The new Matthew Knight ArenaMen's Basketball at Oregon on Saturday
The Bruins lead the all-time series with Oregon 81-27 and are 32-20 all-time in Eugene, Ore.
The Official UCLA Men's Basketball website
Jan. 14, 2011
EUGENE, Ore. -
GAMEDAY CENTRAL
DATE: Jan. 15, 2011
SITE: Matthew Knight Arena (12,364)
TIP-OFF: 2:00 p.m. (PT)
TV: Prime Ticket
TALENT: Bill Macdonald (play-by-play), Don MacLean (analyst) and Courtney Jones (reporter)
RADIO (UCLA Sports Network from IMG College): AM 570 KLAC
SIRIUS SATELLITE RADIO (UCLA): 127
SIRIUS XM SATELLITE RADIO (Oregon): 143
TALENT: Chris Roberts (play-by-play) and Tracy Murray (analyst)
SERIES: UCLA leads 81-27
IN THE POLLS
UCLA is unranked in the AP Top 25 and the ESPN/USA Today Coaches Poll (Jan. 10). The Oregon Ducks (8-9, 1-4) are unranked in both polls, and like the Bruins, did not receive any votes in either poll.
SERIES VS. OREGON
This is the 109th meeting between UCLA and Oregon with the Bruins leading the series 81-27 (.750). UCLA is 32-20 (.615) all-time in Eugene, Ore. The Bruins have won nine of the last 12 games overall and won four of the last six in McArthur Court. However, Oregon swept the Bruins last season. The last seven games in Eugene have all been decided by nine points or less. The Ducks won 71-66 in overtime last year in Mac Court on Jan. 28, 2010. Tajuan Porter and Matt Humphrey scored 15 points each to lead the Ducks. Humphrey opened Oregon's scoring in overtime with two 3-pointers to put the Ducks ahead 61-57. E.J. Singler scored six points in the final 1:10 of overtime to put the game away. UCLA got double-doubles from Nikola Dragoviæ (19 points and 10 rebounds) and Tyler Honeycutt (13 points and 10 rebounds). Senior guard Michael Roll, who forced overtime when he hit a three-pointer with 10.7 seconds left to tie the game 55-55, ended the game with 16 points for the Bruins. UCLA Head Coach Ben Howland is 10-4 all-time against the Ducks and 4-3 at Oregon.
BRUINS' INJURY REPORT
Junior guard Lazeric Jones has a ruptured tendon in his middle finger on his right hand. He injured it in the first half in the loss to Washington and was limited in the second half (played just seven minutes and didn't attempt a shot). He has started every game since, including scoring a game-high tying 13 points to go with three steals, three assists and two rebounds in the win at Oregon State (Jan. 13).
____________
UCLA BASKETBALL NOTEBOOK: Despite lack of build-up, Howland still expects them to come
By Jill Painter, Staff Writer
The Los Angeles Daily News, dailybreeze.com
Posted: 01/14/2011 10:56:43 PM PSTUpdated: 01/14/2011 11:00:52 PM PST
EUGENE, Ore. - UCLA will play in Oregon's new Matthew Knight Arena today, only without all the hoopla USC faced Thursday night.
Nike co-founder Phil Knight spoke before the game, and there was all kinds of pomp and circumstance for the sold-out crowd of 12,346.
Oregon hadn't won a Pac-10 game before its victory over USC, in which it built a big lead and held off a late charge by the Trojans. UCLA coach Ben Howland said he expects a soldout crowd for today's afternoon game as well.
"It's sure exciting," he said. "I don't think it's a scheduling break."
UCLA (10-6, 2-2) won in similar fashion to Oregon (State) (8-9, 1-4) on Thursday. The Bruins squandered a 17-point lead and even lost it, but eventually beat Oregon State. Oregon never lost its 20-point lead against USC, but saw it cut to four. UCLA center Josh Smith made key free throws to tie the game, and he hit the winning basket with 39 seconds left.
Howland doesn't think the atmosphere will change for the second game in the $200 million arena.
"I'm sure they'll be fired up for us," Howland said. "We'll be going into a hornet's nest. We have to be up to their sense of urgency."
The Ducks played an effective zone defense against the Trojans, and the Bruins have struggled at times against a zone.
"It could definitely be better," Howland said of his team's offensive work against a zone. "Early in the (OSU) game, we did a great job of handling the 1-3-1 zone.
In the second half, we had a couple of bad turnovers."
Lineup change works
Smith came off the bench in UCLA's win over Oregon State, and Howland said he'll keep him out of the starting lineup again today.
"It's better for him psychologically to not get a foul in the first three minutes of the game," Howland said.
Smith still had four fouls, but he didn't foul out. Nor did he criticize the officials.
A smaller lineup might work better for the Bruins anyway. Oregon played with a smaller lineup without leading scorer Joevan Catron, who's injured and was in street clothes for the USC game. His status for today's game is uncertain.
