Wednesday, January 22, 2014

UCLA Basketball Returns Home to Host Stanford on Thursday

Zach LaVine and the Bruins will face Stanford in Pauley Pavilion on Thursday (photo by Don Liebig)
Zach LaVine and the Bruins will face Stanford in Pauley Pavilion on Thursday (photo by Don Liebig)

Courtesy: UCLA Athletics

Courtesy: UCLA Athletics
Release: Monday 01/20/2014
Article Link
LOS ANGELES – The UCLA men’s basketball team (14-4, 3-2 Pac-12) will take on Stanford (12-5, 3-2) on Thursday, Jan. 23, at 8 p.m. (PT) in Pauley Pavilion. Thursday night’s conference game will be televised live on Pac-12 Networks and available on the radio on AM 570 (KLAC).
GAME INFORMATION
Venue: Pauley Pavilion (13,800)
Tipoff Time: 8:05 p.m. (PT)
TV: Pac-12 Networks
TV Talent: Ted Robinson (play-by-play), Don MacLean (analyst), Yogi Roth (sideline)
Radio: AM 570 (KLAC)
Radio Talent: Chris Roberts (play-by-play), Tracy Murray (analyst)
SIRIUS Satellite Radio: Channel 92
SIRIUS XM Radio: Channel 190
PAC-12 PLAY
UCLA enters the week with a 14-4 overall record and a 3-2 mark in Pac-12 action. Most recently, UCLA split a pair of road games, winning at No. 21 Colorado (69-56) on Thursday before losing at Utah (74-69) on Saturday. In five Pac-12 contests, UCLA has averaged 81.4 points per game and has shot 45.4 percent. Last weekend’s two games marked the first time all season in which UCLA has been held to fewer than 80 points in consecutive contests. UCLA has outrebounded its opposition in Pac-12 games by more than five rebounds per contest (+5.2).
UCLA TO HOST STANFORD
The Bruins return to Pauley Pavilion to host Stanford on Thursday, Jan. 23, at 8 p.m. Last season, UCLA won both contests against the Cardinal. Since the start of the 2005-06 campaign, the Bruins have won 14 of 17 meetings against Stanford. Under the direction of sixth-year head coach Johnny Dawkins, Stanford’s Chasson Randle leads the team with 19.5 points per game and has shot 52.2 percent (108/207) from the field. Four of Stanford’s players are averaging at least 33.0 minutes per game. The Bruins will play at Stanford on Saturday, Feb. 22.
THE LATEST
Through games played Sunday, Jan. 19, UCLA ranked 11th in the nation in scoring (84.4 ppg), fifth in field goal percentage (50.2) and sixth in assists per game (17.6) ... UCLA ranks second in the Pac-12 in points per game.
Sophomore Kyle Anderson scored a career-high 28 points on 10-of-16 shooting (5-of-5 from 3-point range) in UCLA’s 74-69 loss at Utah on Saturday ... he has scored at least 20 points in four games this season.
Through 18 games, Kyle Anderson (15.5 ppg, 8.9 rpg, 6.6 apg) has become the first UCLA player to average at least 10.0/5.0/5.0 since Bill Walton finished with 19.3 ppg, 14.7 rpg and 5.5 apg as a senior in 1973-74.
Kyle Anderson has become the first NCAA Division I player to average at least 13.0 ppg, 8.0 rpg and 6.0 apg in one season since Ohio State’s Evan Turner finished the 2009-10 campaign with 20.4 ppg, 9.2 rpg and 6.0 apg.
Sophomore Jordan Adams has led UCLA in scoring, either by himself or tied with teammates, in 10 of 18 games ... he has scored in double figures in 17 of UCLA’s 18 contests and has reached the 20-point plateau eight times.
The Bruins’ current roster features seven players who have scored at least 20 points in a game during their collegiate career (at UCLA). Six of those seven UCLA players have accomplished that feat at least once this season.
UCLA leads all Pac-12 teams with 17.6 assists per game and has logged a league-best 1.6 assist turnover ratio ... the Bruins have recorded more assists than turnovers in each of their 14 victories this season.
TRIPLE THREAT
No player in the country is averaging as close to a triple-double as is UCLA’s Kyle Anderson (15.3 ppg, 9.3 rpg, 6.6 apg). Through games played Sunday, Jan. 19, Anderson was the nation’s only player to be averaging at least 10.0 ppg, 8.0 rpg and 6.0 apg. Anderson has become the first college player to average such strong numbers in those three categories since Ohio State’s Evan Turnver finished the 2009-10 season with 20.4 ppg, 9.2 rpg and 6.0 apg.
PROTECTING THE BALL
