UCLA forward Reeves Nelson comes up with a rebound in front of Kansas' Xavier Henry in the second half Sunday afternoon. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times / December 6, 2009)
UCLA shows fight to No. 1 Kansas
The unranked Bruins pull as close as 4 points in the second half
By MICHAEL BECKER
The LA/LB Press-Enterprise
11:23 PM PST on Sunday, December 6, 2009
LOS ANGELES - Conceding speed, athleticism and skill to the Kansas Jayhawks, the UCLA basketball team clung fervently to the only advantages it held over the No. 1 ranked team in the country: intensity and hustle.
And while it didn't account for a victory, it did show that UCLA has not given into self-pity in this most trying of seasons. By the end of UCLA's 73-61 loss to Kansas at Pauley Pavilion on Sunday, one Bruin needed emergency care at UCLA Medical Center, another required an immediate visit to the dentist, and another described the team as having gone down fighting, a mind-set that had been lacking in most of their previous four losses.
The Bruins had plenty of reasons to crumble against Kansas. It marked their first game without sophomore center Drew Gordon, who quit the team last week after what seemed to be a prolonged clash with Coach Ben Howland. In his place Howland started freshman Reeves Nelson, who in his first start was asked to guard preseason All-American Cole Aldrich. It also meant significant minutes for freshman Tyler Honeycutt (three points, three turnovers), who played for the first time this season after suffering a stress reaction in his right tibia during preseason practice.
AP photo UCLA guard Malcolm Lee (3) tries to score against the defense of Kansas' Cole Aldrich (45) in the second half.
It pointed to an apparent mismatch, so much so that one Internet gambling site listed the Bruins as 16-point underdogs. But UCLA hung with the top-ranked in the nation for 30 minutes, pulling within four points early in the second half.
The Bruins held Aldrich to seven points and one field goal and seemed determined not to suffer another embarrassing loss.
"We all played hard," said UCLA senior Michael Roll, who scored a team-high 16 points. "We played as a team. We're all fighting as one unit now."
That fighter's spirit was typified by Nelson, who scored nine points and grabbed nine rebounds but was poked in the eye midway through the second half.
Nelson missed five minutes while UCLA's medical staff worked furiously to reduce the swelling, and emerged with nine minutes remaining in the game wearing tangerine-colored goggles.
"He's just a warrior," Roll said. "He looked like Rocky out there."
But the swelling became too much four minutes later, and Howland removed Nelson from the game for good. He was taken postgame to the UCLA Medical Center, where he was diagnosed with a corneal abrasion.
Nelson's backup, sophomore center J'Mison Morgan, had a tooth knocked back into the roof of his mouth following a block in the final minute and was scheduled to see the dentist Sunday evening.
Howland said Morgan likely will play Saturday against Mississippi State. UCLA's medical staff expects Nelson to play as well.
While UCLA did an adequate job containing Aldrich and Sherron Collins (14 points), it could not handle Kansas reserve Markieff Morris, a 6-foot-9 sophomore who scored 19 points on 8-of-11 shooting in 21 minutes.
"Kansas was very good," Howland said. "Their No. 1 ranking is deserved. I was very impressed with their personnel. They have the size, strength, and quickness of a great team."
_______________
UCLA puts up a fight but ends up with a loss
The Bruins fall to top-ranked Kansas after doing all they can to keep the score respectable in a 73-61 loss at Pauley Pavilion.
By David Wharton
The Los Angeles Times
December 7, 2009
Let the swelling around Reeves Nelson's right eye serve as a metaphor.
The freshman center put up a good fight. Took on bigger opponents. Scored a small victory here and there.
But ultimately he and the rest of the UCLA team got punched out.
They fell to top-ranked Kansas after doing all they could to keep the score respectable in a 73-61 loss at Pauley Pavilion on Sunday afternoon.
"I mean, that's the No. 1 team in the nation," guard Jerime Anderson said. "We didn't want to come out here and get murdered."
