ANN ARBOR, Mich. – UCLA’s (17-8, 9-5) game against No. 2 Michigan (24-1,14-1) was going to be a tough game anyway, but a total collapse in the second half made it impossible for the Bruins.
UCLA started strong in the first half despite the obvious skill disparity between the teams. As the half drew to a close, UCLA gained momentum and despite falling behind early, the Bruins went on a 7-0 run to cut the Wolverine lead to just two, 40-38.
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However, this would be the last sign of hope for the Bruins. UCLA’s surging offense proved to be nowhere to be found in the first half in the second half. Michigan opened with a 9-2 run and never looked back as the Bruins struggled to score, let alone stay in the game.
“We were horrible in the second half. We were horrible,” UCLA head coach Mick Cronin said (via UCLA Athletics). “We missed eight threes without defense… If you want to come here and win, you have to score.”
UCLA scored just 18 points in the second half and shot 7-27 from the field while making just 1 of 10 three-point shot attempts. The Bruins’ cold streak wasn’t even really the result of tough defense by the Wolverines, but just poor shooting as a whole.
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Bad attack and worse defense
If the lack of goals was clearly upsetting for Cronin, the lack of defense was even more appalling in his eyes. The Wolverines shot 18-23 in the second half to score 46 points and went 4-6 from beyond the arc.
It took little effort for any given Wolverine to split the Bruins defense, as evidenced by the fact that it wasn’t an individual player leading that second-half push, but rather a team effort as a whole. No Wolverine reached double figures in the second half, but all but one player on the roster scored at least two points.
“That’s the worst second-half defensive passing percentage of my career,” Cronin said.
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It would have taken a lot for UCLA to pull out a win against Michigan considering how the Wolverines played this season and the fact that the Bruins were in hostile territory. With all of these factors going against the Bruins, any sort of second-half deflation would have been difficult, but their complete implosion made their mistakes fatal.
“You can’t have a team that scores 80 points in their home gym and they feel very comfortable,” sophomore guard Trent Perry said. “There’s really nothing else to do. They totally beat us in the second half and we folded.”
