UCLA head coach Ben Howland was flabbergasted, to say the least, after his team’s 13-point loss at Cal on Thursday night.
The Bruins were coming off, as Howland puts it, two “real good” practices. That normally translates to a good performance come game time.
One of the things the Bruins did well was shoot the 3-point shot. They actually shot the ball better from beyond the arc than they did inside of it, including connecting on 7-of-10 three pointers in the second half.
Assistant coach Scott Garson said he thought the team played hard on Thursday night and they definitely showed some fight in the second half trying to claw back. But even making 70 percent of their three pointers was only enough to get them as close as 12 points in the second half after a 25-point halftime deficit.
Once again, the team showed their youth. Young teams are filled with inconsistencies. That was certainly the case as the Bruins saw their short stint in first place come to an abrupt halt.
The team that beat top-10 teams Arizona and Missouri earlier this season is also the team that lost to Cal Poly and was pushed to overtime by UC Irvine.
With youth comes complacency, which led to a slow start at Haas Pavilion on Thursday night.
That notion hasn’t been at the forefront of Howland’s thoughts but it is now.
“They’re going through this the first time and they don’t know what to expect, necessarily,” Howland said. “Anytime you get complacent, you’re going to lose. Not just against Cal, it’s against anybody.
“I certainly hope it’s not the case but I’m going to bring it up (to the team).”
Cal represented the first time the young Bruins have played a team for a second time this season. It just so happens, the Bruins entered the game on Thursday night having already defeated Cal by 14 points in the Pac-12 opener.
They also beat Stanford that weekend.
Howland hopes his team isn’t once again living in the past and Thursday night’s loss served as a lesson.
The Bruins loss combined with Arizona’s loss on Thursday night leaves Oregon, once again, alone in first place in the conference. UCLA is now one game behind the Ducks with six games to play and they can ill-afford to get swept in the Bay Area and potentially return to Los Angeles two games out of first place.
Stanford, like Cal on Thursday night, is a much different team than they were when the Bruins faced them in early January.
Before Thursday night’s one-point loss to USC, the Cardinal were winners of four of five, including a win at Arizona State — a place UCLA suffered an 18-point defeat earlier this season.
“I just think we have to come out and really play hard and do a better job executing at both ends,” Howland said.
And leave the complacency behind. Far behind.
