UCLA downs Montana State, 75-59
UCLA sophomore forward Reeves Nelson sat at the post-game table, stumbling over his words when asked if the Bruins are the kind of team who could take other teams lightly.
He grinned, shook his head, but no words came out.
Teammates Joshua Smith and Malcolm Lee came to the rescue, as they did earlier in the night in UCLA's 75-59 win over Montana State at Pauley Pavilion.
"No," Lee said vehemently.
"Say no," Smith chimed in.
And finally, a "No" from Nelson.
And yet the Bruins did, surprisingly, given the big talk during Monday's press conference, when a host of UCLA players said they would not allow a similar embarrassment to another Big Sky state opponent, 16 days after losing to the Montana Grizzlies on their home floor.
For a bit in the second half, the Bruins were headed to a similar fate.
After jumping to a 15-point lead nine minutes into the game, UCLA let the Bobcats hang around, eventually going into halftime up 36-29.
"It was a lack of focus," said Lee, who had a game-high 18 points. "Our sense of urgency went down because we looked at the lead. We're not good enough to take any team lightly. We have to keep playing 100 percent all the time."
Montana State did not just hang around early in the second half, though.
The Bobcats pounced on the fragile Bruins, rolling off a 17-7 run to take a three-point lead with 15 minutes, 10 seconds left in the game.
UCLA's rebounding was poor, its shot selection was worse and its help defense was worst of
all as the Bobcats broke free on the perimeter and hit shot after shot.
"There was a lack of sense of urgency defensively," UCLA head coach Ben Howland said. "They ended up shooting 33 percent, but to start the second half, it felt like they scored the first five times they touched the ball. It's frustrating, because we had an opportunity to really have a good first half and we let them right back in."
And just as quickly, the Bruins closed Montana State out.
UCLA went on a 24-5 run over the next 10 minutes, with Tyler Honeycutt, Lee and Nelson leading the way.
Honeycutt scored six of his nine points in a quick spurt to key the run, then Lee and Nelson alternated basket after basket, the two teaming for nine more.
Nelson finished with 15 points and six rebounds, Smith had nine points and nine rebounds, and seven UCLA players had more than seven points.
"I remember (Howland) called a timeout, and he slammed the board," Lee said. "We knew he was pissed. That's when we went on the run. Defense, rebounding - that was the key."
Howland said he could see it coming on Monday, despite his player's assurances that they would not overlook Montana State, not after the early season's high-point, an 86-79 win over BYU on Saturday at the Honda Center in the Wooden Classic.
Especially not after what happened three weeks prior, when the Bruins followed a last-second, one-point loss at Kansas with the collapse against the Grizzlies, a 66-57 loss that had the team reeling.
"I thought we were way too loosy-goosy yesterday," Howland said. "Part of is, we had a great game Saturday. It's how to handle success. That game is over, win or lose. I didn't think we had one of our better practices yesterday. Last time we had a practice like that was against Montana."
But late in the game, UCLA thrived, with a little help from the bench.
Freshman guard Tyler Lamb had the best game of his young career with eight points including two impressive dunks, to go along with three assists and two steals in 20 minutes. Sophomore power forward Brendan Lane also added key minutes off the bench, adding seven points, eight rebounds and three blocks in 23 minutes as the Bruins gear up for Pac-10 play.
The Bruins have just one more non-conference tune-up - a date with UC Irvine on Thursday at Pauley Pavilion - before starting the Pac-10 schedule on Dec. 29 against Washington State, which sports the league's top scorer in Klay Thompson and the team's best record at 8-1.
The Bruins, at 7-4 and in fourth place in the conference, despite a conference-high four-game winning streak, still look at themselves as the underdog.
"I know how it feels to be the underdog, and that gives you so much fight," UCLA junior point guard Lazeric Jones said. "Right now, we're kind of the underdog, also. We have so much fight in us. We have to prove something."
Except against Montana State and Montana, it seems.
Thanks for the detailed writeup Jon, I didn't get to watch the game.
Yes, thanks!
Fourth place in the conference?