ANN ARBOR, Mich. — They weren’t half bad.
Unfortunately for the UCLA Bruins, games last 40 minutes.
After nearly matching second-ranked Michigan in the opening 20 minutes, the Bruins went splat over the latter half of what they hoped would be a showcase game.
What everyone watching on national television saw, at least in the second half, wasn’t flattering.
The Bruins couldn’t sustain the toughness they displayed early in falling, 86-56, Saturday at the Crisler Center to end a modest two-game winning streak.
UCLA lost most of the huge edge in rebounding it had built and couldn’t get nearly enough stops, the Wolverines making 11 of 12 shots at one point.
Michigan’sAday Mara tortured his old team with a slew of playsthat had the sellout crowd buzzing. On the game’s first possession, he threw a behind-the-back pass along the baseline to Morez Johnson Jr. for a layup. Mara added a reverse dunk off a lob in the second half as the Wolverines eventually surged ahead by as many as 30 points.
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It was difficult to remember that the Bruins (17-8, 9-5 Big Ten) had trailed only 40-38 at halftime after outrebounding the Wolverines (24-1, 14-1) by 10 and making 5 of 11 3-pointers.
None of those trends held up, the Bruins shooting 25.9% and making only 1 of 10 3s while getting outrebounded by 11 after halftime.
Source: California Post – Breaking California News, Photos & Videos