Through games played on Jan. 19, UCLA led all Pac-12 teams in assists per game (17.6), assist turnover ratio (1.6), steals per game (10.7) and turnover margin (+4.4). UCLA has committed the third fewest turnovers per game (10.8) of any Pac-12 program. Likewise, UCLA’s defense has helped force the highest average of turnovers from its opponents among Pac-12 teams (15.2). Kyle Anderson (118 assists, 56 turnovers) and Bryce Alford (54 assists, 21 turnovers) have combined for 172 of the Bruins’ 316 assists (54.4 percent).
KEY SCORER
Sophomore guard Jordan Adams leads UCLA with 17.4 points per game, the sixth-highest scoring average among Pac-12 players (through Jan. 19). Adams scored a career-high 30 points against Morehead State (Nov. 22, 2013) and registered his third double-double of the season (and of his career) last Thursday at Colorado with 14 points and 13 rebounds. He finished second in scoring for UCLA last season, averaging 15.3 points per game as a freshman. Adams’ 82.9 free throw percentage (87/105) ranks 11th in the Pac-12, through Jan. 19.
ANDERSON’S ACCOMPLISHMENTS
Kyle Anderson became the third player on record in UCLA history to record a triple-double (13 points, 12 rebounds and 11 assists) in UCLA’s 81-70 win over Morehead State on Nov. 22, 2013. That marked UCLA’s first triple-double since Dec. 18, 1995, when Toby Bailey had 23 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists against Stephen F. Austin. Jelani McCoy logged a point-rebound-block triple-double against Maryland on Dec. 9, 1995, totaling 15 points, 10 rebounds and 11 blocks. Anderson has finished three assists shy of a triple-double five times in his UCLA career.
FROM DOWNTOWN
Kyle Anderson has made 17 of 32 three-point attempts (53.1 percent), a strong increase over his freshman year totals (8-for-38, 21.1 percent). Anderson shot a perfect 5-for-5 from long range in UCLA’s 74-69 loss to Utah on Jan. 18. That marked UCLA’s first “perfect” effort from three-point range (minimum five attempts) since Ray Young went 5-for-5 from downtown on Feb. 22, 2003 against Stanford.
BIG OFF THE BENCH
UCLA freshmen Zach LaVine and Bryce Alford have played major roles off the bench. In all, the Bruins’ bench this season has accounted for 32.1 percent of its total scoring (487/1519). LaVine ranks third on the team with 12.4 points per game. Alford has scored 7.4 points per game and has averaged 3.0 assists per game. The freshman duo has averaged a combined 22.6 points per game in the Bruins’ five Pac-12 contests.
HIGH OCTANE
The Bruins have averaged 84.4 points through 18 games, the program’s highest per game offensive output through the first 18 games in any season since averaging 87.2 ppg after 18 games in 1994-95, the last year in which UCLA won the NCAA Championship. Earlier this season, UCLA compiled a seven-game streak of at least 80 points scored in victories. That feat had not been accomplished since the 1994-95 campaign (streak from Feb. 22-March 17, 1995).
EXPERIENCED BRUIN
Junior guard Norman Powell has played in more games (86) in a UCLA uniform than any other current UCLA basketball player. He has made 28 career starts and has played in all 86 UCLA games since the start of the 2011-12 season. Powell has twice scored a season-high 19 points this year, most recently in UCLA’s 69-56 win at No. 21-ranked Colorado (Jan. 16). He has shot 73.1 percent from the free throw line (38/52), making nearly as many free throws as he had in the previous two seasons combined (entered the year having made 36 of 55 free throw attempts).
PICKED THEIR POCKETS
UCLA has three players that rank among the Pac-12’s top 10 in steals. Jordan Adams (57 steals, 3.2 spg) leads all Pac-12 players, having logged at least at least two steals in 15 of 18 games. He had a career-high eight steals against Sacramento State on Nov. 12. Kyle Anderson (33 steals, 1.8 spg) ranks fourth in the conference in steals.Norman Powell (26 steals, 1.4 spg) ranks ninth among Pac-12 players in that category.
INJURY REPORT
UCLA does not currently have any major injuries. Noah Allen missed 12 games after suffering multiple fractures to his face in a collision sustained against Oakland (Nov. 12). Allen returned against USC on Jan. 5. Wanaah Bailmissed UCLA’s first five games recovering from left knee surgery (performed on June 28, 2013). Travis Wear missed UCLA’s first three games (underwent an appendectomy on Oct. 28, 2013).

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