The Bruins can take solace in the fact that they weren't alone. Arizona St. lost to Pepperdine earlier that night, and Stanford struggled with Colorado St. as the Pac 12 had a poor showing against mid-major teams. The loss will still sting as the UCLA Bruins were embarrassed, losing by 20 to the Middle Tenn. St. Blue Raiders.
There's no upside to this game. The Bruins were completely outplayed in every facet of the game. UCLA allowed the Blue Raiders to shoot at a 71% clip which included 10-11 from behind the three point line. The Blue Raider shooters were continually allowed to take wide open shots and they continually knocked them down.
UCLA on the other hand shot just 37% from the field, and 20% from behind the arc. UCLA had the more favorable assist to turnover ratio and were great on the offensive glass, but they just couldn't shoot tonight. MTSU ended up with 26 defensive rebounds and 40 points in the paint. UCLA looked confused on offense, and were ultimately outmatched in the paint.
Joshua Smith was the Bruin's leading scorer with 15 points, only one other Bruin reached double digits. MTSU on the other hand had five players in double digit scoring. UCLA made no move to close the gap in the second half, as the game was out of their grasp before halftime.
LaRon Dendy ended up with a double double for Mid. Tennessee St. with 16 points and 13 rebounds. Smith was one rebound short of a double double. Bruce Masey had 12 second half points as the Blue Raiders pulled away from the Bruins. Joshua Smith had just four points in the second half.