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UCLA Bruins vs St. John's Red Storm Basketball Recap
UCLA 66, St. John’s 59
The basketball gods must have a very cruel sense of humor. On a day when Steve Lavin hoped to make a triumphant return to the UCLA campus, his wishes were denied not only by a feisty opponent he once guided from the bench; he was rebuffed by the Pac-10 officials he used to spar with from the sidelines.
In a rugged contest that bordered on the unwatchable at times, the UCLA Bruins – once coached by Lavin in the 1990s and early 2000s – powered past Lavin’s new team at Pauley Pavilion in Los Angeles. UCLA earned a seven-point triumph on Saturday morning (yes, the game tipped off at 10:05 a.m. local time) that lent a needed dose of heft to the Bruins’ NCAA Tournament resume. A St. John’s team that was looking for its own NCAA bubble boost will now have to dig even deeper over the next five weeks of competition.
This was a spirited contest on the day of Lavin’s return to his old stomping grounds. The Johnnies and Bruins exerted vigorously at both ends of the floor and were not lazy in this morning matchup. What the early tip time did do for both teams, however, was that it took away from their precision. St. John’s hit only 40 percent of its shots while UCLA coughed up 19 turnovers. Neither team put together quality offensive possessions with any degree of consistency. UCLA hit 49 percent of its shots, but the Bruins attempted only 37 shots for the game compared to 63 for the Johnnies. How can a team win a game when it attempts 26 fewer field goals?
Simple: It gets to the foul line. A lot.
Lavin had to be cringing in public – and fuming in private – after his return to Southern California ended in defeat. The SJU coach, now representing a Big East program, got homered by the Pac-10 officiating crew. In a game that was very competitive and featured ample scrums under each basket in the course of battles for loose balls, UCLA somehow gained a 41-7 advantage in free throw attempts. That’s right: UCLA shot 34 more free throws than St. John’s. Most of what the Bruins gained was earned, but it was the paltry total of seven foul shots on the SJU side of the ledger that stuck out like a sore thumb. UCLA forward Reeves Nelson was indeed a beast – the sophomore pulled down 17 boards and hit a fadeaway three to ice the game with 34 seconds left in regulation, giving UCLA a 65-59 cushion – but the Bruins’ genuine grit wasn’t 34 foul shots better than St. John’s. The Red Storm couldn’t hit the side of a barn in this contest, but they didn’t shy away from contact when they took the ball to the rim. Lavin has to be muttering to himself why UCLA took six times as many foul shots as the Johnnies did.
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St. John’s won at home against Duke on Jan. 30. In this road loss, the Red Storm discovered how different life is when you play a big non-conference game on the road. Lavin is lamenting his team’s fate, but his former employer is enjoying the postgame vibe. A UCLA team that knocked off BYU earlier in the season now has a Big East scalp under its belt. As long as the Bruins don’t give away multiple bad losses over the next five weeks, they should indeed manage to make the 2011 NCAA Tournament.
One wonders what Steve Lavin would think of that.
By Matt Zemek
DFN Sports Senior Staff Writer