UCLA Basketball opens the 2020-21 with a road defeat at the San Diego State Aztecs.
UCLA Basketball got bludgeoned by the Aztecs on Wednesday night by a score of 73-58. On a night without Jalen Hill and Johnny Juzang, not a lot of things seemed to go right for Mick Cronin’s team. The Aztecs came out ahead in just about every single statistical measure of a basketball game.
They made eight of their first 11 shot attempts, including a pair of threes from Chris Smith and Jaime Jaquez Jr. However, after that initial surge the Bruins only shot 28% from the floor in the final 32 minutes of the game. Jaquez Jr. was perhaps one of the lone bright spots offensively for UCLA, shooting 6-10 (3-5 from deep) for 17 points. Cody Riley posted 14 points and 12 rebounds, which was the second double-double of his career.
The Aztecs featured a spread-out offensive attack which led to four scorers in double digits. SDSU shot the ball quite well and splashed a few three’s from NBA range. But, the question for UCLA becomes how is this possible for a team that was as good defensively towards the end of the year as anyone in the country last season.
There is no need for the Bruin-faithful to push the panic button quite yet- and a loss at San Diego State is absolutely nothing to be ashamed of, especially with how Brian Dutcher has them playing the past couple of years. It is just one game, but quite an introspective one for Cronin and the Bruins.
Here are three takeaways and things we learned in Friday night’s matchup:
Frontcourt Depth Problems
As I mentioned in my Preseason Breakdown, a big question mark was the frontcourt depth for UCLA. We got to see this in the spotlight in the first game of the year against San Diego State as Jalen Hill and Johnny Juzang were declared out relatively close to game time. Jules Bernard picked up the fifth starting spot and proceeded to produce essentially nothing offensively (0-2, 2 points) on 26 minutes.
To add to the losses of Hill and Juzang, Chris Smith picked up a few early fouls and was in foul trouble for much of the game. With no other real option down low, the Bruins were forced to go small for a lot of the game, which led to a minus-6 rebounding margin. The Aztecs picked up twelve offensive rebounds that led to a handful of buckets including three crucial 3-pointers.
Some of Bruin-nation thought Kenneth Nwuba would be ready to take the next step, but Nwuba only played six minutes even with Hill injured. Simply put, behind Hill and Cody Riley, there just isn’t much there in the frontcourt.
A lot of the Bruins’ productivity in the second half came from getting the ball down low to Cody Riley who shot 13 free throws in the second half alone. Riley saw a combination of different defensive faces thrown at him but seemed to make something happen regardless of who was on him. Not having a true secondary post player really hurt the Bruins here.
Even with Hill healthy, not having another big threat to score down low limits how carefree the two big-men can be, knowing that foul trouble could cause a real rupture in the Burins gameplan.
Thankfully, it appears as if Hill and Juzang will both be back soon.
Without Smith, Offense Lacks an Identity
With Chris Smith in foul trouble, the question became where does the offensive production come from? While Smith was on the bench, it seemed as if UCLA didn’t know what to do with the basketball. It was immensely noticeable in the first half, as they started settling for outside shots that they shouldn’t be taking.
It wasn’t even so much the fact that they were shooting a lot of three’s, it’s that the wrong shooters were shooting them. Tyger Campbell (a career 26% three-point shooter) launched more three’s in the first half than UCLA’s top two three-point shooters (Kyman and Singleton) shot combined.
Ball security was also quite a big issue tonight, as the Bruins had ten turnovers in the first half alone and ended with 15. Nine of the fifteen turnovers happened while Smith was on the bench, as UCLA just seemed out of rhythm whenever their star left the court. There were some bright spots, however, as Jaquez Jr. made a few x-factor-like plays we are accustomed to seeing from him now.
In the second half, the offense seemed a little less complacent. We saw more penetration to the rim and Cody Riley saw the ball much more often. Smith went 0-1 in the second half before fouling out, but when he was on the floor the offense did quite a few good things. When Smith was on the court, the Bruins were actually plus-3 overall.
Cronin needs this offense to find its’ identity in the weeks ahead. Adding a marquee shooter like Juzang should help.
Higher High’s Ahead?
This will most likely end up being one of the worst games UCLA plays all year long. They faced a *very* good team on the road and played extremely sloppy basketball. They didn’t have two of their top playmakers, and their All Pac-12 candidate was hampered due to foul trouble the entire game.
Yet, I come away encouraged by what the future of this team holds more-so than when I came into it. We know just how good Chris Smith and Tyger Campbell can be, and we have seen it enough times to know it’s not unusual for them to play to that level. We also know that Jalen Hill is an extremely efficient postman who can affect games on both sides of the ball. Now, let’s pair those known factors with some good things we saw today.
If Cody Riley can be as effective in the paint as he was tonight, he’ll be a real force in conference play. SDSU is a top-4o KenPom defense that has some solid post defenders. his 14-12 double-double today spotted him in the top five of Ken Pomeroy’s individual performances of the day.
Jaime rattled home three 3-pointers tonight, a feat that he only accomplished once his entire freshman campaign. Even better, he shot it at a 60% clip. If Jaquez Jr. can become a more reliable outside shooter this year that will open up a whole number of possibilities for the Bruins at full strength.
We can also factor into the equation that perhaps the best long-ball shooter UCLA has on the roster is Juzang, who was out tonight. Johnny not only shoots it well but provides some much-needed length and versatility.
All in all, I come away cautiously optimistic for the Bruins after that loss. The more I think about the game, the more I feel good about where Cronin has UCLA going. This team’s ceiling is simply much higher than it was a year prior, and it sure will be fun to see that.