Are Bruins Run-and-Done?

Sometimes, old ball coaches do learn new tricks. Heck, even Giants coach Tom Coughlin loosened up enough last season to win a Super Bowl. So it came as no surprise when UCLA's coach Ben Howland met with team leaders and let the offense run-and-gun a little on their suggestion, leading to the high point of the Bruins' roller coaster season.

Life was good.

UCLA went on a winning streak, and crushed USC and Notre Dame. But then came the desert debacle, as the Arizona schools swept the Bruins. Suddenly, run-and-gun or not, a Pac-10 title that seemed inevitable is, well, wholly evitable. So will Howland rein in the Bruins after this two-game stumble?

Good coaches are control freaks and that certainly applies to Howland. Scrapping the run-and-gun seems like a knee-jerk reaction after two tough losses. But Howland has been known to blow all of his timeouts before the 12-minute mark (or so it seems), so he does do knee-jerk.

Not this time, though. UCLA can't stand and swing with Washington, whom it faces on Thursday night. The Bruins tried to battle the Huskies in their previous matchup, but just weren't tough enough. Washington out-shot UCLA 43-15 from the free-throw line as the Huskies cruised to a win.

The Bruins need to come out aggressively and push the ball; Howland has to see this. His first instinct might be to control the tempo, but he's smart enough to know that he will have to push the ball to be effective. Besides, UCLA has yet to beat a ranked opponent this season, so the Bruins have to try something, right?

Of course, if UCLA loses this game -- which would be their first three-game losing streak since 2005 -- who knows how Howland will react.

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