OAKLAND, Calif. -- UCLA tried to cut down the nets on Saturday, but the peach baskets got in the way.
The NCAA would like to apologize, but won't. The agenda continues. Something bad and disturbing has happened to this tournament.
It lost its soul, its style, its pizzazz. UCLA's 50-45 victory over Memphis in the Oakland Region final confirmed it.
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| UCLA and Memphis combine for 43 fouls and 35 turnovers and go 29 of 54 from the line. (AP) |
Ask Jim Calhoun. The dude has the tournament's best talent and hasn't yet gotten his players' full attention.
Meanwhile, the Bruins and Tigers were proud participants in the lowest-scoring regional final of the shot clock era that began in 1986 -- by a staggering 15 points. UCLA's Ryan Hollins was named Oakland Region's Most Outstanding Player after clanking nine of 11 free throws.
The 50 points were UCLA's fewest ever in its 88 tournament victories.
In the 10 games played in the four regions so far, the average number of total fouls per game has been 37.3, or one every 64 seconds. That's up only slightly from the midseason numbers compiled by the NCAA at midseason.
But more telling is the destruction of a long-held tournament assumption. Games are called looser in the tournament in order to let the actual players decide the game.
We should all smell conspiracy. If officials haven't been told by NCAA supervisor of officials Hank Nichols to call games closer this year, then it's a huge coincidence.
Washington and UConn were whistled for 52 total fouls on Friday, 33 of them against Washington. Lorenzo Romar watched five players foul out, four of them starters.
Fair?
Maybe officials were just evening things out. Washington shot 39 free throws in its second-round victory over Illinois.
"You want to see me get mad," fed-up Illini coach Bruce Weber told reporters when asked about the officiating. "You saw what happened. Write what's fair."
This isn't just a trend, it's an outrage.
MVP of the entire tournament so far? Try Tim Higgins, the veteran official who presided over Saturday's slugfest.
"Who are the best two teams in the NBA?" UCLA coach Ben Howland asked. "It's Detroit and San Antonio. Who is the best team in the NFL? The Steelers. Who has been the best team in the NFL? New England."
The implication being that defense wins championships. Well, yes, except that those teams can score, too. This is UCLA's second lowest-scoring team in the last 45 years.
Karl Dorrell's football team topped the basketball team's Saturday total in two games last season.
The shame of it is, the template was there to play a great game. Memphis beat UCLA 88-80 in the preseason NIT in New York on Nov. 23. If you look close, the summary in the UCLA postseason media guide actually uses the word "torrid."
Heresy. Both coaches surmised before Saturday's game that the rematch would not be similar. Unfortunately, they were right. Memphis was flexible enough to have played games in the 50s, 60s, 70s, 80s and 90s this year. It hasn't played one in the 40s (but had 44 against Louisville in 2005).
You'd think this living-on-edge style would get the Bruins sooner or later. They made four field goals in the second half while shooting 23.5 percent -- only 35 percent for the game.
At one point, they had missed 15 of 21 free throws. The best defensive strategy for Memphis became Hack-a-Hollins.
"I just remember kind of being on the bench (thinking), 'I'll never forgive myself for the rest of my life if we lose this game and I missed nine free throws,'" the 7-foot senior said.
The Bruins finished "strong," making 20 of 39 from the line. Arron Afflalo got a standing ovation from the UCLA crowd six minutes into the second half when he made both his free throws. Until the Bruins actually won the game, it was the biggest reaction out of the UCLA game.
Really, the Johnny-can't-shoot story blossomed years ago. The national field goal average is down 4 percent to less than 44 percent compared to 20 years ago. Free-throw shooting has slipped too.
But these days, if you can recruit some long-armed lugs to clog up the lane, you've won half the battle.
And we do mean battle.
UCLA is doing it in the extreme. This is a team that halfway through the first half of Thursday's semifinal against Gonzaga hadn't made a basket.
In the final minute of that game, the Bruins were down by five. Now they're chasing a record 12th national title grinding out victories. Afflalo is a lock-down defender. Fellow guard Jordan Farmar looks like he should be in a boy band, but is a better player than he is cute.
Hollins was joined on the all-tournament team by Farmar and Afflalo, who combined to shoot 3 of 18 on Saturday.
Memphis wasn't complaining about the officiating (much). The Tigers just stunk. They were held to 36 points under their season average. Star forward Rodney Carney ended his career missing 10 of 12 shots. The high-flying Tigers didn't make a 3 until 14 seconds were left in the game.
UCLA had a lot to do with that. But if their style takes hold, James Naismith is going to rise out of that grave in Lawrence, Kan., and punish us all.
Back away for a second. This should not be interpreted as an anti-UCLA column. It's a pro college basketball column. Someone, please, play some.
"People don't see us as an athletic team because we're not above the rim," UCLA's Cedric Bozeman said. "But I think we're an athletic team. We defend well."
Yes, at least there is that.
