The Early Words: UCLA hoops notebook

Cal chopped away at the lead in intervals, grabbed the momentum and didn't let go, going into halftime up seven.

Lee blamed himself for the offensive inconsistency during the 21-point - and eventual 28-point - turnaround, as UCLA played without a sense of urgency, taking ill-advised shots and failing to remain patient even when forced.

"I do need to take control as the point guard," Lee said. "I need to just be one step ahead of the game. I need to control the pace, and I think I could've done that better. Time, place, shot clock, all that stuff - just having a good feel of what we need and what we don't need."

Lee's teammates weren't as quick to blame their off-guard-turned-point-guard, understanding both that Lee has had transition to the starting role and that the offense as a whole fluttered.

"We're going to have to keep the pedal down 100 percent the whole game," Roll said. "We had a big lead last game, and we kind of got complacent. We didn't keep attacking - we got a little stagnant. That's why our offense lagged so much. You can't let up - you can't play hard for 10 minutes and get a big lead and then for the next 10 minutes just be happy with it."

Happiness has been fleeting for the Bruins this season, who've been more hot and cold than an ice pack in molten lava.

UCLA has won three consecutive games just once this season, and while the team has won four of six, the two losses have stung - the Cal loss and a 71-66 loss to Oregon in which the Bruins led by as many as 13.

"We'll get off to a good start and get our momentum going, and then the other team gets their momentum going," freshman forward Tyler Honeycutt said. "Basketball is a game of runs, and we went on a run and they went on a run and we weren't able to stop theirs. We just couldn't stop them from scoring."

High turnover
Howland decried his team's lack of ball security during Tuesday's press conference, as the Bruins rank first in the Pac-10 in assists but last in turnover margin by 2.4 turnovers per game.

"It's disappointing - we're right at the top of assists, but we're down at the bottom in terms of turnovers," Howland said. "I thought we did a good job Thursday night having only five, then we turn around and have 16 against Cal. A number of them are our own plays. They weren't forced on us. Jumping in the air to pass, out of control in going to the basket, losing the ball - plays we should be able to do a better job with."

Bumps and Bruises
Freshman forward Reeves Nelson, who suffered a concussion early against Cal, was cleared for non-contact drills on Tuesday and is expected to play against USC on Sunday.

"It was suggested at halftime, and he went through all the different tests, and everything checked out normal," Howland said. "I asked him point blank, 'Are you OK?' and he said yeah. I don't know if he started to notice it a little more after the game."