UCLA Hosts Colorado State On Dec. 22
Next Two Home Games Available On UCLABruins.com
UCLA Hosts Colorado State On Dec. 22
The Bruins are 3-3 all-time against Colorado State, 3-1 against the Rams in Los Angeles and 2-0 in Pauley Pavilion.
Dec. 21, 2009
The Official UCLA Men's Basketball website
GAMEDAY CENTRAL
DATE: Tuesday, Dec. 22, 2009
SITE: Pauley Pavilion (12,819)
TIP-OFF: 7:30 p.m.
TELEVISION: Online only (UCLA All-Access)
RADIO: AM 570 KLAC
SIRIUS SATELLITE RADIO: Channel 91
TALENT: Chris Roberts (play-by-play) and Don MacLean (analyst)
BRUIN INJURY REPORT
UCLA senior forward James Keefe suffered a dislocated left shoulder midway through the first half of the Bruins' 100-68 home win over New Mexico State on Dec. 15. His X-rays were negative, but he is slated to be out 2-3 weeks for strengthening and rehabilitation. It is the same shoulder that Keefe had surgery on in August of 2007 to repair a torn labrum that cost him to miss the first 12 games of the 2007-08 season.
SERIES VERSUS COLORADO STATE
This is the 7th meeting between the Colorado State Rams and UCLA with the series tied at 3-3. The Bruins are 3-1 all-time against the Rams in Los Angeles and 2-0 in Pauley Pavilion. Colorado State won the last meeting, coincidentally on Dec. 22, upsetting 18th-ranked UCLA 55-54 in 1999 in the semifinals of the Pearl Harbor Invitational in Laie, Hawaii. The last time Colorado State visited Pauley Pavilion was also coincidentally on Dec. 22, 1979 when the 14th-ranked Bruins defeated an unranked CSU squad, 86-63. UCLA Head Coach Ben Howland has never faced Colorado State.
NEXT TWO GAMES ON UCLA ALL-ACCESS
UCLA All-Access, UCLA Athletics' online multimedia platform, will carry exclusive online video broadcasts of the next two UCLA men's basketball games. There is no telecast for either contest.
The games against Colorado State this Tuesday, December 22 at 7:30 pm and against Delaware State this Sunday, December 27 at 1 pm will be available exclusively on UCLA All-Access. Tuesday's game will be free to everyone while Sunday's game will be part of the subscription package ($9.95 per month).
UCLA All-Access also has live audio coverage all UCLA men's basketball games, along with video from head coach Ben Howland's press conferences.
Click on UCLA All-Access on the front of UCLABruins.com and then click on "Live Events."
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Trip to UCLA a treat for CSU men's basketball team
BY KELLY LYELL
coloradoan.com, The Fort Collins Coloradoan
December 22, 2009
This has been a rough season so far for the UCLA men's basketball team, with coach Ben Howland scrambling to fill holes left by the early departure of six players for the NBA in the past four seasons and the decision by another key player to transfer earlier this month.
The Bruins (3-7) have lost six of their past seven games and are not even in the top 250 teams in the various versions of the Ratings Percentage Index found online, let alone in their usual spot among the nation's Top 25 teams.
"We've got a very young team, so part of our issue is just growing," Howland said Monday. "Our freshmen are getting to play a lot, but they're still getting used to the different level. It's a big jump when you go from high school to major college."
Still, it's UCLA at Pauley Pavilion, and CSU's players can't wait to see how they stack up against a program that has won a record 11 NCAA championships, 10 of them under legendary coach John Wooden, and made three consecutive trips to the Final Four from 2006-08.
"UCLA is somebody we've always grown up looking at,'' Colorado State University freshman forward Greg Smith said Sunday night after the Rams (8-3) defeated Northern Arizona. "We see John Wooden on TV all the time, we see all their championships. They're still a team of prestige."
And even though they're not in the Top 25, as CSU coach Tim Miles predicted they would be when he scheduled this game last spring, they're not a pushover.
