UCLA Travels To Washington State
UCLA has won 32 of the last 34 meetings, including the last 16 contests in Pullman, Wash.
from the Official UCLA Men's Basketball website
Feb. 17, 2010
LOS ANGELES -
GAMEDAY CENTRAL
DATE: Thursday, Feb. 18, 2010
SITE: Friel Court (11,671)
TIP-OFF: 5:36 p.m. (PT)
TELEVISION: FSN and FSW
TALENT: Steve Physioc (play-by-play) and Miles Simon (analyst)
RADIO: AM 570 KLAC
SIRIUS SATELLITE RADIO: Channel 214
SIRIUS XM SATELLITE RADIO: Channel 193
TALENT: Chris Roberts (play-by-play) and Tracy Murray (analyst)
BRUIN INJURY REPORT
Senior James Keefe injured his left shoulder in practice on Feb. 12, 2010. He has not practiced since and is listed as questionable for both contests this week at Washington State (Feb. 18) and at Washington (Feb. 20). Freshman Reeves Nelson sustained a concussion in the California game (Feb. 6) and didn't return to full-contact practice until Feb. 11. He played 28 minutes at USC and had 10 points and seven rebounds.
SERIES VERSUS WASHINGTON STATE
This is the 111th meeting between UCLA and the Washington State Cougars with the Bruins leading the series 96-14. UCLA has won 32 of the last 34 meetings, including the last 16 contests in Pullman, Wash. UCLA is 42-8 against the Cougars all-time in Pullman, Wash. UCLA won last year's meeting at Friel Court 61-59 on Jan. 22, 2009. UCLA led 36-23 at halftime as Nikola Dragovic hit six three-pointers in the first half. He ended with a game-high 20 points and was the only Bruin to score in double figures. WSU was led by Aron Baynes' double-double of 15 points and 10 rebounds while Caleb Forrest scored a team-high 19 points. Head Coach Ben Howland is 12-2 against the Cougars, and 6-0 at WSU, winning all six games by a combined total of 20 points.
ROLL FOR THREE
Senior guard Michael Roll leads the Pacific-10 Conference in league play in three-point field goal percentage at 46.4 percent (32-for-69) and ranks fourth in three-pointers made per game (2.7). In overall games on the season, he also ranks first in percentage (.442, 61-for-138) and third in treys per game (2.5). On the UCLA career charts, Roll sits at No. 5 in three-pointers made (190) and needs eight to pass Tracy Murray for fourth. He also ranks sixth in three-pointers attempted (451) and fifth in three-point field goal percentage (.421).
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Cougars Return Home to Host Bruins Thursday
Washington State looks to bounce back after falling in back-to-back road games last weekend.
from the Official Washington State Men's Basketball website
Feb. 16, 2010
WSU RETURNS HOME FOR THREE-STRAIGHT GAMES: After being swept on the road in the Bay Area last weekend, the Washington State University men's basketball team (15-10, 5-8) looks to bounce back as it hosts UCLA (11-13, 6-6), Thursday, Feb. 18 and USC (15-9, 7-5), Saturday, Feb. 20. Thursday's game will tip at 5:30 p.m. and can be seen nationally on Fox Sports Net, while Saturday's will tip at 2 p.m. and can be seen via a webcast on wsucougars.com.
Game 26 | UCLA (11-13, 6-6) at Washington State (15-10, 5-8)
Date Thursday, Feb. 18 | 5:30 p.m. PST
Location Pullman, Wash. | Friel Court at Beasley Coliseum
Tickets Buy Here
Television Fox Sports Net
Radio Cougar Sports Network | Listen Online
wsucougars.com Gametracker | Crimson ZZU Blog | Game Notes
All-Time Series UCLA leads 96-14 (Streak: UCLA +2)
ABOUT THE COUGS:
• The Cougs were swept in a Pac-10 series for the first time this season as they fell at Stanford (Feb. 11) and at California (Feb. 13).
