UCLA 65; U$C 64

Nailbiter, eh? I've gotta say, I thought this was a strange game. Usually, when a team erases a nine point deficit late in the game, they do it with a good sized run, or at least a stretch of five minutes or so where they are clearly and unequivocally the better team. I never got the feeling that UCLA put together that kind of run, but the scoreboard disagrees. I'll be honest, when Darren Collison hit his two consecutive threes, cutting a 10 point lead to 4, I thought the Bruins were back in it. When U$C ran the lead back out to 10 shortly thereafter, I thought the game was over.

But somehow, the Bruins found a way to claw back, slowly cutting into the lead, getting another three from Collison, a layup from Al Aboya, a three from Russell Westbrook, a Lo Mata layup, then a bunch of free throws. Next thing I knew, the game was tied, and Aaron Afflalo was knocking a three to give the Bruins a three point lead. A couple of Mata layups later, and the lead was up to six before U$C hit a couple three of their own, and got a gift from the Pac 10 refs in the form or a four point play for Nick Young. That set the stage for Afflalo's heroics, as he moved the free thrown line, and knocked down the game winning jumper.

Big win on the heels of the Oregon loss. And with the week off, and Josh Shipp's absence, this gives Shipp over a week and a half to heal for the homestand against Arizona. Some observations coming out of this game:

• Courtesy of my dad: Tim Floyd arguably spends more time on the floor and out of the coaching box than he spends in it. And lord knows, he spends more time on the floor than half his team. Speaking of which;
• U$C could have problems in the second half of the Pac 10 season if they continue to give most of their minutes to only six players. Especially on the road. That's a lot to ask from your starters this early in the season.
• I'm going to repeat what I wrote after the Illinois-Squawk game: Next year, I'd like to see college basketball make it a point of emphasis to stop calling defensive fouls, and start calling offensive fouls, on players who kick their defenders while shooting three pointers. Nick Young got a four point opportunity, giving U$C a last minute lead, basically because he kicked Darren Collison. I'd still like someone to tell me why in the hell that's a defensive foul.
• U$C whines more than any team I've ever seen about calls that don't go their way. It was unreal. They got 95% of the marginal calls, and they whined about every single one that went against them. Must be the thug mentality around which U$C has built its athletic programs.
• I'm not going to tell Ben Howland how to coach, but he typically uses his time outs after made baskets starting around the nine minute mark. Until Lo Mata learns to make free throws, he may want to start saving those until the end of the game so that he can switch Mata on for defense and off for offense. College refs aren't going to start enforcing the intentional foul rule anytime soon, so either deal with the hack-a-Mata, or sub more wisely.
• Galen Center? Meh. Didn't seem like a big home court advantage to me.

I hesitate to call this a big win, but the fact is that they avoided what would have been a huge loss. Nice gutcheck considering the deficit they faced in the second half while in foul trouble and without one of their top scorers. Time to get ready for their real rival when Arizona comes to town. The good news is that they won't have to worry about facing a team that plays defense (and to give U$C credit, they are a good defensive team). I'm still not sure Arizona has figured out that there are two rims on a basketball court.