LOS ANGELES — It’s not that the UCLA men’s basketball team peaked too early. They had a highly anticipated litmus test and passed it with flying colors last month. On Dec. 28, the Bruins beat Gonzaga, 65-62, in the first college basketball game in the Intuit Dome. It was UCLA’s first win over Gonzaga in three tries and their first under head coach Mick Cronin.
But UCLA hasn’t been able to build on its biggest regular-season victory this season.
“Guys’ minds are on other things,” Cronin said Monday after UCLA’s 75-68 loss at Rutgers, which extended its losing streak to four games. “You start thinking you’re winning because of who you are and your talent level. You’re winning because of your defense. We were always winning because of our defense.”
Eleven games into the season, the Bruins were ranked fourth in the nation in defensive rating, per KenPom. On Dec. 14, they held Arizona, which now have the nation’s 16th-best offensive rating, to 54 points. And, on Dec. 28, UCLA held Gonzaga, which entered that contest averaging a nation-high 89.3 points per game, to 62.
Since then, the UCLA defense has splintered, conceding an average of 78.5 points over the past four games. The Bruins (11-6 overall, 2-4 Big Ten) have dropped to 13th in KenPom’s defensive ratings, still a respectable mark, but one that’s heavily buoyed by a start to the season, in which they beat up on lowly mid-major teams.
UCLA’s next two home games come against teams that each rank in the top 17 in KenPom’s offensive ratings.
In Friday’s game, Iowa (12-5, 3-3) leads the conference in 3-point percentage (39.8%), assists per game (19.8) and points per game (89.5). The 24th-ranked Wisconsin Badgers (14-3, 4-2) shoot a conference-best 85.4% from the free-throw line and are led by forward John Tonje (18.6 ppg), who can score at all three levels and will present matchup issues for UCLA on Tuesday.
UCLA guard Kobe Johnson said Thursday that the team needs to return to its defensive identity.
The Bruins have struggled to defend pick-and-roll actions. Their ball pressure has become less effective. They have committed untimely fouls and accumulated fewer deflections. In Johnson’s opinion, each of these issues stem from a lack of communication.
“I think we can get a lot better at talking to each other on the court,” Johnson said before UCLA’s practice. “We’re all cool with each other off the court, but I think it’s more important to be closer on the court.”
Cronin expanded on Johnson’s point, explaining how the lack of communication has led to guards not forcing pick-and-roll ball handlers toward the bigs, and the bigs being late to the ball on those actions.
The lack of communication hurt against Maryland and Rutgers, which each has guards equipped to expose weak pick-and-roll defense. Maryland’s Ja’Kobi Gillespie scored a season-high 27 points against UCLA last Friday, and Rutgers freshman Dylan Harper dropped 18 on Monday.
As UCLA fell behind in the second half against Rutgers, it reverted to fouling and Rutgers made 12 of 15 free throws.
“We gotta be able to defend without fouling,” Cronin said Thursday. “Fouling is a byproduct of not being able to defend.”
Over the past four games, Cronin has seen a correlation in an increase in fouls and a decrease in deflections. According to guard Skyy Clark, the Bruins didn’t surpass 40 deflections in any of their losses, a mark that, when achieved, they haven’t lost this season.
“It’s simple math,” Clark said.
In the last four losses, the math has also included shooting 21.2% from behind the arc, and the travel has been a challenge. The Bruins’ only home game in their last six came against Michigan, and that was just two days after playing at Nebraska.
That’s no excuse, especially when Cronin, before that stretch, projected how important it would be for the UCLA defense to travel.
UCLA will play five of its next seven games at home, with away games against USC and Washington. So the Bruins have an opportunity to reestablish the defensive identity that stifled prolific offenses earlier this season.
IOWA AT UCLA
When: Friday, 6 p.m.
Where: Pauley Pavilion
TV/radio: FS1, 570 AM