UCLA 82, OSU 35 :: The "Debacle in Westwood"

First, the Debacle in Corvallis. Now, it's only fitting that we add the "Debacle in Westwood" to the list of, well, debacles this season.

I'll have to admit, getting beat by 45 and 47 in the same season is well, embarrassing. All of a sudden the Pac-10 has turned into the Pac-8. Once Arizona State gets some experience for their younger players, it will probably be the Pac-9. Oregon State can only hope that they don't get beat by 45 in the Pac-10 tournament. Speaking of Arizona State, that's the only game left on our plate that we have a decent chance of winning. If Arizona State can pull out a win over Washington State in a very close game that is going down to the wire as we speak, they might be riding a wave of momentum. Oregon State has Arizona on Thursday before taking on ASU, and quite frankly I don't see Oregon State competing with Arizona either. They're just too fast and too athletic and they'll beat you in transition, just like what they did to Washington today.

So, the game.

Arron Afflalo, Luc Richard Mbah a Moute, and Josh Shipp dominated the game for the Bruins. Afflalo was UCLA's leading scorer with 16, Mbah a Moute had 14, and Shipp had 8, 6 of those points coming off dunks on fast breaks. Now, keep in mind that these players all played about 20 minutes give or take. Which means UCLA's second team players were pushing our guys around for half of the game.

(AP Photo/Reed Saxon) *Your caption here*

UCLA came out with intensity and focus. The only way the Beavers had a chance to win was to slow things down and play a slow, scrappy game, but UCLA didn't allow it. They used their Run-and-Gun style offense against our poor transition defense to accumulate 29 points off 21 Oregon State turnovers. UCLA shot a high percentage (58%) because they were getting so many easy shots. Oregon State first went to a zone look on defense 13 minutes into the game at the 7 minute mark. In fact, shortly after the Beavers went to zone, the Bruins went on a 11-0 run.

So, what's a post game post without talking about shooting percentages. It was indeed another ugly game, a game in which the Beavers shot 37% from the field, going 16 for 52. Sixteen for Fifty-Two! Oh the opportunities.... It didn't get any better from the line, we were 2 for 8. Twenty-Five percent. While we're at it, we can talk about three point shooting as well. We were a *cough* solid 1 for 10. Do the math, 10%. The only player to cash in on a trey ball was Marcel Jones. The only players to make free throws were Marcel and Jack McGillis. Only five Beavers made a field goal over the course of the game, compared to the Bruins' 11.

If you're searching for good news (a needle) in Oregon State's current... state... (the haystack), all I've come up with is that this game ends our four game road streak, and we'll be back at Gill on Thursday to face Arizona and Arizona State. Still not very good news, because Arizona is tough, and we know Arizona State has the power to get it done.

The game between Washington State and Arizona State that I was telling you about awhile ago is now over, and ASU barely lost. You might have seen it, but if you didn't, Arizona State hit a deep three down by four points to cut the WSU lead to 1 with just over a second left. All Washington State needed to do was inbound the ball and knock down a free throw or two, but Arizona State forced a turnover on the inbound pass. They had a open three to win the game, but it rimmed out.

So now, there are still questions surrounding this program. Will we win another game? Will we even beat Arizona State? Will we not embarrass ourselves against the Ducks?

And that's just to name three.

Your comments, questions, complaints, concerns,and whatever else you want to get off your chest go below.

--JB--