EAST LANSING, Mich. – UCLA might need more than a lineup change.
This team seems incapable of putting up a fight against top opponents based on what’s happened the last two games as part of a season that’s quickly unraveling.
Three days after a 30-point beatdown against Michigan in which they were competitive for a half, the Bruins bottomed out. At least they better hope it doesn’t get any worse than this.
They fell behind by 24 points in the first half on the way to a dreadful 82-59 loss to No. 15 Michigan State at the Breslin Center.
Badly needing to show some toughness, the Bruins instead wilted early. They went scoreless for almost eight minutes in falling behind by 24 points in the first half.
UCLA was equally bad on offense and defense in falling to 17-9 overall and 9-6 in the Big Ten. In a carryover from their brutal second half against Michigan, the Bruins scored 41 points over 40 minutes by halftime against the Spartans.
A low point came when UCLA inbounded the ball with 1.1 seconds left on the shot clock … and didn’t even try to get a shot off, simply holding the ball.
UCLA coach Mick Cronin stuck with his normal starting lineup after vowing to make at least one lineup change in the wake of the Michigan drubbing.
His belief in his players wasn’t rewarded.
Besides forward Tyler Bilodeau, who scored 22 points on an efficient eight-for-16 shooting, the Bruins didn’t generate nearly enough offense from their starters.
Source: California Post – Breaking California News, Photos & Videos
