Struggles away from home continue to plague the young Stanford men’s basketball team, which dropped a 68-57 decision to UCLA (13-6, 5-2 Pac-10) on Saturday to conclude a dismal Los Angeles road trip. After a promising start to the conference season, including an upset over then-No. 17 Washington, the Card (10-8, 3-4) has dropped three straight games to fall into the bottom half of the Pac-10 standings.
Looking to bounce back after a disheartening 23-point loss to USC on Thursday night, the Cardinal appeared to be a different squad at the outset of Saturday morning’s matchup, jumping out to an early 8-0 lead over the Bruins. Stanford’s offense continued to dominate, with contributions from redshirt junior Josh Owens and junior guards Jarrett Mann and Jeremy Green extending the Cardinal’s lead to 22-8 with 10:28 remaining in the half.
But when all appeared to be in the Card’s favor, the Bruins came alive on both ends of the court, and Stanford’s shooting took a turn for the worse. The Cardinal – which made eight of its first 15 shot attempts – would go 2-for-18 for the remainder of the half, with its five points coming off a layup from Mann and a three-pointer from freshman forward Anthony Brown. UCLA sophomore forward Tyler Honeycutt and junior guard Malcolm Lee would combine for 20 first-period points to help the Bruins claw their way to a mere one-point deficit, with a score of 27-26 heading into halftime.
“I knew it was going to be a fight – we knew that they would not let up,” Owens said. “They responded well to our run.”
UCLA took its first lead of the day just under three minutes into the second half, and the Bruins would not trail for the remainder of the game. The Bruins outscored the Card 42-30 in the half, led by Lee and junior guard Lazeric Jones, who together in the second half went 14-15 from the line and scored 26 points. On the defensive end, UCLA forced five Stanford turnovers in the second period, but committed only one.
“They played great defense,” said Stanford head coach Johnny Dawkins. “I’ve seen the improvement on their defense, from this year to last year.”
“We couldn’t keep the execution together like we had in the first half,” Owens added. “In the second half, we had some defensive let-ups, as Lee started finishing his shots and Honeycutt did as well. They really played well, and to their strengths.”
Stanford’s shooting has been lackluster in its past few games – the Card shot just 30.8 percent from the field against UCLA, its third consecutive sub-35-percent performance, and 34-for-128 (26.6 percent) on the weekend. Green, typically the Card’s primary scoring threat, struggled to get into his groove in both Los Angeles games, scoring only five points against USC and 12 points on 4-for-15 shooting against the Bruins.
“Jeremy Green is a great player – he’s very confident in who he is,” Dawkins said of Green’s recent shooting woes. “I think his main thing now is to find what shots he has to take.”
Owens led the Card with 14 points and 12 rebounds, notching his third double-double of the year. Brown had all 10 of Stanford’s bench points, and classmate Dwight Powell added nine points and seven rebounds.
For the home team, Lee led all players with 23 points on 6-for-11 shooting, tallying nine points from the line. Jones finished with 17 points – 14 of which came in the second half – and Honeycutt added another 16 for the Bruins. Sophomore forward Reeves Nelson was held to just four points, significantly below his average of 14.5 points per game, though he maintained a strong presence down low, leading UCLA with 10 rebounds.
Despite the disappointing weekend, Dawkins commended his team’s effort and willingness to compete.
“I’m really proud of our guys – they are giving us great contributions,” he said. “But it’s a work in progress.”
The Card will return to Maples Pavilion for four straight games, starting with a matchup against Oregon this Thursday at 7 p.m.