Men’s basketball fails to secure much-needed win against Stanford

STANFORD — Isaac Hamilton slouched over, his head and arms drooping down toward the floor.

The junior guard had just missed his third jumper in a row. It was the third-straight empty possession for the Bruins, but it was not the last.

The drought would just continue, on and on, for the next four minutes. Before it began, the Bruins still had a glimmer of hope for an at-large NCAA Tournament bid, trailing Stanford by two points with just over six minutes to go.

By the time the drought ended, UCLA was down 14 and only had 55 seconds left. The only hope the Bruins had was to foul, but that would only prolong the inevitable. UCLA (15-14, 6-10 Pac-12) eventually fell to Stanford 79-70.

The loss was UCLA’s fifth in its last seven games, clinching a losing record in conference play. It’s just the fourth time since 1948 that the Bruins have finished below .500 in conference play.

“The team, we’re kind of a lost cause right now,” said junior guard Bryce Alford.

UCLA appeared to be anything but that at the 6:22 mark. Alford had just hit a 3-pointer from the corner, bringing the Bruins as close to a lead as they’d been in the second half. But similar to their game on Thursday night in Berkeley, the Bruins simply collapsed down the stretch.

From the 6-minute mark to the 1:10 mark in the second half, UCLA made just one field goal. There were four missed field goals, two missed free throws and one turnover during that stretch. The drought was only worsened by the fact that Stanford hit two pivotal 3-pointers at the end of the shot clock, after UCLA had played 20-plus seconds of strong defense.

What set the Cardinal apart from the Bruins late in the game was their trio of versatile power forwards: Michael Humphrey, Rosco Allen and Dorian Pickens. Each of them had their way against UCLA’s bigs, either by driving around them or shooting over them from long range. Humphrey finished with 24 points on 12-for-14 shooting. His season average is just 9.6 points per game.

“We really were focused on three individuals – Humphrey, Pickens and Rosco (Allen),” said coach Steve Alford. “We thought if we could take two of those three out, (then) we’d have a tremendous opportunity of winning. And we didn’t take any of the three out.”

After the loss, UCLA conferred in the locker room for longer than usual. This one hurt more than other losses, said sophomore center Thomas Welsh.

“It hurts, definitely, for sure,” Welsh said. “It’s not a good spot to be in.”

Bryce Alford said the key focus of the postgame talk was making sure that everyone remains on the same page. Focus has been an issue over the recent weeks, Alford said.

“Just some of the guys just aren’t fully there, not fully following what we’ve gotta do,” Alford said. “I’m not pointing anybody out, I’m just saying: Some guys are just in different areas and they’ve gotta understand how to play the game and what we have to do at this level.”

With just two games remaining, Alford said that the key for the team is just to stay together. When losses build up late in the season like this, players can start to become more individualistic, Alford said.

Neither Alford nor Welsh believe that this team will go toward the individual route.

“We’ve just got to figure some stuff out. I truly believe we can,” Welsh said. “This coaching staff is phenomenal, and I love playing for these guys.”