SAN DIEGO — The traits that typify winning teams abandoned UCLA against Alabama on Saturday.
The Bruins couldn’t shoot free throws. They couldn’t box out or secure rebounds. They couldn’t stop the Crimson Tide from shooting better than 60% from the field in the first half.
And the Bruins still won, in an NCAA Tournament game against one of the more talented teams in the nation.
Most of the stats from Saturday’s game suggest UCLA would have been sent back up the 405 freeway early. Instead, the matchup everybody on the West Coast wants to see will take place on Thursday, when the Bruins take on Adam Morrison and Gonzaga in Oakland.
The Bruins gutted out this victory with sheer will and toughness. The in-your-face man-to-man defense that has become a UCLA hallmark never failed the Bruins, even though at times their shooting and offensive flow did.
Even CBS analyst Jay Bilas pointed out the irony of it all: “When was the last time you could say a UCLA team’s strength was its defense?”
Bilas is right and coach Ben Howland, the orchestrator of that defense, confirmed it.
“All the stats went against us,” said Howland. “For everything to work against us and to still win is a testament to these kids.”
Every team that makes it deep into the tourney runs into a game like this. Nothing seems to be going right, the odds are long, and the opposition is primed for an upset. But champions are resilient and always find a way to pull out a victory.
Back in 1995, Ed O’Bannon didn’t get the chance to lead the Bruins to their 11th national title without Tyus Edney first making an end-to-end layup to beat Missouri at the buzzer in the second round.
Last year, North Carolina needed to survive a one-point game against Villanova in the Sweet 16 on its way to the title.
These are the games champions win, and UCLA left Cox Arena on Saturday approaching that pinnacle of college athletics. The improbable win marks a titanic shift in the psyche of Bruin basketball.
In the past several years, UCLA would never have won this game. Actually, the Bruins wouldn’t have won this game if it had taken place just a few months ago. But the rapid improvement of this basketball team since a two-game losing streak in mid-February has been remarkable.
Since losing to Washington and USC in consecutive games, UCLA has simply gone on a tear, winning nine straight games and helping to restore the Bruin basketball program to where many believe it should be: among the favorites to win the national title.
How incredible is that to say? I don’t actually believe I just wrote that. But it’s true.
“Obviously we’re a young team,” Howland said. “We do make some youthful mistakes once in awhile, but we’re maturing rapidly as we advance in this tournament.”
Maturing rapidly indeed. Howland’s Bruins are no longer soft and undisciplined. These Bruins will smash you in the mouth and take pride in doing everything they can for the team. And the players seem to be almost immune to the mounting pressure that comes from winning in March.
“We expect to win every game we play,” sophomore Jordan Farmar said. “That’s what we’re out here for.”
Sometimes it’s easy to forget that UCLA plays five freshmen and two sophomores heavy minutes every game. Luc Richard Mbah a Moute has looked calm and cool under pressure, doing a little bit of everything and doing it well. Darren Collison is a speed demon who changes the game on both ends of the floor. Everybody seems to buy into the team philosophy and plays within his role.
So now here we are, with the Bruins making a run into the second weekend of the NCAA Tournament with a shot at the Final Four.
Anybody who thought this was going to happen at the beginning of the season, raise your hand. Now everybody with your hand up, put it down because you’re lying.
UCLA was picked to finish third in the Pac-10 and was ranked 19th in the preseason. Reasonable fans expected perhaps a win in the NCAA tournament, but not a deep run through March and certainly not a seed as high as the Bruins received.
Everybody said, “Just wait until next year, then the Bruins will be back.” Well, UCLA has arrived as title contenders a little earlier than expected, and it feels great to be a Bruin fan once again.
“I’m not satisfied,” said Mbah a Moute. “We can play better and we can do more than that.”
And if the Bruins are going to keep on improving, what seemed impossible at the beginning of the season is now within reach.
“This is nothing new for UCLA,” Howland said. “The standard is set. We’re supposed to win every game, one at a time.”
E-mail Lee at jlee3@media.ucla.edu if you think the Bruins will force Morrison to shave his mustache after they beat him and the Zags on Thursday.