• The Cougars are now 15-10 on the season and 5-8 in Pacific-10 Conference action, tied with Stanford for eighth.
• Prior to this past weekend, the Cougars had split all five of the previous Pac-10 weekend series this season.
• WSU is 9-3 at home and 3-3 at home in conference action...the Cougs are 3-0 in neutral site games.
• Sophomore Klay Thompson leads the team and ranks second in the conference with 21.4 points per game...he's scored double figures in 22 of the Cougs' 25 games this season and reached 20-plus points in 15 of the 25 contests.
• Freshman point guard Reggie Moore leads the team with 4.2 assists a game, adding a team second-best 13.6 points an outing.
• Sophomore DeAngelo Casto leads the Cougs on the boards with 7.1 rebounds a game, adding 10.2 points per game.
• The Cougars' lone senior, Nikola Koprivica, is chipping in 9.0 points per game and is second in the Pac-10 in 3-point field goal percentage at .442 (34-for-77).
ABOUT THE UCLA BRUINS:
• Under seventh-year head coach Ben Howland, UCLA is 11-13 overall and holds an 6-6 Pac-10 mark.
• The Bruins sit alone in sixth place in the league, just out of a three-way tie for third.
• UCLA has lost its last two games and three of its last five contests after falling at USC, 68-64, Sunday evening.
• The Bruins are 2-4 on the road and 2-3 in away conference games.
• Senior Michael Roll leads UCLA with 13.9 points per game while shooting .469 from the field and .442 from beyond the 3-point arc.
• Sophomore Malcom Lee is adding 12.3 points and 4.5 rebounds a game.
• Freshman Tyler Honeycutt leads the Bruins on the boards with 6.3 boards a game in 18 games this season.
AGAINST THE BRUINS:
• The Cougars trail the all-time series 14-96 and 11-43 at home...WSU has not defeated UCLA at Friel Court since Feb. 6, 1993.
• UCLA defeated WSU 74-62 in the first meeting this season, Jan. 23 at Pauley Pavilion.
• Reggie Moore led WSU with 24 points...scored 20 or more points for the fourth time in the last six games.
• At that point, Moore led the team in scoring in five of the last seven games.
• For the first time this season, Moore did not attempts a free throw.
• Klay Thompson moved into sole possession of 15th place in the WSU record books for career 3-pointers with two on the day...he now has 115.
• Nikola Koprivica finished with 11 points and has scored in double figures in the last four games for the Cougs.
LAST TIME OUT FOR THE COUGS:
• The Cougars once again let a double-figure lead slip away as they fell at California Saturday.
• Klay Thompson scored a game-high 28 points...ties for second most in a Pac-10 game for his career, tied for the most in a regulation Pac-10 game...scored 33 in double-overtime against Oregon (Dec. 31).
• WSU tied the school record with 12 blocks...also blocked 12 shots against Stanford Feb. 8, 2007.
• WSU's nine first-half blocks mark its most in a first period this season...previous high was four done three times.
• Thompson's five 3-pointers are tied for his second-most of the season and the most hitting eight against San Diego (Nov. 28).
• Thompson's 23 first-half points mark his most in a first half for his career...his previous high was 22 in the first half against IPFW (Nov. 19)...his five 3-pointers are his most in a first half over his career.
• The Cougars have lost four-straight to the Golden Bears...drop to 45-71 in the all-time series.
• The Cougars' 45 first-half points are their second-most first half points this season...high is 46 scored against Stanford (Jan. 16)...their .654 first-half field goal percentage (17-for-26) ties for the best first-half field goal percentage (vs. Portland State, Dec. 19).
• Marcus Capers had a season-high five assists...one shy of his career high of six...blocked a career high four shots.
• DeAngelo Casto tied his career high with five blocked shots...added 13 points.
• With nine points, Reggie Moore moved into a tie for fourth on the WSU freshman record list for points...he now has 339.
