Bruins Let Game Slip Away In Second at Stanford

By Bruin Basketball Report

Box Score

Uninspired play by UCLA on both ends of the court coupled with hot Stanford shooting in the second half allowed the Cardinal to rally for a 75-68 upset victory over No.2/No.3 UCLA at Maples Pavilion on Sunday.

UCLA led by 17 points with less than a minute left before intermission but then gave up five straight points to bit Stanford players, Kevin Brown and Carl Weatherby, to close the quarter with just a 12 points lead, 37-25.

The Bruins had built their early lead with precision half-court execution on the offensive end and a suffocating perimeter defense which created eight Stanford turnovers in the half for easy transition baskets.

But it all changed In the second-half when Stanford's Anthony Good and Lawrence Hill came out smoking to bring Stanford back and tie the game at 51-51 with 8:30 left as the Stanford home crowd helped to fuel the rally.

In the meantime, the Bruin front line of Lorenzo Mata, Alfred Aboya, and Luc Richard Mbah a Moute piled up early fouls in the half and were saddled on the bench each with four fouls.  Their absence on the court appeared to take the Bruins out of their game.  UCLA players started going one-on-one rather than run their normal sets as the offense began to stagnate.

By the time Anthony Goods hit his third three-pointer of the half with 2:35, Stanford held a commanding 68-59 lead and the Bruins were heading towards just their second defeat in twenty games this season.

Arron Afflalo had 22 points and Darren Collison 17, but it wasn't enough to overcome the Bruin's uninspired second-half play.

UCLA shot 42.9% from the field and 31% from three point distance while Stanford shot 46% and a sizzling 50% from beyond the arc. 

However the greatest imbalance between the two teams occurred at the free-throw line where Stanford shot 33 free-throws making 22 for 67% while UCLA only shot 15 making 9 for 60%.

UCLA is now 18-2 overall and tied for first place in the Pac-10 conference with Oregon at 7-2.

(photo credit: AP)