UCLA Faces No. 7 Villanova in NIT Semifinals

UCLA Faces No. 7 Villanova in NIT Semifinals

This is the fifth meeting all-time against Villanova with the series tied at 2-2.

from the Official UCLA Men's Basketball website
Nov. 23, 2010


NEW YORK -

GAMEDAY CENTRAL
DATE: Nov. 24, 2010
SITE: Madison Square Garden (19,763)
TIP-OFF: 9:00 p.m. (ET)/6:00 p.m. (PT)
TV: ESPN2
TALENT: Bob Wischusen (play-by-play), Fran Fraschilla (analyst), Doris Burke (sideline) and Andy Katz (sideline)
RADIO (UCLA ISP SPORTS): AM 570 KLAC
SIRIUS SATELLITE RADIO: TBD
SIRIUS XM SATELLITE RADIO: TBD
TALENT: Brock Bowling (play-by-play) and Tracy Murray (analyst)
SERIES: Series tied at 2-2


IN THE POLLS
UCLA is unranked in the AP Top 25 and the ESPN/USA Today Coaches Poll (Nov. 15). The Bruins are receiving votes in both polls, coming in at No. 35 in the AP poll with 10 votes and at No. 35 in the ESPN/USA Today poll with 12 votes. Villanova is ranked No. 7 in both polls.

SERIES VS. VILLANOVA
This is just the fifth meeting all-time against Villanova with the series tied at 2-2. Three of the meetings have occurred in the 2000s with the initial meeting taking place on March 27, 1971 in Houston, Texas, when No. 1 UCLA defeated No. 19 Villanova 68-62 to win its fifth-consecutive NCAA Championship. After posting a 93-65 win over Villanova on Jan. 13, 2001 in Pauley Pavilion, the 15th-ranked Bruins were upset the following season 58-57 on the road on Feb. 9, 2002. The Wildcats have won the last two meetings, posting an 89-69 win on Mar. 21, 2009 in Philadelphia in the second round of the 2009 NCAA Tournament. Dante Cunningham led the 11th-ranked Wildcats with a double-double of 18 points and 10 rebounds. Dwayne Anderson also had a double-double with 10 points and 11 rebounds. A total of six Wildcats scored in double figures, including Reggie Redding and Corey Fisher with 13 points each while Corey Stokes added 12 and Scottie Reynolds had 11 points. Josh Shipp paced UCLA with 18 points. There are only two Bruins on the roster that played in that game (Malcolm Lee and Jerime Anderson) and neither scored.

BRUINS' INJURY REPORT
Freshman guard Matt Carlino (concussion) has been limited in practice and has missed the Bruins' first three games of the season. He will be a gametime decision when the Bruins face Villanova in the semifinals of the 2010 Dick's Sporting Goods NIT Season Tip-Off (Nov. 24). Malcolm Lee left the game after only six minutes of action in the win over Pepperdine (Nov. 15) with a sprained left ankle. His X-Rays were negative but he did not play against Pacific. He is questionable for the Villanova contest.
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UCLA BASKETBALL: NIT semifinal today

The Press-Enterprise
10:00 PM PST on Tuesday, November 23, 2010


Seventh-ranked Villanova has yet to encounter much of a challenge while dominating mid-major opponents.

The UCLA Bruins are in the same boat: undefeated but untested.

They'll square off today at 6 p.m. PST in the semifinals of the NIT Season Tip-off at Madison Square Garden.

Villanova (4-0), which has had to replace All-American guard Scottie Reynolds, has won by an average of 28.5 points.

Wildcats coach Jay Wright said he believes Corey Fisher can lead the Wildcats much as Reynolds did throughout his four-year career.

"I think he (Fisher) can be that guy to get us a big basket," the coach said.

Fisher is averaging a team-high 16.5 points and has 16 assists to only two turnovers.

"We're a team that keeps getting better every game," Fisher said.

The Bruins, who are coming off a 14-18 season after five straight trips to the NCAA tournament under Ben Howland, have six freshmen and no seniors on the roster.

UCLA has beaten Cal State Northridge, Pepperdine and Pacific by an average of 18.7 points per game. They key has been the defense, which is allowing just 54.3 points. The Bruins held Pacific to 25 percent shooting.

Reeves Nelson is leading the team in scoring (19.3) and rebounding (9.7). Tyler Honeycutt is averaging 15.7 points and 8.3 rebounds.

"I'm expecting a double-double from Reeves and Honeycutt (every game)," Howland said. "Those guys are capable of averaging double-doubles for the year."

Malcolm Lee, a junior guard from Riverside who missed the last game with a sprained ankle, is probable after participating in practice on Tuesday.

This will be the first meeting between the schools since the second round of the 2009 NCAA tournament, when third-seeded Villanova beat UCLA, 89-69, on its way to the Final Four.

The first semifinal will be an uptempo matchup of No. 24 Tennessee (3-0) against Virginia Commonwealth (3-0), with the Vols hoping to get some notice for their play rather than for the punishment Coach Bruce Pearl has received for recruiting violations.

Pearl, who will not be allowed to coach the first eight Southeastern Conference games, called his acceptance of responsibility an exercise in humility -- and humiliation.

