UCLA Basketball: How Bruins Must Sharpen Their Defense After Oregon Defeat

Last night, your UCLA Bruins dropped a disappointing 64-59 road decision against the 10-3 Oregon Ducks.

Star sophomore power forward Adem Bona led the way, as usual, with a 15-point, 11-rebound double-double in 35 minutes. Only two other Bruins even score more than seven points, in freshman forward Berke Buyuktuncel (12 points in just 21 minutes) and junior transfer swingman Lazar Stefanovic (10 points along with eight rebounds).

Per UCLA Communications, fifth-year head coach Mick Cronin believes that the team's defensive lapses against Oregon proved just as costly as the team's ineffective offense.

“They had great guard play at home," Cronin said. "A lot of their threes, I’m going to say five of them, we walked away from a guy. Just walked away from a guy. We’re good enough to win, we’re just not smart enough. We got to be smarter.”

You never want to walk away from covering a triple, Cronin has that right.

The biggest issue with this team may be one that's almost entirely out of its control: it's comprised of eight newcomers, including seven true freshmen. There are clearly chemistry issues leading to on-court miscommunication, yes, but defensive coverage also comes down to effort and awareness, two things that just don't seem to quite be there with the current group.