Still reeling from their loss to the Loyola Marymount Lions, the UCLA Bruins have had a difficult time shaking the Middle Tenn. St. Blue Raiders, and go into halftime trailing 40-32. Joshua Smith is tied for the game's high scorer leading UCLA with 11 points. MTSU also has an 11 point scorer in LaRon Dendy.
More impressive is MTSU's 70% shooting percentage from the field. UCLA will have to find a way to cool the hot hands of the Blue Raiders in the second half. The story for UCLA has been one of cold hands. The Bruins are shooting just 37% from the field and are 1-7 from behind the arc.
Attendance at the Sports Arena is paltry at best, and the fans there have the be wondering what is happening to their team. Mid. Tennessee is the best the Sun Belt has to offer, but UCLA were the pre-season favorites to win the Pac 12. Now the Bruins are looking at their second straight loss to a mid-major school.
It's hard to pinpoint where UCLA is going wrong. Their shooting is cold, but they're also dominating the offensive boards. UCLA have 12 offensive rebounds, while MTSU has just 3. Part of that is MTSU having barely any missed shots. Usually a high amount of low percentage shots shows a lack of paint presence, but that isn't the case. UCLA needs to figure out the Blue Raiders fast, as this game is trending away from their grasp.