Baffle of the Bruins: UCLA stunned by Montana at home
... "We did a very poor job of attacking their zone, without a lot of patience," Howland said. "We probably should have spent all our time yesterday on zone offense. "We did not attack it well. We had a bunch of layups tonight we missed. Short, crippled shots. We were a step slow to everything." A two-possession game at halftime quickly blew up on UCLA as Montana pushed the ball with ease despite 17 turnovers. The Grizzlies jumped to a seven-point lead six minutes into the game as the Bruins found little offensive rhythm and looked disjointed in the half-court game against a Montana squad with ample size in the post. With 7-footer Derek Selvig and 6-foot-11 center Brian Qvale (13 points) pounding UCLA's own big boys - freshman center Joshua Smith and sophomore forwards Brendan Lane and Nelson - the Grizzlies went into the half up 32-28.
It only got worse from there for the Bruins. Montana shot 61 percent from the field in the second half, first punishing UCLA inside and then thriving in the running game when the Bruins tightened up. Point guard Will Cherry had a game-high 18 points, including 13 in the second half. The Grizzlies led by as many as 17 points with less than four minutes to play before a mini-UCLA run mercifully brought the Bruins to within single digits. "Their size inside bothered us defensively, and Qvale did a good job of scoring down there when he got the ball in the block," Howland said. UCLA's uneven play brought out the boo-birds for the first time this season as the Bruins were 3-0 at Pauley Pavilion before the loss.