• printer friendly
• mail this article
• iPod format
• digg

Photo

Jordan Farmar, one of four freshman starters for UCLA, struggles to get past Michigan State senio

Photo

Freshman Aaron Afflalo collides with Michigan State senior guard Kelvin Torbert. Afflalo played a

EAST LANSING, Mich. — Over 2,000 miles away from home, UCLA learned how far away it was from being an elite team Tuesday night.

Playing on the road for the first time and against a ranked opponent for the first time, the Bruins were left with a result they have only experienced one other time this season. With a 76-64 setback to Michigan State, UCLA was dealt its second loss of the season and a blueprint of the areas it needs to improve on as it heads into conference play next week.

"I think it prepared us well," freshman guard Arron Afflalo said. "If we don't learn from it, it was a waste of time."

Offensively, the Bruins (6-2) went away from their usual sets, firing numerous long-range shots with plenty of time left on the shot clock. UCLA shot a season-high 27 shots from behind the arc, three less than their total number of looks from two-point range.

The Bruins also turned the ball over 18 times and were ineffective in transition defense, surrendering numerous open looks to the Spartans on the fast break.

"This is about these young guys learning from experience," UCLA coach Ben Howland said. "There's no substitute for learning from experience. These guys are going to get better and better."

Despite starting four freshmen for the first time in six years, UCLA did not appear rattled by the sold-out Breslin Center crowd of 14,759 early in the game.

But although the Bruins' perimeter shooting kept the game close early in the first half, UCLA's shot selection proved to be its undoing. The Bruins failed to hit a field-goal during a pivotal five-minute stretch toward the end of the first half, enabling the Spartans to take a 2-point deficit and turn it into a 10-point lead by halftime.

"We settled too much for threes," said Howland, whose team shot just 38.6 percent on the night. "I thought when we got down, we rushed some shots and that fueled them to take an even bigger lead."

Michigan State (7-2) had numerous open shots coming off transition baskets during its 14-1 first-half run after the Bruins failed to recover quickly enough defensively.

"They're the best we've seen at it," Howland said in reference to the Spartans' transition offense and the 12 points they scored on fast-break opportunities. "In terms of pushing it on made baskets, they really hurt us.

"It's hard for us to simulate as fast as they're pushing it in practice, but we're going to have to get better at it because there's a number of teams that do exactly what they do in our conference."

By the 17:51 mark of the second half, Michigan State's 10-point halftime lead had ballooned to 20. Consecutive 3-point shots by guard Chris Hill and a pair of jumpers by center Paul Davis, who finished with a team-high 18 points, gave the Spartans a cushion they would not relinquish.

"We didn't have an answer for Davis," Howland said. "We tried to cover down and he did a good job of kicking out for a couple of threes."

UCLA cut the lead to 11 midway through the second half and freshman Jordan Farmar had an opportunity to slice it to single-digits, but his 3-pointer rimmed out with nine minutes remaining.

Farmar, who was instrumental in the Bruins' comeback wins over Michigan and Pepperdine last week, was emblematic of the shooting woes Tuesday. The freshman converted just one of eight 3-point shots and was 2 of 12 from the field overall.

And he wasn't the only one that was frustrated by Michigan State's swarming defense.

"They're a good defensive help team," Afflalo said. "We tried to penetrate to get in the lane and they closed it down and forced some turnovers."

Between its shot selection, transition defense and turnovers, UCLA has created an immediate laundry list of areas it needs to improve on before heading off to face the Oregon schools to open the Pac-10 season. The Bruins know they have some stains. Now, it's just a matter of how quickly they can clean them.