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Ben Howland's UCLA Bruins suffered a shocking 68-65 double-overtime home loss to Cal State Fullerton last night.
Los Angeles, CA (Sports Network) - Aaron Thompson poured in a game-high 22 points and the Cal State Fullerton Titans stunned the UCLA Bruins, 68-65, in double-overtime of a non-league matchup at Pauley Pavilion. Thompson finished the night 9-of-14 from the floor with nine rebounds, as CSUF (2-0) defeat UCLA for the first time in 10 meetings. Gerard Anderson added 14 points and five assists, while Jacques Streeter chipped in 11 points. Malcolm Lee and Michael Roll each scored 17 points to pace the Bruins (0-1), who had their string of 37 straight home wins over unranked non-conference opponents snapped. Reeves Nelson tallied 11 points and six boards off the bench, and Nikola Dragovic pulled in a game-high 14 caroms in the losing cause. The Bruins went 0-of-7 from long range and just 3-of-9 at the foul line in the opening period, allowing the Titans to take a 33-27 lead to the break. UCLA rallied from a double-digit deficit in the second half and held a 57-56 lead in the closing moments. With 9.5 seconds left, Streeter made one of two free throws to tie the game and UCLA's Jerime Anderson missed a game-wining shot attempt at the buzzer, as the contest went into overtime. Roll's three-pointer with 2:02 remaining in the first overtime tied the score at 60-60 and neither team could come up with a winning shot down the stretch. Thompson hit a jumper 26 seconds into the second overtime and the Titans never relinquished the lead. UCLA had several opportunities to tie or take the lead in the final moments, but couldn't get any shots to drop in the three-point loss. UCLA shot a dismal 31.0 percent from the floor on the night, while also struggling from long distance (5-of-29) and at the foul line (8-of-17). -- Via Sports Network
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Odds Shark 
Bruins Nation Prepares For A New Era Of UCLA Basketball
Over at Bruins Nation, SB Nation’s UCLA blog, Nestor writes that the loss confirms what many UCLA fans already suspected would be the case for a team that lost three of their best players from last season in Darren Collison, Josh Shipp and Jrue Holiday.
UCLA has had a pretty incredible past four years, making it to the Final Four three times in a row before last year’s second-round NCAA Tournament loss. But sustaining that success can be incredibly tough for even the very best programs. As Nestor writes, the loss to Cal State Fullerton proves that UCLA might have to go through some growing pains that may last an entire season before they can get back to the top again.
Nov 17 9:38a by Mike Prada - 0 comments