Los Angeles - The Spartans' trip to sunny Southern California ended in a haze of disappointment as the team again failed to capitalize in its brutal non-conference schedule Saturday night at Pauley Pavilion.

In a game desperately needed to revive the team's morale, the UCLA Bruins stomped all over the Spartan offense en route to a 64-58 triumph.

"We had our chances and we did what we've been doing," Spartans head coach Tom Izzo said. "Instead of making a play, instead of getting the stop, we make a turnover and don't make a stop, it's disappointing."

The unranked Spartans (4-5) started the game with momentum as the teams traded baskets and each displayed a sturdy defense in the first half, which ended with MSU down 29-28.

But turnovers and foul trouble plagued the Spartans who shot just 32 percent in the second half and tallied 18 turnovers.

"We just had a bad shooting night,? said sophomore guard Maurice Ager. "I guess it was just one of those nights. But there's definitely a sense of urgency we need to have because the Big Ten season is coming up soon and it's not going to get any easier, so we have to get better."

Ager had just 8 points on 3-for-14 shooting while sophomore center Paul Davis, MSU's leading scorer, added 14 points and junior guard Chris Hill led all scorers with 17.

That wasn't enough to stop the Bruins (4-2), who shot 54.2 percent in the second half, and first-season head coach Ben Howland. But the Bruins' main strength came on defense.

"They played some good defense," said junior guard Kelvin Torbert. "I think that might have affected our shooting percentage, but we still had some easy open shots that we just couldn't convert today. We didn't shoot the ball well and we didn't defend or rebound the way we needed to."

With an estimated crowd of 12,433, the Bruins may have been motivated by pre-game festivities which honored UCLA's legendary coach John Wooden, who led UCLA to 10 national championships.

Wooden and former UCLA and NBA stars Bill Walton and Kareem Abdul-Jabar were in attendance for the dedication of the court to Wooden and his late wife, Nell.

"It was definitely a big occasion," Ager said. "It was a big game for both teams."

And for the Spartans, another big game became another setback.

With UCLA up 49-47 and about 11 minutes remaining, a 9-3 run by the Bruins indicated the team wasn't going to let Wooden leave without seeing a victory.

UCLA guard Dijon Thompson had all 10 of his points in the second half, including two beyond the arc. Guard Brian Morrison added 11 and forward T.J. Cummings led the Bruins with 13.

"We have to give them credit for playing and playing hard," freshman guard Shannon Brown said. "But we just didn't execute our stuff properly. We have to play Michigan State basketball.

"Everybody's just trying to do a little bit too much and we've just got to play ball."

With the Spartans still lacking a true point guard, the team continues to struggle in finding a leader and a secure starting line-up.

Freshman guard Brandon Cotton, a likely candidate, didn't play after returning Tuesday from a stress fracture in his foot.

"We got to get our point guard situation straightened out," Izzo said. "Brandon's going to play more. But nobody's stepped up. Some of our veteran guys maybe aren't playing as good as I think they should be and so I'm trying to shuffle some people in there.

"I thought we did some good things in the first half, I thought we executed well, I thought we covered their stuff well. It's just some of those turnovers that led to baskets again. You don't get to make those kind of plays against good teams, and don't kid yourself, UCLA's a good team."

The teams last met on Dec. 28, 1960, a 98-61 UCLA win in Los Angeles. The game was played before Pauley Pavilion was built, and Wooden was on the sidelines. UCLA has won four of five contests against MSU.

The Spartans move on to face Coppin State on Dec. 30 at Breslin Center followed by No. 19 Syracuse on Jan. 3.

"I'm not worried," Izzo said. "I'm ticked off. I'm going to find some guys that want to play.

"Maybe it'll be the guys that are starting and maybe it won't."