The Jayhawks, while hardly giving their best effort of the season, were efficient at finding open players and knocking down shots. They played tough defense, including an inadvertent shot to the face that sent Nelson to the bench and, after the game, to the emergency room.
"We've got a real tall lineup," Kansas center Cole Aldrich said. "We were able to get some offensive boards and kind of wore them down."
The defeat left UCLA at 2-5, struggling with a roster full of underclassmen, some of whom have not yet come to grips with the intensity required by Coach Ben Howland's defense-first system.
As least they came a bit closer Sunday.
The game started with Anderson benched -- he said it was punishment for not taking care of schoolwork. His exile lasted about three minutes as UCLA committed too many turnovers and soon fell a dozen points behind.
"Our guys were really rushed," Howland said. "That hurt us because it dug a big hole."
Kansas forward Markieff Morris, on his way to a game-high 19 points, came off the bench to do much of the damage early.
But with the gap widening, UCLA fought back, Nikola Dragovic's making a pair of shots to keep the halftime score at 35-28. Resiliency was something the players had previously discussed.
They were coming off a rough week.
Not only had the Bruins gone 0-for-Anaheim at the 76 Classic tournament, they got another jolt when starting center Drew Gordon abruptly quit.
The team's response? "We just came in and worked our tails off in practice," guard Michael Roll said.
So the second half against Kansas (7-0) started with a determined feel, UCLA's cutting the deficit to four points.
Nelson added fuel to the fire. He has shown the most energy of any player on the team, coming back from a hyperextended knee to fill the gap left by Gordon's departure.
The 6-foot-8 center spent much of the afternoon butting up against the 6-11 Aldrich, still managing nine points and nine rebounds.
"He was really aggressive," Kansas Coach Bill Self said. "I think that was the best game he's had, at least from what I saw on tape."
With 14:01 remaining, Nelson got poked in the eye and was quickly surrounded by medical staff. He returned about five minutes later, bright yellow goggles covering a shiner that had swollen shut.
"He's a monster," Anderson said. "I was so proud of him."
But Nelson lacked his earlier effectiveness, and the same could be said for his team.
After that run to start the second half, UCLA fell back to a 10-point deficit and never threatened again. The numbers explain why.
Though Roll finished with 16 points and Dragovic contributed 14, the Bruins could neither score consistently -- shooting 36% -- nor make enough free throws.
Even with freshman Tyler Honeycutt showing promise in his first action, grabbing six rebounds, Kansas held a 43-36 edge on the boards, getting a dozen from Aldrich.
And the Jayhawks shot 44%, led by Morris and guard Xavier Henry, who had 16 points.
All of which had the Bruins looking tired, forcing shots at the end.
Later Sunday night, doctors at Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center diagnosed Nelson with a corneal abrasion that could keep him out three to four days.
Roll was left to diagnose the game.
"They spread us out good," he said of Kansas, "and just beat us up down low."
______________
Kansas has offense outside of Collins, Aldrich
By Josh Herwitt, College Basketball Editor
FOXSports.com
Monday, December 7, 2009, 07:00 AM EST
LOS ANGELES — When the preseason polls were released just prior to the 2009-10 campaign, Kansas was standing at the top thanks, in large part, to the return of Sherron Collins and Cole Aldrich.
But through the Jayhawks' first seven games, it hasn't been Collins or Aldrich who has done the majority of the offensive damage for Bill Self's team.
In fact, Kansas has had a different leading scorer in each of its wins this season.
Who, then, is the Jayhawks' leading scorer?
That honor right now belongs to freshman wing Xavier Henry, who is averaging 16.9 points in 26.6 minutes of action.
"I thought that Sherron and Cole would be scoring more points right now," Self said after Sunday's 73-61 win over UCLA. "But it just hasn't played out that way."
