The pressure on Steve Alford is mounting after his UCLA Bruins lost to the Belmont Bruins at home on Saturday.
UCLA was up by 12 early in the second half and held a lead for most of the game until Belmont made a 3-pointer to take a 67-66 lead with under three minutes to go. Belmont did not relinquish the lead after that in a 74-72 victory.
UCLA’s shooting — especially at the free throw line — was just embarrassing. Alford’s crew went 12/28 (42.9 percent) from the free throw line. They were similarly bad from long range, going 8/28 (28.6 percent) on threes.
UCLA is now 7-3 on the season. They also suffered consecutive blowout losses to Michigan State and North Carolina in November.
This is the sort of embarrassing home loss a program like UCLA should not suffer. Alford is in his sixth season as head coach of UCLA and has never made it past the sweet sixteen. He has a losing season, a first four elimination, and now a home loss to Belmont on his record.