MOORE OUT OF REGGIE:
• The Pac-10's lone starting freshman point guard, Reggie Moore has gotten off to a hot start for the Cougars in his rookie campaign, ranking second on the team with 13.6 points per game.
• Not only is he second in scoring, but he leads the team in assists with 4.2 dishes per game.
• At Kansas State, Dec. 5, Moore set a WSU freshman record with 12 free throws made.
• Against Air Force Dec. 12 in Spokane, Moore had the first double-double of his young career...he had a career high 10 assists, the second-most single game assists by a Cougar freshman.
• Moore bettered that in his next game with 12 assists, marking the second-most single game assists by a Cougar freshman as he now has the second and third best performances.
• Moore leads all Pac-10 freshmen in assists, assists/turnover ratio and free throw percentage and ranks second among freshmen in scoring.
• He is currently on pace for the WSU freshman record for assists which is 114 set by Bennie Seltzer in 1990.
• If the season ended today, Moore would capture the freshman record for assists average and would finish second in scoring average.
KOPRIVICA AMONG WINNINGEST COUGARS:
• Senior Nikola Koprivica has been a part of WSU men's basketball teams that have combined for 84 wins (2007-present).
• With 84 wins to his name, Koprivica ranks for second most wins by an individual student-athlete in WSU history.
• The number of wins does not include wins during a student-athlete's redshirt year, and the player doesn't have to have played in all of the games during the season.
• Below is a list of the top-five winningest players in WSU history:
1. George Hamilton (1945, 1947-49), 86
2. Nikola Koprivica (2007-10), 84
3. Ed Gayda (1947-50), 82
4. Daven Harmeling (2005, 2007-09), 81
5. Aaron Baynes (2006-09), 80
Caleb Forrest (2006-09), 80
COUGARS AMONG WINNINGEST TEAMS IN PAC-10:
• Over the last four seasons (2006-07, 2007-08, 2008-09, 2009-10) the Cougars have the third most overall and conference wins among Pac-10 schools.
• WSU is 84-44 (.656) overall and 37-30 in conference play over the last three years and this season.
• UCLA has the best four-year record at 103-32 (.763) overall and 51-16 in league play.
WHAT A DIFFERENCE A YEAR MAKES:
• Twenty three games into this season, sophomore Klay Thompson has already matched his point total from the 33 games of his freshman season.
• Thompson scored 414 as a freshman, averaging 12.5 points a game...he currently has 534 points this season, averaging 21.4.
• He's shot nearly five times more free throws this year than the entire last season...he's shot 153 as a sophomore, compared to just 31 as a freshman.
• Senior Nikola Koprivica's stats have gone up this season as well, as his 224 points are 33 points shy of his total from his freshman, sophomore and junior season combined (257).
• With 34 trey's on the season, he surpassed his total number of 3-pointers made from his first three seasons (26).
THOMPSON APPROACHING 1,000:
• Sophomore Klay Thompson currently has 948 points and is just 52 points away from becoming the 31st Cougar to reach 1,000 career points.
• If Thompson can keep up his 21.4 points per game average or his 18.0 points per game Pac-10 average, he will reach 1,000 points Feb. 27 at Washington...that would be his 61st career game.
• Either way, Thompson would become the third-fastest Coug to 1,000 points behind Steve Puidokas (52 games) and Jim McKean (57 games)...Larry Beck is currently third as he did it in 66 games.
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WSU Basketball | Cougs look to stop streak of UCLA
By Lew Wright
Washington State Cougars Examiner
February 17, 1:41 PM
Pullman, WA – The Washington State Cougars (15-10, 5-8) will host UCLA (11-13, 6-6) Thursday night at 5:30pm. WSU begins the first of three consecutive home conference games .
Coach Ken Bone was caught by surprise Tuesday when asked about the streak of UCLA.
Ok, you’re thinking Bruin basketball has so many notable streaks in their history, which one?