And though Henry did his fair share of scoring — albeit mostly from the 3-point line en route to a 16-point performance — against the Bruins, it was sophomore forward Markieff Morris who really made the biggest splash for Kansas.
Because with UCLA forwards Reeves Nelson and James Keefe doing their best to minimize Aldrich in the paint, Markieff, the twin brother of Marcus, took advantage of the opportunity with a career-high 19 points on 8-of-11 shooting.
"Markieff was our best player without question," Self said. "He got second-chance opportunities and 3-point opportunities because he was aggressive.
"Cole and Marcus didn't give us a lot of production, but fortunately, Markieff did."
So while Markieff handled the scoring load for the Jayhawks, Aldrich took care of business on the defensive end, grabbing a game-high 12 rebounds and swatting three shots from UCLA, which suffered its worst loss at Pauley Pavilion since a 64-51 defeat to Cal back during the 2004-05 season.
"They did a good job at the power forward position, and even though we slowed Aldrich down, he still did a great job on the boards," UCLA coach Ben Howland said.
Meanwhile, Nelson led the Bruins with nine rebounds, but the 6-foot-8 freshman was forced to miss several minutes in the second half after being poked in the eye by Collins.
"He showed a lot of heart and toughness, both before and after his injury," Howland said. "He's had a tough week, but he showed a lot of character to get back in the game."
Nelson, who returned midway through the second half wearing protective goggles, was immediately taken to the E.R. at Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center after the game.
With his eye swollen shut, Nelson's timetable to return is still not known.
"I think that was the best game he had, at least from what I saw on tape," Self said. "I hope he's OK because I thought he played very well."
The Bruins, however, need Nelson's services even more now with the departure of Drew Gordon and Tyler Honeycutt playing his first game of the season Sunday after missing time with a stress reaction in his foot.
"Honeycutt's first game (vs. the No. 1-ranked team) was a lot to ask for a freshman," Howland said.
Playing the top-ranked team in the country, though, may have been too much to ask from this downtrodden UCLA team, which shot just 36.1 percent from the field and committed 11 of its 15 turnovers in the first half.
"Usually they're a really good team but this year is a rebuilding year," Henry said of the Bruins. "They'll get better."
______________
UCLA kept at distance in loss to top-ranked Kansas
Howland's team makes No. 1 Jayhawks work, but turnovers, cold shooting lead to loss.
By Jon Gold, Staff Writer
The Long Beach Press-Telegram
Posted: 12/06/2009 10:20:19 PM PST
There was a time when a Sunday afternoon matchup between UCLA and No. 1 Kansas was a marquee affair, a must-see matchup that could challenge most NFL games.
You don't need to hearken back to the days of Alcindor and Walton and Wooden. Don't travel in time to Reggie Miller's heyday or to the championship run of the mid-'90s.
Just last year, a Bruins-Jayhawks battle would have commanded the attention of the country, with NBA prospects on both sides of the court and Final Four dreams dancing through the minds of UCLA and Kansas fans alike.
Not now, not with these Bruins.
With a 73-61 loss to the Jayhawks on Sunday in front of 10,451 at Pauley Pavilion, UCLA slipped to 2-5, its worst start since 2002-03.
The Bruins made top-ranked Kansas work for the win - although the Jayhawks' largest lead was 17 points, most of the game was within the eight- to 10-point range - turnovers and poor shooting ultimately spelled doom.
How about this lowlight reel: During a three-plus minute stretch midway through the first half, the Bruins turned the ball over five times and missed three shots before senior Nikola Dragovic hit a jumper with 10 minutes, 56 seconds left in the half.
When the ugly spurt started, UCLA was down one point. When it ended, Kansas led by nine.
"Our guys were really rushed," Bruins coach Ben Howland said, "and that hurt us because it dug a big hole. We were sped up in the beginning of the game and 10 early turnovers showed that."
The Bruins clawed back early in the second half and cut the Jayhawks' lead to four with just more than 17 minutes to play. But Kansas head coach Bill Self called a timeout and the team never looked back while turning the four-point advantage into a 12-point lead less than four minutes later.