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Game notes: CSU basketball travels to UCLA for Tuesday tilt
Rams, Bruins meet for first time in a decade
from The Official Colorado State Rams Men's Basketball website
Dec. 21, 2009
Game 12: Colorado State at UCLA
Tuesday, Dec. 22, 2009 | 7:30 p.m. MT | Los Angeles, Calif. | Pauley Pavilion
(12,819)
Up next
The Colorado State men’s basketball team travels to Los Angeles, Calif., to face off against perennial power UCLA on Tuesday evening at Pauley Pavilion. It is Colorado State’s first game away from the Centennial State since Nov. 20 at Indiana State.
Colorado State (8-3) is coming off of a 64-56 home victory over Northern Arizona on Sunday evening. The win capped a four-game homestand for Colorado State, and pushed CSU’s home win streak to 6-0 to begin the season. Overall, the Rams have won four straight, and six of seven dating back to their loss at Indiana State.
UCLA enters Tuesday’s matchup with an overall record of 3-7, and is coming off of an 84-73 loss at Notre Dame on Saturday afternoon. Overall the Bruins have lost six of their last seven dating back to a Nov. 23 home victory over Pepperdine.
Tipoff between the Rams and the Bruins is set for 8:30 p.m. MT historic Pauley Pavilion.
Fans can listen to the action live on the Colorado State Sports Network. Jerry Schemmel will call all the action courtside. The game will be carried on flagship KLZ (560 AM) in Denver and on KCOL (600 AM), locally. Rams fans worldwide can listen to the action live streaming on CSURams.com/allaccess.
Live statistics are available by clicking the “GameTracker” logo on the men’s basketball “Schedule/Results” page on CSURams.com.
Streaming video will also be available, free of charge. Fans can view the video stream by clicking on the “All-Access” button on the front page of UCLABruins.com, and selecting the contest from the “Live Events” tab.
About the Bruins
UCLA enters Tuesday’s contest with an overall record of 3-7 record, but the Bruins are 3-2 at the Pauley Pavilion on the seasons. On Saturday, the Bruins fell at Notre Dame, 84-73, their sixth loss in the past seven games. Despite the poor start, however, UCLA remains one of the most storied programs in NCAA history, winning more national championships than any other team.
Head Coach Ben Howland enters Tuesday with a 155-61 record in his seven seasons in Los Angeles. The Bruins have 10 players back from last year’s squad, who made it to the second round of the NCAA Tournament and finished the season ranked No. 18 in both the AP and USA Today polls.
Still, Howland leads a young team made up of just two juniors and three seniors on the 18-player roster. Sophomore Malcolm Lee leads the Bruins with 15.1 points per game. Following Lee is senior Michael Roll (14.5 points). UCLA’s top three point scorers are all shooting better than 45 percent from the floor, including Reeves Nelson (60.7 percent).
Series vs. UCLA
The Rams and Bruins will meet for the first time in exactly a decade. The teams have each won three games in the series, with CSU winning the most recent, a 55-54 victory at the Pearl Harbor Classic on Dec. 22, 1999. The Rams are 1-3 playing in Los Angeles, with their only win, a 69-68 decision, coming in during the 1961-62 season against legendary coach John Wooden. UCLA reached the Final 4 that season, losing to eventual champion Cincinnati in the national semifinals.
Strong at home
With a win Sunday against Northern Arizona, the Rams improved to 6-0 at Moby Arena to start the season. The Rams won just six home games all last season, and just three the season before.
Through the years, however, Moby Arena has been a tough environment for opposing teams. CSU has won 70 percent (435-188) of its games at Moby Arena. Since the 2002-03 season, the Rams have had several winning streaks to start their home season: 2002-03, 13 consecutive; 2004-05, 9; 2005-06, 8; and 2006-07, 6.
Hot start
Coach Miles has led the Rams to an 8-3 start to open the 2009-10 season, the best start for CSU through 11 games since the 2006-07 season (9-2). The Rams are now just one win shy of their entire win total from the 2008-09 season.
