UCLA's Malcolm Lee, right, takes a rebound away from Virginia Commonwealth's D.J. Haley during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game in the consolation match of the NIT Season Tip-Off tournament on Friday, Nov. 26, 2010, in New York. Photo Henny Ray Abrams AP.The Fabulous Forum
The who, what, where, when,
why — and why not — of L.A. sports
The City of Angels Times
UCLA basketball: Bruins can't escape New York with a victory
by Ben Bolch in New York
November 26, 2010 | 2:22 pm
Reeves Nelson got a chance to put all that extra long-range shooting he did in the off-season to the test.
But the UCLA power forward couldn't connect on a three-pointer that would have pulled the Bruins into a tie with Virginia Commonwealth in the final seconds of the Rams' 89-85 victory in a NIT Season Tip-Off consolation game on Friday afternoon at Madison Square Garden.
The Bruins, who trailed by 11 points with 7 minutes, 8 seconds left, put together a frenetic rally and pulled to within a point with 1:47 to go on a Malcolm Lee three-pointer.
Back-to-back turnovers by Tyler Honeycutt and Lazeric Jones led to two easy baskets for the Rams, giving them an 84-79 lead with 1 minute left. UCLA was given one final chance after Jones made a pair of driving layups and Joey Rodriguez made one of two free throws with 13 seconds left to give VCU an 88-85 lead.
That's when Nelson's three-pointer only hit the backboard before bouncing away. UCLA fouled Bradford Burgess, who made one of two free throws with 2.7 seconds to put the game out of reach.
The Bruins (3-2) never led for a second consecutive game and now face the realistic prospect of falling back to .500 with their next game at Kansas on Dec. 2.
________
Virginia Commonwealth's Jamie Skeen, right, is fouled by UCLA's Tyler Honeycutt, center, and Joshua Smith during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game in the consolation match of the NIT Season Tip-Off tournament on Friday, Nov. 26, 2010, in New York. Photo Henny Ray Abrams AP.Bruins fall to VCU in third-place NIT game
Staff and wire services
Whittier Daily News
Posted: 11/27/2010 12:07:12 AM PST
NEW YORK - UCLA's trip to the Big Apple turned into a lemon for the Bruins.
Jamie Skeen had 23 points and nine rebounds and Virginia Commonwealth held off a late rally by UCLA for an 89-85 victory on Friday in the third-place game of the NIT Season Tip-Off.
UCLA, which never led in the game, rallied from an 11-point deficit and had a chance to tie but Reeves Nelson's 3-point attempt with five seconds left was well off the mark and Bradford Burgess of VCU (4-1) made one of two free throws with 2.7 seconds left.
"We got off to a poor start fueled by some really bad shots," said UCLA coach Ben Howland Wednesday.
"We were fighting uphill the whole way. We had it with a chance to take the lead the beginning of the second half and miss two foul shots. we did a better job in the second half of rebounding the ball. They shot extremely well from the three, but most of those three's were open."
UCLA out-rebounded the Rams 24-12 in the second half for a 43-28 overall edge, but the Bruins committed 21 turnovers and VCU turned them into 24 points.
"Usually the team that controls the ball wins," Bruins guard Malcolm Lee said. "It was just unfortunate. I think what separated us from them is I think they shot a high percentage. Am I right?"
VCU made 31 of 64 shots from the field, including 10 of 22 from 3-point range.
"I don't know if they're a team that live and die by the three," Lee said. "The three was definitely on their side."
Lee was 5 for 7 from 3-point range and had 23 points for the Bruins (3-2), but deferred the final 3-point attempt to Nelson.
Nelson had 20 points and 10 rebounds and Tyler Honeycutt (Sylmar High) had 18 points and 13 rebounds.
________
Skeen leads VCU over UCLA for 3rd in NIT Tip-Off
By JIM O'CONNELL - AP Basketball Writer
Merced Sun-Star
College basketball
Friday, Nov. 26, 2010
NEW YORK -- Jamie Skeen had 23 points and nine rebounds and Virginia Commonwealth held off a late rally by UCLA for an 89-85 victory on Friday in the third-place game of the NIT Season Tip-Off.
The Rams (4-1) led 69-58 with 7:08 to play on a layup by Rob Brandenburg. Tyler Honeycutt had seven points in a 12-4 run by UCLA (3-2) that got the Bruins within 73-70 with 4:11 left.
UCLA got within one point twice, the second time at 80-79 on a 3-pointer by Malcolm Lee with 1:48 to go. Skeen scored off a scramble in the lane and Brandon Rozzell followed a UCLA turnover with a breakaway dunk to give the Rams an 84-79 lead with 1:03 left.
