Senior guard Michael Roll leads the assault with his 13.9 per average. UCLA has four players averaging double digits per. Along with top dog Roll, the others are Malcolm Lee (12.2 ppg), Nikola Dragovic (11.6 ppg) and Nelson Reeves (10.2 ppg). Reeves, Dragovic, Lee and freshman Tyler Honeycutt handle the boards for UCLA, all averaging around five rebounds a game. UCLA has grown to employ both the man-to-man and the 2-3zone on defense to great success. UCLA's length has made their 2-3 zone defense quite formidable and stifling. UCLA at Washington on ESPN on Saturday
The Bruins are 91-36 all-time against Washington and 2-0 in previous College GameDay contests on ESPN.
from the Official UCLA Men's Basketball website
Feb. 19, 2010
LOS ANGELES -
GAMEDAY CENTRAL
DATE: Saturday, Feb. 20, 2010
SITE: Bank of America Arena (10,000)
TIP-OFF: 6:05 p.m. (PT)
TELEVISION: ESPN
TALENT: Dan Shulman (play-by-play), Jay Bilas (analyst), Bob Knight (analyst) and Erin Andrews (sideline)
RADIO: AM 570 KLAC
SIRIUS SATELLITE RADIO: Channel 91
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 will have season-ending surgery next week when the Bruins return to Los Angeles. Freshman Reeves Nelson hit his head on the floor when he lost his balance in traffic after a one-handed dunk on a fastbreak. He received 15 stitches to close the two-inch gash above his right eye and missed the entire second half at Washington State.
SERIES VERSUS WASHINGTON
This is the 128th meeting between UCLA and Washington with the Bruins leading the series 91-36. UCLA leads the all-time matchups in Seattle 31-29, but the Bruins have lost the last five at Bank of America Arena. UCLA won this year's earlier matchup in Los Angeles 62-61 on Jan. 21, 2010. Reserve guard Mustafa Abdul-Hamid hit the game winning 18-foot jumper from the top of the key as time expired. Last year in Seattle, Josh Shipp scored a game-high 25 points, but UW used a 19-9 run in the final six minutes to win 86-75. Isaiah Thomas led five Huskies in double figures with 24 points. UCLA Head Coach Ben Howland is 7-7 against Washington.
ROLL FOR THREE
Senior guard Michael Roll leads the Pacific-10 Conference in league play in three-point field goal percentage at 47.9 percent (35-for-73) and ranks fourth in three-pointers made per game (2.7). In overall games on the season, he also ranks first in percentage (.451, 64-for-142) and third in treys per game (2.6). On the UCLA career charts, Roll sits at No. 5 in three-pointers made (193) and needs five to pass Tracy Murray for fourth. He also ranks sixth in three-pointers attempted (455) and fifth in three-point field goal percentage (.424).
________
from the Official Washington Huskies Men's Basketball website
UW-UCLA Battle In Front of National Audience
Quincy Pondexter is playing in his last regular season game ever at Bank of America Arena on Saturday.
Feb. 19, 2010
SEATTLE - Husky fans have long believed that the atmosphere in Bank of America Arena is one of the best in the nation. On Saturday, they'll have he chance to prove it. For the first time in its five-year history, ESPN's weekly College GameDay Driven by State Farm college basketball series will originate from the UW athletic campus, with co-hosts Rece Davis, Digger Phelps, Jay Bilas, Bob Knight and Hubert Davis broadcasting the popular national program from Bank of America Arena. Doors open at 6:30 a.m. and the show starts at 8:00 a.m. Admission is free to fans for the morning event.
College GameDay, featuring two, one-hour shows airing live at 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. PT, will serve as the lead-in for ESPN's Saturday Primetime Game of the Week, featuring the Huskies against UCLA at 6 p.m. PT. Dan Shulman will call play-by-play with Knight and Bilas providing color analysis. The ISP Sports Radio Network will broadcast the game with Bob Rondeau supplying the play-by-play and Jason Hamilton providing color commentary. Live Gamertracker is available for free and audio is available by paid subscription on the Dawg Channel All-Access on GoHuskies.com.
About Washington...
