SAN DIEGO — As Ronald Steele’s last-second shot went up and the stomachs of UCLA fans sank to the floor, the Bruins’ season hung in the balance.

But it didn’t have to be like that.

Had the Bruins made a couple of free throws down the stretch, Steele’s shot would have been rendered inconsequential rather than decisive.

It is March, however, and there’s nothing that can foster madness quite like missed free throws.

“We had a chance to have a bigger lead than we had if we (had) made our foul shots,” coach Ben Howland said. “We’ll be shooting a lot of foul shots this week back at Pauley.”

UCLA was 5-for-13 from the foul line for the game, and the Bruins missed six straight free throws at one point in the second half.

Jordan Farmar missed the front end of a 1-and-1 opportunity with just under five minutes to play.

Ryan Hollins did the same a couple of minutes later.

And the worst offender, Luc Richard Mbah a Moute, missed four straight free throws before making the one that gave the Bruins a 61-59 lead.

“I shot it the way I usually shoot it, and I’m usually a pretty good shooter from the foul line,” said Mbah a Moute, a 76 percent free throw shooter. “They just weren’t going in.”

“It’s frustrating, watching guys miss,” Hollins said. “Then I go up there and I miss.”

Mbah a Moute, Hollins and Farmar all denied that it was something mechanical. It just happened, they said.

Unfortunately for the Bruins, it happened to all three at the same time.

And what if UCLA had lost, knowing that they could have sealed the game at the free throw line?

“It would’ve sucked big time,” Farmar said. “It would’ve really hurt. But it was some more adversity that was thrown our way that we battled through.

“It’s tough in that situation, but still, good teams make foul shots to win games.”

Hollins shot UCLA’s only two free throws in the first half, making one.

ZONING RESTRICTIONS: Throughout the season, UCLA has looked most inept offensively when facing a zone defense.

It happened again Saturday, when Alabama’s athletic 2-3 zone frustrated UCLA for large portions of the game, forcing the Bruins to settle for 3-pointers rather than going to the basket.

“We’ve got to be more confident attacking, just penetrating and moving against the zone,” Mbah a Moute said.

Many of UCLA’s first half possessions featured the team throwing the ball around the perimeter for most of the 35-second shot clock, then settling for a long jump shot. UCLA attempted 13 3-pointers in the first half.

“They’re very long and athletic,” Farmar said of Alabama. “You see that opening and you make a pass; it’s open for that split second, but they’re running and closing the gaps really quickly.

“We have to do a much better job spacing and helping out the penetrators so they can’t make those plays.”

Arron Afflalo took the blame for much of the offensive futility.

“I probably had the most problems with that, because I’m not as good a penetrator as Jordan or Darren (Collison) is,” Afflalo said. “They’re able to get in those gaps and make plays for themselves.”

Afflalo was caught standing on the perimeter rather than making something happen off the dribble, and zones are most effective when people are simply standing around.

“We just didn’t do a good job,” Howland said. “We have to do a good job attacking the interior of the zone, the way it’s spread out.”

Third-seeded Gonzaga, UCLA’s Sweet 16 opponent, also plays zone.

“Next week’s practice, we’re going to do a lot of zone,” Afflalo said. “When you look at some of our losses on the year and you look at the times we struggle as a team, it’s against a zone.”

DRIBBLERS: UCLA had only one timeout for the final 11:54, after Hollins kept two possessions alive by calling timeout as he was falling out of bounds. “Ryan called two timeouts, so it wasn’t my fault tonight,” said Howland, who is sometimes criticized for using timeouts too quickly. “That wasn’t on me.”... Saturday was just the eighth time all season that UCLA has been out-rebounded. ... UCLA held Alabama’s Jean Felix to five points on 1-for-5 shooting. Felix scored 31 points in the Crimson Tide’s first-round victory over Marquette.