Win over Trojans ominous for Bruins

LOS ANGELES -- Ugh. UCLA has some work to do. The sixth-ranked Bruins may have beaten USC Sunday night in their Pacific-10 Conference rematch, but it wasn't one to frame. The hobbled Trojans were seriously undermanned, and used only six players, but they still pushed sixth-ranked UCLA to the final minute before accepting the inevitable loss, a 56-46 mess of missed shots and turnovers at Galen Center. When the Bruins watch the film, it should be H-rated, for hold your noses. The game ended with center Kevin Love cradling the ball in the USC backcourt, the Trojans out of time and probably too exhausted to chase him down for one last foul anyway. Bruins guard Darren Collison walked over to Love and smiled, but there was no big celebration at half court. No pointing at the scoreboard or rubbing it in, the way the Trojans did at Pauley Pavilion when USC won the first game. The Bruins knew better, happy just to put a bag over this one and take it home. Collison referred to the team's previous game, in describing the win. "It's one thing to lose and not fight back," said the junior guard. "I thought we did that in the Washington game. Now we fought back and got the win. It's a good feeling." If not pretty. The 56 points the Bruins scored were a season low. USC played some serious defense on the Bruins the first time in Pauley, but Sunday night's game was different. It wasn't an offense, it was a first date -- a lot of hemming around. UCLA held the ball, or let Collison or Westbrook dribble around while everyone admired the view out the Galen picture window. When the Bruins had the ball, you weren't sure if it was a basketball game, or people milling around a lobby. Too many times, they took desperation shots to beat the clock. The numbers were yucky. The Bruins hit only 21 of their 62 shots, for a wobbly 33.9 percent. Even Love, who gets most of his points inside and rarely takes bad shots, made only 5 of 14. USC, of course, had its own problems. Without their most experienced floor leader, guard Daniel Hackett (out indefinitely with a back injury), the Trojans failed to penetrate the Bruins' middle the way they did in the first meeting. USC's playmakers were unsure of themselves, and the resulting 22 turnovers repeatedly killed anything resembling momentum. Making it worse, freshman guard O. J. Mayo had a particularly disturbing night, hitting only 2 of 8 shots and collecting a whopping 10 turnovers with Bruins guard Russell Westbrook in his face all night. With USC hanging around, down by only six points in the last couple of minutes, Mayo was called for two traveling violations. The freshman who exploded all over the Bruins in the first game, Davon Jefferson, disappeared Sunday night, as well, making just 2 of 8 from the floor. At least the Trojans had a decent excuse. This is a young team, prone to inconsistencies and mistakes anyway. They figured to wear down, with coach Tim Floyd making four of them play all 40 minutes. But Sunday night was about the Bruins, who are angling for a top seed in the NCAA Tournament and should have put 15-9 USC in their hip pockets. Asked if he were concerned about the Bruins' offensive ineffectiveness, Coach Ben Howland snapped off a quick, "No," and waited for the next question. By "No," we can only assume he meant to say, "Boy, was that ugly, or what?" Obviously, Howland is not one to air his team's problems in public, especially not after a victory. But if UCLA brings this attack to the tourney, it could be a short stay. The Bruins still play grind-you-down, busy-hands defense. When you play UCLA, you come out of the game feeling like you just rode the Tokyo subway during rush hour. You want to check your pants for your wallet. But the offense is missing something it had the past two years when it reached the Final Four -- a reliable, go-to shooter. Love sometimes appears to be that guy. Sometimes it's junior Josh Shipp. Sometimes it's Collison. Which is a problem. The past two seasons, the Bruins knew. Jordan Farmar or Arron Afflalo, guys who clearly wanted the ball at the end. Sometime between now and the middle of March, the Bruins need to figure it out. The important road win Sunday shouldn't serve as camouflage. UCLA seemed unfazed by the hoopla. USC hoped to take advantage of the home game with a "Black out the Bruins" promotion, dressing the Trojans in "home" black uniforms, backed by a student section entirely in black T-shirts. Whatever entertainment value it had was lost on the Bruins, who ignored the mortuary look to the proceedings and overcame their own disjointed offense to take a 31-23 halftime lead. No, UCLA's problem wasn't a hostile environment or an emotionally fueled USC team. The Bruins just got in their own way.(Contact Gregg Patton at gpatton@PE.com.)(Distributed by Scripps Howard News Service, www.scrippsnews.com.)