"I thought we played well, definitely a step in the right direction," UCLA senior guard Michael Roll said. "We cut it to four and we were right there. The ending score is kind of a different story than the game. We were right there.
"They're just a big team and that's what they geared toward."
A formidable block of 6-foot-11 center Cole Aldrich and twin sophomores - 6-foot-9 Markieff and 6-foot-8 Marcus Morris - toyed with the Bruins' undersized frontcourt.
Aldrich and Marcus Morris were held in check while combining for just 11 points, but Markieff Morris led the team with 19. Freshman sensation Xavier Henry added 16 points for Kansas and senior guard Sherron Collins had 14 for the Jayhawks.
Aldrich, a preseason All-American, was hounded by freshman center Reeves Nelson for much of the first half before Nelson was poked in the eye early in the second half and exited the game.
Nelson, making his first start for the Bruins in the place of sophomore center Drew Gordon - who left the team earlier in the week and will transfer after the quarter - had nine points and nine rebounds and held Aldrich to just seven points. After the game, Nelson was taken to the Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center after complaining about poor vision.
"I thought Reeves Nelson did a good job tonight," Howland said of Nelson, who was suffered a hyper-extended knee during Tuesday's practice. "He showed a lot of heart and toughness, both before and after his injury.
"He's had a tough week but he showed a lot of character to get back in the game."
____________
Kansas, UCLA headed in very different directions
By Josh Herwitt, College Basketball Editor
FOXSports.com
Updated: December 7, 2009, 4:46 AM EST
LOS ANGELES - Standing outside his team's locker room, Bill Self was asked about the last time Kansas went up against 11-time national champ UCLA.
The Jayhawks coach quickly cracked a smile.
"We showed our guys tape of that game," he said.
It was a game he still hadn't forgotten about.
Now, maybe he can — even if this isn't the same kind of UCLA team that faced Kansas in the 2007 West Regional final.
"We're certainly not going to apologize," Self asserted after a 73-61 victory over the Bruins in the Big 12/Pac-10 Hardwood Series Sunday at Pauley Pavilion.
"Anytime you go on the road and win, it's a good win. Anytime you go on the road and win against a team that's won 103 games over the last three years, it's a huge win."
After all, the last time these two national powers met, it was late March and a trip to the Final Four was on the line.
Arron Afflalo and the second-seeded Bruins got the best of top seed Kansas that night in San Jose, Calif., but a lot has changed since that moment of glory for UCLA coach Ben Howland.
Fast forward more than two years later, and both programs appear to be headed in completely opposite directions.
Kansas, for one, won a national title in 2008 and then added a third straight Big 12 regular-season championship to its trophy case last season.
And believe it or not, another national championship might not be far away, with Self team's picked as the preseason No. 1 thanks to the return of point guard Sherron Collins and big man Cole Aldrich.
UCLA, on the other hand, has quickly sunk to national irrelevance, with its last title nearly 15 years ago and Howland's team coming into the 2009-10 season unranked, unproven and injury-riddled.
"They're going through some tough times right now," Aldrich said.
"They're just struggling a little bit right now," Collins added.
Still, this is UCLA, where only national championship banners are hung, and while Howland can hang his hat on three straight Final Fours from 2006-2008 for the time being, you could see the tide start to turn for the Bruins at the end of last season.
"They've had a lot of defections to the NBA, and it's hard to keep reloading when some unforeseen things happen," Self said.
It began in the Pac-10 tournament with an embarrassing loss to crosstown rival USC, and it continued in the NCAA tournament, where UCLA barely escaped the first round before ending its 2008-09 campaign with a 20-point loss to Villanova in the second round.
So far, that disappointment has carried over to this season, with the Bruins already losing four games to non-BCS schools and their starting forward, sophomore Drew Gordon, who quit the team this week and plans to transfer next quarter.