The Huskies (17-9, 7-7 Pac-10) suffered just its second loss of the season at home on Thursday as USC beat them 67-64 in front of a sellout crowd of 10,000 at Bank of America Arena. USC led by 16 with 9:50 remaining before Washington whittled their lead down to one point with 1:27 left on the clock. Mike Gerrity would ice the game when he hit a driving jumper with :18-seconds left to give USC an insurmountable four-point lead, sending the Huskies' into their game against UCLA as the sixth-place conference team. Saturday's contest is the home finale for senior Quincy Pondexter, who will be joined on the court in a pre-game ceremony by his parents Roscoe and Dorothy, brother Jason, and sister, Myiasha. In addition, Eldridge Recasner will be recognized at the second timeout of the first half as the Husky Legend. He joins Todd MacCulloch as the two ex-players honored this season. Washington is 16-2 at home this season and is averaging 14.5 more points (85.1) at BOA than they are on the road (70.6). If Washington can win on Saturday, they will go 17-2 or better at home for the fourth time in the last five years AND they were 15-0 before that in 2004-05.
About UCLA...
The Bruins (12-13, 7-6 Pac-10) are coming off a convincing 71-51 win at Washington State on Thursday to move into a tie for fourth place in the conference. UCLA had five players score in double figures and improved to 3-4 away from Pauley Pavilion - 3-3 in Pac-10. The Bruins have won five of its last eight games overall. On the offensive end, UCLA has four players in double figures, including leading scorer Michael Roll (13.9 ppg). The others are Malcolm Lee (12.2 ppg), Nikola Dragovic (11.6 ppg) and Nelson Reeves (10.2 ppg). Reeves, Dragovic, Lee and freshman Tyler Honeycutt handle the boards for UCLA, all averaging around five rebounds a game. Howland is in his seventh season at UCLA, and has a record of 154-67 at Westwood, including 7-7 all-time against Washington. He is 1-5 all-time at Bank of America Arena, only winning his first game in Seattle in 2004.
UW And UCLA History...
UCLA owns a 91-36 overall record in the all-time series with Washington since they first met in 1937. Despite UCLA historical dominance in basketball, Washington won the first six games of the series, and seven of the first nine. The Huskies have won five straight at home and are 5-2 vs. UCLA in Seattle under coach Lorenzo Romar. Coach Romar, who was an assistant at UCLA when they won the 1995 NCAA Tournament, holds a 7-9 record at Washington against the Bruins. UCLA's last win at Bank of America Arena was an 86-84 victory on Jan. 10, 2004.
Last Time They Met...
Seldom-used Mustafa Abdul-Hamid hit a jumper from the top of the key as time expired to lift UCLA to a 62-61 victory over Washington. Venoy Overton's basket with 3.2 seconds to play gave the Huskies a 61-60 lead before the Bruins hurried downcourt and Abdul-Hamid, a junior who entered Thursday with only 24 points in 10 games, became a hero. The officials watched the replay to confirm that Abdul-Hamid's shot came before the buzzer. Freshman Reeves Nelson led the Bruins with 16 points and six rebounds, and Malcolm Lee added 13 points. Abdul-Hamid scored four points. Quincy Pondexter had 23 points and Isaiah Thomas 11 for the Huskies, who led by as many as seven points. The Huskies shot just 29.6% and scored 20 points in the second half, while UCLA shot 52.9% in the half.
Last Time Out For Washington
Dwight Lewis scored 16 of his 22 points in the first half, Mike Gerrity added six key points in the closing minutes and Southern California held off a furious rally by Washington in the final 10 minutes for a 67-64 win on Thursday night. The Trojans (16-9, 8-5 Pac-10) handed Washington just its second home loss of the season and more importantly likely ended the Huskies (17-9, 7-7) hopes of repeating as Pac-10 regular season champs. Down by 16 with nine minutes left, Washington suddenly awakened, closing within 61-60 on Venoy Overton's driving basket with 1:25 left. But Gerrity answered with a layup of his own, then clinched the victory with a fallaway 12-footer with 15 seconds left. Gerrity finished with 12 points, all in the second half. Quincy Pondexter led Washington with 18 points.
Thomas Almost At 1,000
Isaiah Thomas is averaging 17.0 ppg (6th best in Pac-10) and has scored in double figures in 21 of 25 games this season. Thomas eclipsed the 900 point mark against Arizona, just his 56th career game, and needed just 50 games to eclipse the 800 point plateau, doing so at Arizona on Jan. 10. Thomas enters Saturday's game with 967 career points, the second highest total ever by a UW player in their first two seasons. He just surpassed Steve Hawes (952) and now has Doug Smart (1,021) in his sights. Smart accomplished his feat in 1957 & 1958 and needed just 52 games to do so. Thomas has played in 60 games. He will become the 35th Husky to eclipse the 1,000-point plateau.
