UCLA Basketball: The Big Missing Piece Of Bruins' Attack In Second Half Vs Arizona

The Bruins are struggling mightily at 8-11.

During your UCLA Bruins' 77-71 defeat against the Arizona Wildcats over the weekend, the Blue and Gold failed to string together two consecutive strong halves on the road, much to their detriment.

Per UCLA Communications, junior transfer swingman Lazar Stefanovic pinpointed issues with ball movement as the primary problem for the club during the game's second half, when the team coughed up a 19-point first half lead to eventually fall by six.

“Yeah, we played very well in the first half," Stefanovic opined. "Moved the ball really well, find the open shooter. Quite often it was me, so I got those shots down. I still think I had some of those looks in the second half, but didn’t fall. We got good shots in the swing. If they shoot it, we’ll hold the ball more in the second half. They were more aggressive and we kind of backed off going at them. We didn’t pass too much, and that’s why we shot our shooting percentage.”

The defeat dropped UCLA to a paltry 8-11 record on the season, while elevating Arizona to 14-4. Stefanovic and another new player, freshman point guard Sebastian Mack, led the Bruins in scoring against the Wildcats, scoring 17 points on 5-of-11 shooting (3-of-7 from deep) and 21 points on 7-of-16 shooting (3-of-9 from three-point land), respectively.