Rams win streaks
With Colorado State’s 64-56 victory Sunday night against Northern Arizona, the Rams established a new high for consecutive wins in the Tim Miles era (four straight) and improved to 6-0 at home to start the season. The Rams’ four consecutive victories are the most by a CSU squad since the 2006-07 team rattled off nine straight victories. During that stretch, the Rams have picked up home victories against Denver (64-59), Colorado (77-62), Montana (62-61) and NAU. CSU’s home win streak also includes victories over Mayville State (79-42) and San Francisco (91-75, 2ot).
Rams on the road
Colorado State visits UCLA’s Pauley Pavilion in search of the Rams’ first non-conference road victory since a 74-58 victory over host Hawaii on Dec. 27, 2008, in the Rainbow Classic. The Rams have lost their last two non-conference road games, falling at Oregon (68-55) in the BTI Tip-off tournament championship on Nov. 15, and at Indiana State (65-60) in the MWC/MVC challenge on Nov. 20. CSU’s last overall road victory came last season at Air Force, a 71-66 triumph, on Feb. 21, 2009.
CSU Rams Freshman G Dorian Green (photo from CSU Rams Men's Basketball website)Standing out during the streak
During Colorado State’s four-game winning streak no players have stood out more for the Rams than freshman G Dorian Green, junior F Travis Franklin, and junior G Adam Nigon. Green had led the team in scoring at 16.5 points per game, while averaging 3.8 rebounds per contest. Franklin ranks right behind Green, pouring in 15.5 points per game. He leads the team in rebounding at 5.8 per contest. The duo has combined to hit 48 of 66 attempts from the free-throw line during that stretch. Nigon, who entered this season with a career scoring average of 2.9 ppg., is also in double-figures scoring at a clip of 10.3 points per game during the Rams’ winning streak. He is leading the Rams in three-point shooting, hitting 8-of-17 attempts for a .471 percentage. Green is the only other player to hit a trey for the Rams during that stretch, hitting 40 percent (8-for-20) from beyond the arc. Nigon also leads the Rams in assists during CSU’s streak, dishing out 12 helpers, more than double any other player on the team.
To continue reading the Rams' game notes, click here.
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Rams have date at Pauley Pavilion vs. UCLA
By Natalie Meisler
The Denver Post
Posted: 12/22/2009 01:00:00 AM MST
FORT COLLINS — Considering that Adam Nigon spent his freshman year on the Colorado State intramurals courts, venues don't get any bigger than tonight's game at UCLA's fabled Pauley Pavilion.
That's against 3-7 UCLA, by the way, owner of the worst nonleague record in the Pac-10. The Bruins are struggling after losing two players to the NBA last spring and another, center Drew Gordon, who recently quit the team. Never mind that UCLA won 26 games last season and appeared in the previous three Final Fours.
These aren't exactly John Wooden's Bruins. Still, it's Pauley Pavilion, where 11 national championship banners hang.
"It's great. I'm excited," said Nigon, a senior from Broomfield. "That's like basketball heaven, where it all began. At the same time I can't get in awe of everything. We have to come out and compete."
This is Nigon's kind of game. It isn't his job to fill it up. All he has to do is scrap for every loose ball, steal and rebound. That is how the former walk-on earned a scholarship and a spot in CSU's starting lineup.
"We know it's a tough game," Nigon said, "but they are beatable if we come out and play like we did against Colorado, with the same energy."
The Rams (8-3) defeated UCLA the last time the teams met — 10 years ago today at a tournament in Hawaii. How-ever, CSU's only win in an opponent's gym during the coach Tim Miles era came late last season at Air Force.
Besides understandable losses to Notre Dame and Kansas, UCLA has lost to Cal State Fullerton, Portland, Long Beach State and Butler. The Bruins showed glimpses of the UCLA teams of old, venting frustration with a 100-68 walloping of New Mexico State.
"UCLA is still UCLA," said CSU forward Travis Franklin, who is showing signs of a breakout season. "They still have a great coach (Ben Howland) and team."
Added Miles, "It should be a great experience for us."
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