UCLA owns a 16-game winning streak over Washington State on the hardwood of Friel Court in Pullman. What makes that streak truly impressive is not just what it takes to win on the road in the Pac-10, but the fact traveling to Pullman requires the most demanding travel schedule for a visiting team.
Good UCLA teams or average UCLA teams makes no difference. Coach Ben Howland’s Bruins own the Cougs in Pullman.
Coach Bone’s response to the streak factoid was concise. “…16 in a row, I’m sure that are going to be confident coming in here.”
When these two teams met last month down in Los Angeles, WSU was coming off a strong performance against USC. They were the team with confidence.
UCLA used zone defense to disrupt the Cougs on the offensive end of the floor. “The shots didn’t fall and I didn’t think we took great shots. There were a number of possessions where our shot selection was very questionable. That’s also a credit to UCLA’s defense,” said Bone.
Coach Howland favors a defense-first philosophy. He recruits and builds a roster with student-athletes ready to commit to his style of play. Within his philosophy, Howland is known for teaching his players how to play smothering man-to-man defense. By his own admission, UCLA doesn’t have the personnel to employ man defense forcing Coach Howland to use a lot of zone coverage.
“They have great length and they’ve affected a number of teams with that zone,” points out Coach Bone sizing up the Bruin defense.
The measure of confidence UCLA will bring may be tempered by the fact they have lost their last two games, one of which was a hard fought game to cross-town rival USC.
“We’ve got our backs against the wall and have got to come out and really execute and take care of the basketball,” concedes Coach Howland when looking at the game with Washington State. “They’ve got very difficult matchup problems. (Klay) Thompson is a very special player and obviously (Reggie) Moore is one of the better freshmen in our league… They’re starting four guards with Nikola (Koprivica). For us to matchup with them is going to be difficult.”
Matchups are what the game is all about. Coach Howland builds his program around defense. “When you’re selling defense, you’re selling winning. They are one and the same.” Sure, high-flying slam dunks seem to dominate ESPN Sports Center highlights where college players dream of seeing themselves. In terms of perspective, Howland is quite clear on his point of view. “A lot of teams create highlights off their defense forcing turnovers and getting out on the open floor.” That said, it’s easy to see why Coach Howland gets outstanding play from his team on the defensive end of the court.
Defense might not sound exciting, but with the right attitude, it will lead to exciting play.
Staying on topic with attitude, asked Coach Bone about his team’s mindset following two road losses where the Cougs held double-digits that got away from them. “It’s good,” he said, “We had a good workout yesterday. It was high energy and attitudes were good.”
No question the Cougs were disappointed by both road losses. It might be easy to overlook the fact they showed improved play in both contests. WSU also showed better focus. After the loss at Stanford, Coach Bone pointed out his team was able, “…to turn around two days later and play the best team in the conference…on their home court and go out and play the way we did was pretty impressive. I think the guys bounced back pretty quickly.”
Aside from senior Michael Roll and freshman Reeves Nelson, UCLA has struggled knocking down shots this season. Rebounding has become even more critical to Coach Howland’s team.
“Reeves (Nelson) has done a good job for us. Being just a freshman, he’s played a lot of minutes. He’s our second leading rebounder. Our leading rebounder is a freshman, Tyler Honeycutt, so our two leading rebounders are freshmen. Reeves continues to get better and better in that respect as he continues to grow.” - UCLA Coach Ben Howland
In their last game, WSU out-rebounded UCLA on the boards 34-32 with a huge edge, 14-6 on the offensive glass. Another case where stats are deceptive. UCLA shot a sizzling 59.1% in the game, including an incredible 73.7% in the second half. When a team is knocking down shots at that pace, there aren’t many rebounds to fight for.
Thursday evening we’ll see two well-coached teams work to control game tempo and the scoreboard. You can watch the game televised on Fox Sports Network beginning at 5:30pm PST. Steve Physioc and Miles Simon will call the game. Cougar fans may want to turn down the volume on their sets and tune in Bud Nameck on the Cougar Basketball Radio Network beginning at 5pm PST.
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