Lazeric Jones scored on a drive with 14.3 seconds left to get the Bruins within 87-85. Joey Rodriguez went 1 for 2 from the line with 13.4 seconds to go to give VCU a three-point lead. UCLA came down with a chance to tie but Reeves Nelson's 3-point attempt with 5 seconds left was well off the mark and Bradford Burgess of VCU made one of two free throws with 2.7 seconds left.
Burgess, who was 3 for 3 from 3-point range, had 15 points for the Rams and Rodriguez added 14, all but two on six 3-point attempts.
Lee was 5 for 7 from 3-point range and had 23 points for the Bruins, while Nelson had 20 points and 10 rebounds and Honeycutt had 18 points and 13 rebounds.
Virginia Commonwealth, which lost 77-72 to No. 24 Tennessee in the semifinals, finished 10 of 22 from 3-point range.
UCLA outrebounded the Rams 24-12 in the second half for a 43-28 overall edge on the boards, but the Bruins committed 21 turnovers and VCU turned them into 24 points.
UCLA, which never led against VCU, lost 82-70 to No. 7 Villanova in the semifinals.
_______
Skeen leads VCU over UCLA for 3rd in NIT Tip-Off
By JIM O'CONNELL, AP Basketball Writer
15 hours, 34 minutes ago
rivals.com, yahoosports.com
NEW YORK (AP)—What started as a joke by Jamie Skeen turned into a lot of chances to score for the senior forward from Virginia Commonwealth.
Skeen had 23 points and nine rebounds and the Rams held off a late rally by UCLA for an 89-85victory on Friday in the third-place game of the NIT Season Tip-Off.
“We were at dinner. I just made a joke about (getting the ball more) at first. I said I would love to get the ball more. My coach took it seriously. He said ‘OK, we’re going to get you the ball for real,”’ Skeen said. “I said, ‘All right, that will be nice.’ He actually ran a play for me, I would say 10, 12 times in a row.”
Second-year coach Shaka Smart confirmed that Skeen, who was 8 of 13 from the field and 7 of 8from the free throw line, did ask for the ball more.
“To whom much is given, much is expected,” Smart said. “And he produced tonight.
“I thought being able to throw the ball to Jamie Skeen on the block and get us positive production from there was a big key for us.”
The Rams (4-1) led 69-58 with 7:08 to play on a layup by Rob Brandenburg. Tyler Honeycutt had seven points in a 12-4 run by UCLA (3-2) that got the Bruins within 73-70 with 4:11 left.
UCLA got within one point twice, the second time at 80-79 on a 3-pointer by Malcolm Lee with 1:48 to go. Skeen scored off a scramble in the lane and Brandon Rozzell followed a UCLA turnover with a breakaway dunk to give the Rams an 84-79 lead with 1:03 left.
Lazeric Jones scored on a drive with 14.3 seconds left to get the Bruins within 87-85. Joey Rodriguez went 1 for 2 from the line with 13.4 seconds to go to give VCU a three-point lead. UCLA came down with a chance to tie but Reeves Nelson’s 3-point attempt with 5 seconds left was well off the mark and Bradford Burgess of VCU made one of two free throws with 2.7 seconds left.
“I thought UCLA did a great job of making shots and rebounding and usually if we give up that many points it’s going to be a lightning night for us. We hung in there.”
Burgess, who was 3 for 3 from 3-point range, had 15 points for the Rams and Rodriguez added 14, all but two on six 3-point attempts.
Lee was 5 for 7 from 3-point range and had 23 points for the Bruins, while Nelson had 20 points and 10 rebounds and Honeycutt had 18 points and 13 rebounds.
Virginia Commonwealth, which lost 77-72 to No. 24 Tennessee in the semifinals, finished 10 of 22 from 3-point range.
“We got off to a poor start fueled by some really bad shots,” UCLA coach Ben Howland said. “We were fighting uphill the whole way. We had it with a chance to take the lead the beginning of the second half and miss two foul shots. we did a better job in the second half of rebounding the ball. They shot extremely well from the 3, but most of those 3s were open.”
UCLA outrebounded the Rams 24-12 in the second half for a 43-28 overall edge on the boards, but the Bruins committed 21 turnovers and VCU turned them into 24 points.
UCLA, which never led against VCU, lost 82-70 to No. 7 Villanova in the semifinals.
Skeen said there was a big reason the Rams wanted this game so badly.
“It was very important because for one, we had a seven-, eight-hour drive up here and we didn’t want to back down the road on two losses,” he said. “We wanted to win the first one, too but we came up short. So this was our last game. We were definitely concentrating on winning this last one.”
Click on box score to enlarge (from rivals.com, yahoosports.com)
No comments:
Post a Comment