Those wonderful March cliches often associated with UCLA basketball quickly disappeared Wednesday, stolen by their neighbors, dangled above their despair.
No dancing here, only stumbling and staggering and finishing flat on a casino floor.
No madness, only moping and meandering and missed layup after missed layup.
No Cinderella, only a wicked USC that won a third consecutive game in one season against the Bruins for the first time in 74 years.
The final score in the first round of the Pac-12 Conference tournament was 95-71. The final stake pounded into the most disappointing UCLA season in recent memory was a profound one.