Then, on Sunday, Howland was reminded once again by a much more athletic and experienced Kansas squad just how far his program has fallen as of late.
"Kansas was very good," he said afterward. "Their No. 1 ranking is deserved. They have the size, strength and quickness of a great team."
The Bruins, surprisingly, managed to hang tough and do an admirable job on Aldrich, limiting the 6-foot-11 junior to just seven points on 1-of-6 shooting while forcing the Jayhawks to commit 14 turnovers.
"We played really sloppy," admitted Collins, who finished with 14 points, four assists and two rebounds.
"The whole team showed a lot of fight," Howland said. "If we keep doing that, we'll end up winning more of these games."
It was ultimately Howland's traditional man-to-man pressure that gave UCLA a chance early in the second half, as Michael Roll's fast-break layup cut Kansas' lead to only four with just less than 18 minutes remaining.
"We knew that from the very get-go, it was going to be a tough game," Aldrich said. "They made us do some uncharacteristic things, and they hung around until the very end."
But good teams are more than just one player, and Kansas is undeniably that.
So with UCLA forwards Reeves Nelson and James Keefe locking down on Aldrich, it was the leadership of Collins (only two turnovers), inside play of Markieff Morris (game-high 19 points) and shooting of Xavier Henry (four 3-pointers) that sent UCLA to its fourth straight loss in the end.
"The way we played and the way UCLA played, this wasn't that far off from being a really tight game down the stretch," Self said.
Except with the Bruins trailing Kansas for all 40 minutes, the outcome never seemed to be in doubt for a UCLA team that's off to its worst start since Steve Lavin last stood on the sidelines in Westwood.
"It's still UCLA," Self continued.
Even history can only mean so much.
____________
No. 1 Kansas sends UCLA to another loss
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
The Orange County Register
December 06, 2009 5:21 PM
Markief Morris scored a career-high 19 points and No. 1 Kansas pulled away in the second half to beat UCLA, 73-61, on Sunday as part of the Big 12-Pac-10 Hardwood Series, sending the Bruins to their fourth consecutive loss.
Xavier Henry added 16 points and Sherron Collins had 14 for the Jayhawks (7-0), who led the entire game but allowed UCLA to get within four early in the second half.
Michael Roll scored 16 points and Nikola Dragovic added 14 for the Bruins (2-5), who haven't lost four in a row since 2003-04, coach Ben Howland's first season in Westwood.
The defeat capped a rocky week for the struggling Bruins, who lost forward Drew Gordon when he quit the team. The sophomore averaged 11.2 points and 5.3 rebounds.
The last time the schools met was in the 2007 NCAA tournament's West Region, when UCLA won by 13 points and went on to the second of three consecutive Final Four appearances.
But that run of success has taken its toll this season on the Bruins, who lost several key players early to the NBA draft leaving them with a slew of inexperienced underclassmen. Tyler Honeycutt made his college debut after missing UCLA's first six games with a stress reaction in his right tibia. He finished with three points.
Kansas led by 13 points in the first half, when the Bruins committed 11 turnovers and shot 33 percent, missing several open shots.
Collins' jumper gave Kansas its largest lead of the half, 29-16. From there, the Bruins ended the half on a 12-6 run to close to 35-28. Dragovic and Roll had five points each in the spurt.
UCLA outscored Kansas 6-3 to start the second half and got to 38-34. Reeves Nelson, starting in place of Gordon, dunked to get the Bruins within seven with 14:40 remaining. He was poked in the right eye and had to leave the game for a few minutes before returning wearing protective goggles.
The Bruins closed within seven once more on a 3-pointer by Dragovic at 12:03 before Kansas soon restored its double-digit lead. Henry's fourth 3-pointer of the game extended the Jayhawks' lead to 69-54 in the final minutes.
Kansas' Marcus Morris finished with four points after being held scoreless in the first half.
No comments:
Post a Comment