looking a step slower and not as fresh after making the cross country flight to New York and suffered from a severe case of the no box outs.
In lieu of the flair that young teams are often in favor of, on Saturday afternoon, St. John's executed with the poise and grit of a veteran team. They made the hustle plays --crashing the offensive boards and getting to loose balls. They also executed at the free throw line, making 14 of 16 foul shots.
Whenever UCLA would inch closer, the Red Storm hustled their way into a second chance shot. Pointer shot an airball with St. John's up by two and Harrison ran in and got the rebound after it bounced under the basket and put it in to give St. John's a 60-56 lead. Harrison led all scorers with 22 points.
"They went to the glass very, very hard and really, really hurt us at that end of the floor in particular," said Howland. "It seemed like every time they needed a boost, they got a second shot. There was at least three different times (today) where they airballed a shot and got it back and scored. Off of an airball. Off of a miss that doesn't even hit the rim. We were slow to the ball (and) slow to block out."
It was another game the Bruins were unable to overcome a halftime deficit. They trailed 35-30 at the half despite shooting 48% from the field and holding St. John's to 37% shooting in the first half. Joshua Smith came off of the bench to make all four of his field goals and took eight points into the locker room at halftime.
Tyler Lamb had 10 of his team high 18 points in the first half. He also finished the game with eight of the Bruins 16 turnovers.
Including Lamb, the Bruins had four players in double figures. Travis Wear had a second consecutive double double with 11 points and 13 rebounds.
They held St. John's to 36% shooting from the field, while shooting 41% themselves. UCLA is now 15-3 in games they shoot better than the opposition.
UCLA will have the next two days off before returning to practice on Tuesday to prepare for their visit to the Arizona schools, beginning with Arizona State on Thursday.
The Sun Devils (8-18, 4-10 Pac-12) are at Washington State Saturday evening.
The UCLA coaching staff wore sneakers in honor of St. John's head coach Steve Lavin and his battle with prostate cancer. Lavin called it "a classy move." He was at the game, but is on a leave of absence from the sideline, concentrating on St. John's' recruiting efforts.