Husky Legend
Eldridge Recasner will be honored during the Feb. 20 game vs. UCLA as the basketball Husky Legend. Todd MacCulloch was honored during the Feb. 4 game versus Arizona as the inaugural basketball Husky Legend. Following in the footsteps of the football Husky Legend, Washington will start recognizing some of its all-time great players throughout the season. Recasner ended his career among the school's leaders in scoring (1,700 points), three-point field goals, free throw percentage, assists and steals. Recasner is the only three-time captain in program history and earned All-Pac-10 Conference honors three times (1988, 89, 90) and was named the team's Most Valuable Player in each of those years.
Q-Pon Climbs Scoring Ladder
Quincy Pondexter is just the sixth player to reach the 1,600 point plateau, doing so on Feb. 13 after scoring 18 points at Stanford. He reached the 1,500 point plateau five games earlier on Jan. 30. Next on the list is Eldridge Recasner, who has 82 points more than Pondexter. If he keeps scoring at a clip of 20.3 ppg and plays 31 games, he will score 629 points and end his career No. 5 all-time in scoring (1,720). Pondexter started the season 27th on the all-time UW scoring list with 1,091 points.
__________
Scouting UCLA
Posted by Percy Allen
Husky Men's Basketball Blog
The Seattle Times
February 19, 2010 at 11:58 PM
Scouting report: UCLA
Game info: 6 p.m. Saturday at Edmundson Pavilion.
TV/Radio: ESPN/KJR-950 AM
Record: 12-13 (7-6 Pac-10, t-5th). RPI rank: 134th.
Stats/schedule: Click here.
Coach: Ben Howland 164-67 in his seventh year with the Bruins,332-166 overall in his 16th season.
Last season: 26-9,13-5 (2nd)
Last NCAA tournament appearance: 2009 (Lost 89-69 to Villanova in the second round.)
Prediction: Picked to finish third in the Pac-10 in a media poll.
Series: UCLA leads 91-36 in a series that began in 1937. Washington has won five straight against the Bruins at home.
Last meeting: UCLA won this year's earlier matchup in Los Angeles 62-61 on Jan. 21. Reserve guard Mustafa Abdul-Hamid hit the game winning 18-foot jumper from the top of the key as time expired. Before Abdul-Hamid's game-winner, junior guard Venoy Overton raced the full length of the court and sank a layup with 3.2 seconds left. Quincy Pondexter scored a game-high 23 points and freshman Reeves Nelson came off the bench and led UCLA with 16.
PLAYERS TO WATCH:
--- Senior guard Michael Roll leads the Pac-10 in league play in three-point field goal
percentage at 47.9 percent (35-for-73) and ranks fourth in three-pointers made per game (2.7). In overall games, he ranks first with a .451 percentage (64-for-142) and third in treys per game (2.6). On the UCLA career charts, Roll sits at No. 5 in three-pointers made (193) and needs five to pass Tracy Murray for fourth. Roll has also played more games (140) than any other active Pac-10 player.
--- Nelson hit his head on the floor when he lost his balance in traffic after a one-handed dunk on a fast break in Thursday's game at Washington State. He received 15 stitches to close the two-inch gash above his right eye and missed the entire second half. He's been medically cleared and is expected to start.
--- Coach Lorenzo Romar called Tyler Honeycutt an "excellent shot blocker." He has 19 blocks, which ties him with Nelson for team-high honors. At 6-7, with a long wingspan, Honeycutt plays similar to UW's Justin Holiday.
--- Nikola Dragovic (above) is a versatile player who can shoot three-pointers and rebound.
OVERVIEW:
--- UCLA switched to a zone defense midway through the season and the results have been spotty. The Bruins are fifth in the conference in Pac-10 play allowing 68.2 points per game. They're seventh in field goal percentage (.450) and ninth in three-point field goal percentage (.363).
--- There are 14 former Bruins currently on NBA rosters, including Jrue Holiday and Darren Collison were both selected in the first round of the 2009 draft. Bruins has had at least one player drafted in the NBA Draft in each of the last 13 years (since 1997). That is the longest active streak in the country.
--- Senior James Keefe injured his left shoulder in practice on Feb. 12, 2010. He will have season-ending surgery next week when the Bruins return to Los Angeles.
STARTING LINEUP:
F - Nelson, 6-8, 228, Fr., 11.5 ppg., 5.5 rpg.
F - Tyler Honeycutt, 6-7, 178, So., 4.5, 5.7.
F - Dragovic, 6-9, 225, Sr., 13.5, 3.9,
G - Lee, 6-4, 191, So., 10.1, 4.1.