"I'm hoping the worst is over, but I can't be confident about anything," Pearl said Tuesday. "I let a lot of people down. I've always set a very high standard for myself, and I didn't live up to it."

Pearl was suspended last week after a raft of allegations that included excessive phone calls to recruits and improperly hosting their families at his home, which he knew to be a violation of NCAA rules.

The school had already imposed harsh penalties, which included docking Pearl's pay by $1.5 million over five years and banning him from participating in off-campus recruiting for a year. The NCAA could decide to add to that punishment.
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Villanova stepping up in class against UCLA
By Joe Juliano
Inquirer Staff Writer
Philadelphia Inquirer
Nov 24 2010

After four victories at home against opponents from mid-major conferences, Villanova gets to go on the big stage against a tradition-rich program to see exactly how much progress it has made in the young season.

The seventh-ranked Wildcats (4-0) take on UCLA (3-0) Wednesday night at Madison Square Garden in the nightcap of the NIT Season Tip-Off semifinal doubleheader.

The Wildcats have outscored Bucknell, Marist, Boston University, and Lafayette by an average margin of 28.5 points per game. Now they're going up against a young, talented Bruins squad that has defeated its opponents by nearly 20 points a game.

"We think that a couple of the teams we've played are going to be good teams in their league, but you really don't know," Villanova coach Jay Wright said. "Now we get UCLA, and you know they're good.

"They can really score, they're very skilled, good size. So we'll get a real good test there. We'll know what we're about. This early in the season, it's good to do that. You don't want to lose but you'll find out what you need to work on."

The Wildcats' defense has been hot, limiting opponents to just 31.6 percent shooting and holding a rebounding edge of more than 12 per game. Offensively, they have dished out 76 assists against 39 turnovers, with sophomore Maalik Wayns averaging 7.0 assists, best in the Big East.

Wright also is eager to see how the Wildcats fare with a balanced attack against the defense-minded Bruins, who have a pair of 6-foot-8 forwards - sophomores Reeves Nelson and Tyler Honeycutt - averaging 18 rebounds between them.

"I think our team has a chance to be a really balanced team, have an inside game and an outside game," Wright said. "We're more of a traditional team than we've ever been. We're usually mismatched. We're trying tricky stuff because we're small. But now there isn't anything tricky or fancy about what we're doing. It's really fun."

No. 24 Tennessee and Virginia Commonwealth meet in Wednesday night's early semifinal. The consolation and championship games will be played Friday.
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Villanova vs. UCLA Preview

CBS Sports.com

TIME: 09:00 P.M. EST
VENUE:
Villanova has yet to encounter much of a challenge while dominating mid-major opponents.

UCLA likely will provide a more difficult test.

The seventh-ranked Wildcats face the Bruins in the semifinals of the NIT Season Tip-off at Madison Square Garden on Wednesday night.

Villanova (4-0) has won by an average of 28.5 points, including 86-41 against Lafayette on Saturday. Corey Stokes scored a game-high 19 points and Corey Fisher added 16 for the Wildcats, who have won their first four games for the fourth straight season.

Villanova lost All-American guard Scottie Reynolds from a squad which entered last season's NCAA tournament as a No. 2 seed but lost in the second round to St. Mary's after going to overtime with 15th-seeded Robert Morris.

Once again labeled with a lofty ranking, the Wildcats hope to make a deep postseason run after last season's disappointing finish. Coach Jay Wright believes Fisher can lead the Wildcats much like Reynolds did throughout his four-year career.

"I think (Fisher) can be that guy to get us a big basket like (Reynolds) was for so long," Wright told the school's official website.

Fisher is averaging a team-high 16.5 points and has 16 assists to only two turnovers. He went over 104 minutes without committing a turnover this season.

"We're a team that keeps getting better every game," Fisher said Saturday.

A matchup with UCLA (3-0) is the first major hurdle on a less-than-impressive non-conference schedule before the Wildcats open Big East play.

Sophomore forward Reeves Nelson leads UCLA with 19.3 points per game and scored a career-high 21 with 14 rebounds in a 57-44 win against Pacific last Tuesday.

Tyler Honeycutt added 15 points for the Bruins, who are 1-5 in their last six regular-season games against ranked opponents.

"They've got length and athleticism," Wright said about UCLA. "It should be a great game."

The Bruins are coming off a 14-18 season after five straight trips to the NCAA tournament, including three consecutive Final Four appearances from 2006-08. Ben Howland endured his worst season since taking over at UCLA in 2003-04, when the Bruins finished 11-17.

The Bruins have six freshmen and no seniors on their roster during what some may view as another rebuilding season, but Howland sees improvement led by Nelson and Honeycutt.

"I'm expecting a double-double from Reeves and Honeycutt (every game)," Howland said. "Those guys are capable of averaging double-doubles for the year. There's no doubt about that. I've talked to both of them about that - double-doubles on a consistent basis."

UCLA's defense has been stellar in its first three games, allowing 54.3 points. The Bruins held Pacific to 25.0 percent shooting.

This will be the first meeting between the schools since the second round of the 2009 NCAA tournament, when third-seeded Villanova beat sixth-seeded UCLA 89-69 on its way to the Final Four.