UCLA’s 65-63 win was about as ugly a showing of basketball as you’ll see all year, a sloppy affair that looked like two teams trying their best not to win. Longhorns coach Rick Barnes said as much afterward, stating that to him, UCLA hadn’t won; Texas had given the game away.

The Bruins ended the game on a 12-2 run, but that didn’t erase what was essentially a microcosm of the team’s defensive woes.

Poor 3-point defense: The eye test has been pretty clear: UCLA runs into significant trouble against good 3-point shooting teams, with San Diego State being the best example. But how do the stats break down? A few days ago, Ken Pomeroy wrote that 3-point defense shouldn’t be measured by opposing shooting percentage, but by the amount of threes opponents take at all. Teams have much more control in preventing threes entirely versus controlling how often they go in after they’re released.

Under Ben Howland, here’s where UCLA has ranked in 3PA% (percentage of field goal attempts taken from 3-point range):
2012-13 – 36.9% – No. 275 in the country, entering Saturday
2011-12 – 31.0% – 103
2010-11 – 25.8% – 10 (NCAA second round)
2009-10 – 33.3% – 203 Continue reading →