G - Roll, 6-5, 200, Sr., 14.6., 2.9.
KEY MATCHUP:
--- Romar decided to play Matthew Bryan-Amaning a season-low four minutes in the first game at UCLA and the junior forward had the worst outing of his career. He failed to register a statistic in any category. Expect Bryan-Amaning, who has scored in double figures in each of the past four games, to see plenty of action tonight against Nelson. He had six rebounds in the first game. Nelson also went to the free throw line seven times, converting four.
__________
Huskies face another desperation game against UCLA
Posted by Todd Dybas at February 20, 2010 12:11 a.m.
Huskies Blog
seattlepi.com
With four games to go, the hype brought by ESPN's trucks, producers and famous faces is irrelevant in the grand scheme of things on Saturday.
Bank of America Arena will become the home for ESPN GameDay's national broadcast. For the Huskies, it will become another game of desperation.
Washington (17-9, 7-7) hosts UCLA (12-13, 7-6) at 6 p.m. on ESPN on Senior Day during the last home game of the season. After a brutal loss Thursday night to USC, Washington will try to avoid a letdown against UCLA. If not, it will be a repeat of the lost weekend in Los Angeles when Washington was devastated by a last-second shot at UCLA then slept-walk through the game at USC two days later.
"For us it's a huge game," Washington coach Lorenzro Romar said. "If you've watched UCLA lately they're playing very good basketball. Right now we're barely hanging on. Again, as I mentioned before our last home game, it's a pretty big game for us and I know with them in this Pac-10 race it is a big game as well."
The arching three-pointer by former Bruins walk-on Mustafa Abdul-Hamid to end the last get together upped his scoring average which is just 2.5 points per game. Romar referred to the UCLA and Texas Tech games as two Washington would like to have back this year.
But it's too late for that. The concern now is UCLA's much-improved zone and the status of bruising power forward Reeves Nelson.
Nelson scored 16 points in the first meeting when he pushed around the softer Huskies in the paint. Thursday night, he was accidentally undercut while dunking against Washington State. He landed on his face. His right eye, which received a scratched cornea earlier in the season, was swollen shut on Friday. He had 15 stitches Thursday night following the face plant.
"He looks like Rocky Balboa," UCLA coach Ben Howland said.
Despite the damage, Howland said he planned to play Nelson his normal 20-25 minutes on Saturday.
Nelson will be along the bottom of UCLA's zone, a defense the Bruins first went all-in with when they played Washington. In the weeks since, Romar feels UCLA has become more proficient in the defense that is counter to Howland's career-long preference of man-to-man.
"I think their zone has definitely helped them defensively," Romar said. "They're playing that zone (and) they have 6-4, 6-5 right there in the front. They have 6-9, 6-9, 6-7 and the 6-7 guy, Tyler Honeycutt, is probably their best shot blocker. I think Tyler Honeycutt has made a big difference in their team with his play."
The Huskies will have recruits on hand to enjoy the hoopla. Quincy Pondexter will play what he and the rest of the team hopes is his final game in Bank of America Arena. If he makes another appearance on the court, that means Washington will be playing in a postseason tournament it never wanted to be in. So, there is no time to lament the USC loss from Thursday night.
"We do have to still understand we have four games left," Romar said. "We are still trying to finish as high as we can in this conference. Hopefully our guys after 24 hours (Friday) will feel a little like we have to turn the page and then by the game (Saturday) hopefully we can come out and be ready to go."
__________
Up next for UCLA: Saturday at Washington
The Bruins face a tough test at Washington, where they've lost five consecutive games. The Huskies, however, are having trouble with consistency.
By Chris Foster
The Los Angeles Times
February 20, 2010
UCLA tonight
AT WASHINGTON
When: 6:05 p.m. (PT)
Where: Bank of America Arena.
On the air TV: ESPN; Radio: 570. Records: UCLA 12-13 overall, 7-6 Pac-10; Washington 17-9, 6-6.
Update: The Bruins, coming off a slick-looking victory over Washington State, have been this route before. Season-altering victories have been followed by pratfalls this season. "Our guys know the record," Coach Ben Howland said. "We have to come back and have a good performance." The Bruins had 15 turnovers against Washington State, which concerns Howland. "It is really going to be difficult against [Washington's] pressure in that little gym," Howland said. "That's a tough place to play." UCLA has lost five consecutive games at Washington. The Huskies, picked to finish second, are having their own troubles with consistency, as they have lost two of their last three after winning four straight.
No comments:
Post a Comment