After a perfect 5-0 Pacific-10 Conference start, UCLA desperately needs to return to its winning ways.
After keeping pace with Stanford and its undefeated record, UCLA has slipped to a tie for third in the Pac-10.
The Bruins just lost their fifth game in a row to St. John’s at Madison Square Garden over the weekend.
St. John’s, which entered the game on the brink of the worst losing streak in school history, beat UCLA for the sixth straight time using solid three-point shooting.
“We have to go back to the drawing board and make some changes,” UCLA head coach Ben Howland said. “We are not getting off to good starts offensively or defensively.”
The Red Storm entered the game on a seven-game losing streak. The only other time St. John’s had such a bad record was during the 1918-19 season, when the team went 0-7.
“This was a long time coming for us,” St. John’s interim head coach Kevin Clark said. “I want them to celebrate this one, enjoy this one and take the lessons from it.”
Elijah Ingram lit up Madison Square Garden when he hit five first-half three pointers. UCLA as a team had one. The Red Storm finished with a season-high 10 three-pointers.
Howland had no problem with praising Ingram after the game.
“In the first half, Ingram was absolutely spectacular,” Howland said. “The threes he made were money in the bank every time he shot it.”
UCLA struggled in all aspects of the game. The Bruins only scored 55 points, their third-lowest point total of the season. UCLA managed 48 points against Washington State on Jan. 8.
The Bruins were outrebounded 49 to 30 against the Red Storm. They shot 5 of 15 on three-pointers and were a mere 4 of 15 from the free-throw line.
UCLA’s Trevor Ariza is the only one who brought light to the Bruins with his 19 points, yet he did miss all five of his free-throw attempts.
“Trevor was the only one in my mind who had a good game for us,” Howland said.
The Bruins will return to Pauley Pavilion and conference action this week when Washington and Washington State visit Los Angeles. UCLA accomplished the Northwest sweep in early January but only by a combined margin of five points.

Arizona barely surviving
What is going on down in Tucson? Does the Arizona men’s basketball team even know?
After what appeared to be a chance to regain their footing with three straight wins, the Wildcats headed north over the weekend and got shut out by Washington and squeaked by Washington State.
If Washington State head coach Dick Bennett had not come down with the flu and stayed home, the outcome could have been different.
If the Cougars could have managed more than just one free throw on three attempts, the outcome could have been different.
But in the end, the Cougars are on the sour end of the longest losing streak between two Pac-10 teams. Washington State has not beat Arizona since 1986.
Arizona’s 61-point total was its lowest total of the season. The Wildcats entered Saturday’s game with the nation’s leading offense, averaging 88 points per game.
“It’s obvious that Dick (Bennett) and Tony (Bennett) have sold them on the value of good defense,” Arizona head coach Lute Olson said.
Arizona (14-4 overall, 6-3 Pac-10) has a young starting lineup with no seniors, and four of the players scored in double figures on Saturday. Junior Channing Frye led the way with 17 points with Mustafa Shakur and Salim Stoudamire accounting for 11 each.

Washington’s Robinson receives weekly honor
Washington guard Nate Robinson was named the Pacific-10 Conference Men’s Basketball Player of the Week on Monday for the week of Jan. 26-Feb. 1.
Robinson averaged 19.5 points, 4.5 rebounds, four assists and 3.5 steals in a home sweep of the Arizona schools. When the Huskies upset then-No.9 ranked Arizona, he scored a career-high 31 points.
This is the first honor for Robinson, and he is the first Husky to win the award since Curtis Allen won it on December 3, 2001.