This post was updated Dec. 16 at 4:26 p.m.

ATLANTA – Down came the hammer as Buckeye center Felix Okpara slammed down a poster.

The big man-on-big man dunk – over forward/center Adem Bona – didn’t bring a sparsely populated State Farm Arena to its feet, but even as the crowd grew, it wouldn’t have many more opportunities to rise.

Those kinds of thunderous moments came at a premium.

In a contest plagued by ugly play on both sides of the ball, UCLA men’s basketball (5-4) fell 67-60 to Ohio State (9-2) on Saturday afternoon in the CBS Sports Classic. The squads were a combined 2-for-24 from deep, totaled 23 turnovers between them and lacked any offensive rhythm in the first half before finding their footing in the second.

“We’ve just got to do the tough stuff – doesn’t matter if you’re younger or older,” Bona said. “Just got to get the job done.”

When the Bruins did find the basket early on, it came down to the play of its point guards. Sophomore Dylan Andrews and freshman Sebastian Mack combined for 10 points – nearly half of the team’s total – before the break.

A mix of aggressive drives to the basket for Mack, complemented by jumpers from Andrews, was the only kind of consistency UCLA could go to. It forced the ball inside to freshman center Aday Mara early and often, but he couldn’t find the bucket from close range, starting 0-for-4 and finishing 1-for-6 from the field.

“Aday Mara doesn’t miss those shots, ever,” said coach Mick Cronin. “Maybe he took a bad hook shot, … but the other ones – the elbow shot, the five-footer in the lane – he never misses those.”

But the Bruins wouldn’t need a hot scoring night from anyone to stay alive.

Whether it was a symptom of their perimeter defense or simply scoring woes from the Buckeyes, their opponent suffered the brunt of the 3-pointer struggle. Ohio State – which entered the contest with five players shooting 40% or better from deep – went 0-for-10 on triple attempts in the first half alone.

Turnovers instead became its bread and butter, giving the ball back to UCLA 10 times before heading to the locker room – not that either team did much with extra possessions. Both notched season-low first-half point totals.

It took a drought-snapping shot to finally elicit a roar from the crowd.

On the evening’s 18th attempt, with just over 12 minutes left in the contest, the game’s first 3 found the netting. It came out of the hands of redshirt sophomore guard Will McClendon, the Bruins’ top sharpshooter.

“Making a 3-pointer is huge – it gives the team energy,” Bona said. “We all felt the energy off Will.”

But it was Bona who found his offensive flow from that point onward.

After scoring no more than a free throw in the first half, the sophomore made 10 of the Bruins’ next 13 points after McClendon’s make, punctuated by an alley-oop to put his team up 43-42 just past the 10-minute mark.

A heightened pace turned up the heat on the slow burn of the first half’s back-and-forth affair. While both teams exceeded their first-frame scoring totals in the second, neither could make more than two shots in a row without a response from the other.

The loudest moment of all arrived with the dagger.

Forward Jamison Battle sank Ohio State’s first 3 on their 15th attempt to put the Buckeyes up 62-56 with under 50 seconds to go. UCLA’s following jumper and eventual pair of free throws wasn’t a winning response.

“Young players break down faster – we can’t impose our will,” Cronin said. “Really, really good teams get better in the second half. We get worse.”

Saturday ended up another close affair in a line of many for the Bruins.

And just like the rest, it was complete with a failure to finish.