UCLA men’s basketball loses home game to Hofstra despite early 13-point lead

The Bruins suffered a reality check on their home floor.

After leading by as many as 13 points, UCLA men’s basketball (4-1) dropped its first game of the season with an 88-78 loss to Hofstra (3-2) at Pauley Pavilion on Thursday night.

Coach Mick Cronin said he was disappointed in his team’s energy and effort, emphasizing that the players weren’t prepared mentally and physically for the aggressive nature of the Pride’s offense – a unit that attempted 30 free throws despite having just 12 total points in the paint.

“We’ve got a lot to learn, we got exposed in different areas,” Cronin said. “Young teams aren’t tough enough to withstand certain things. We don’t have anywhere near the mental toughness that we need to have here, we just don’t have enough fortitude.”

The Bruins got out to an early lead behind the play of forward Jalen Hill, who scored eight of the team’s first 11 points in the contest. However, UCLA sputtered near the end opening half, watching a 13-point lead dwindle down to just one by the break.

Hill, who posted a career-high 24 points to go along with 12 rebounds in the contest, scored 10 of the Bruins’ first 12 points in the second half, helping the team maintain an eight-point lead with just under 14 minutes to go.

From that point on, Hofstra outscored UCLA 37-19 while shooting 10-of-18 from the field.

Hill said the way in which the game unfolded after the Bruins had control brought back unpleasant memories of the team’s struggles that had plagued them in recent seasons.

“Coming from last year I had seen that a lot, I knew what was happening,” Hill said. “I could see what that team was like. They shoot 3s, they’re always going to stay in the game with veteran players.”

The Pride shot 12-of-24 from beyond the arc in the game and had 81 of their 88 points on the night come courtesy of four players, including 52 from Desure Buie and Jalen Ray. Cronin said after the game that he had a feeling UCLA would be in for a rude awakening if it let Hofstra hang around for too long in crunch time.

“When you play a team like this that won 27 games, starts three seniors and has great guard play – if you get in a closing out situation against them, we knew we were in trouble,” Cronin said.

While the defense struggled to adjust throughout the night, the offense didn’t get much production outside of Hill. Junior guard Chris Smith finished second on the team in scoring with 12 points, but he only attempted six shots.

Smith also committed a crucial turnover on a pass intended for Hill with under a minute to go and the team trailing 84-78 which iced the game. He said that he felt as though he failed to deliver for his teammates on Thursday night, but added that he is confident in his ability to bounce back.

“Whether I be an upperclassmen or a freshman, I played terrible tonight,” Smith said. “I feel like I let my team down today, I didn’t bring the same energy and everything I’ve been bringing in the previous four games, I’ve definitely got to pick it up.”

The Bruins will return to action on Nov. 25 when they begin play at the Maui Invitational against BYU, and Hill said there won’t be any need for extra motivation following Thursday’s loss.

“We don’t need to rally the team,” Hill said. “We all want to win, there’s no doubt about that.”