"It's a hard matchup with (Oregon), because a lot of times they're playing five guards," Howland said.
That's a wrap
Guard Lazeric Jones had the tape changed on the injured middle finger on his right hand Thursday. It was so tight, Howland noted, that his finger was swollen Friday. Jones is playing through the injury, and the new tape job appeared to agree with Jones, who scored 13 points on 4-of-9 shooting. He was 0 for 12 in his previous two games.
___________
Bruins preparing for a lot of 'loud' in Oregon's new arena
Ducks fans are famous for rattling opponents with noise and insults — and now there are thousands more of them at the new, higher-capacity Matthew Knight Arena than at the old venue, the notorious McArthur Court.
UCLA BASKETBALL FYI
January 14, 2011|By Ben Bolch
The Los Angeles Times
Reporting from Eugene, Ore. — Oregon's new basketball home features a high-definition scoreboard, 6,944 square feet of maple hardwood and an on-court illustration of the view from beneath a forest of fir trees.
One thing hasn't changed: the fans.
Only now, there are more of them. The Ducks' $227-million Matthew Knight Arena seats 12,364, an increase of 3,277 over capacity at recently closed McArthur Court.
That's probably not a good thing for UCLA, which on Saturday afternoon becomes the second visiting team to play on "Matt Court." Oregon fans have showered opponents with vitriolic chants and toted mean-spirited signs over the years, giving the Ducks one of the biggest home-court advantages in the country.
It' alleged that a fan once kicked Bill Walton during a game in 1973 after the UCLA center fell into the front row.
Three years ago, Ducks fans took aim at Kevin Love, the former Lake Oswego (Ore.) High standout who had picked UCLA over Oregon even though his father Stan was a former Ducks star. There were signs and chants calling Love "fat" and others featuring more personal insults.
Oregon certainly seemed to get a boost Thursday in the first game played in its new arena, a 68-62 victory over USC that broke a six-game losing streak.
"I'm sure they'll be equally fired up for us," UCLA Coach Ben Howland said Friday. "They want to win every home game in this new building, so we know we're going into a hornet's nest. We have to be up to the sense of urgency and the energy level that they're playing with to win [Saturday], or we won't."
Bruins center Joshua Smith has a special countermeasure for Ducks fans: his mother Tracey, who traveled from their hometown of Kent, Wash., to attend the game.
"If they're saying something about me," Smith said, "you'll probably see some little lady yelling at them, talking about, 'Don't talk about my son like that.'"
Building battles
Howland said he expected the renovated Pauley Pavilion to match Oregon's new arena and USC's Galen Center, which opened in 2006, as the top venues in the Pacific 10 Conference.
The Bruins will play home games at a site to be determined in 2011-12 before returning to debut a refurbished Pauley Pavilion the following season.
"We're going to have the Bruin come out of the ceiling in '12," Howland quipped, alluding to Oregon's Duck mascot descending from the top of the arena before the first game at Matthew Knight Arena.
Lineup tweak
Howland said he would bring Smith off the bench again Saturday to help the big man avoid early foul trouble.
Sophomore forward Brendan Lane started instead of Smith during UCLA's 62-57 victory over Oregon State on Thursday. Smith did not enter until 4 minutes 25 seconds had elapsed and finished with 10 points, nine rebounds and four fouls in 23 minutes.
"I just think it's better for him psychologically to not get a foul in the first three minutes of the game," Howland said.
Howland added that he would also consider using a zone defense on occasion to help Smith avoid fouling out in games when he got into foul trouble.
__________
Bruins look to sweep Oregon schools Saturday at 'The Matt'
By MATT STEVENS
The Daily Bruin blogs
Updated: 6:42 PM
EUGENE, Ore. — Coach Ben Howland held a fireside chat with reporters Friday an hour before his team’s practice at the new Matthew Knight Arena.
The Ducks began the week 0-4 in the Pac-10 but knocked off USC Thursday night in their first game in their new home, giving Howland reason for concern.
“Obviously (Oregon was) pumped up last night, and their zone is good,” Howland said. “Anybody can beat anybody in this league.”
The Bruins will likely see zone again on Saturday, which they struggled against in the second half of Thursday’s game against Oregon State.
“We had a couple bad turnovers in a row,” Howland said. “It’s just mental errors.”
And the Ducks will likely still be running off the adrenalin generated by the opening of their muti-million dollar complex.
Thursday’s grand opening featured lights, lasers, speeches by the Knight family – founders of Nike – and a special arrival by the Oregon Duck who entered from the roof.
“We’re going to have the Bruin come out of the ceiling in 2012,” Howland said jokingly.
Come Saturday, the video boards will be big and bold, the half court line nearly invisible, and the court simply hard to look at.
Howland said he knows it’s a big weekend for the Ducks.
“I’m sure they’ll be equally fired up for us,” Howland said. “They want to win every home game in this new building. We know we’re going to a hornet’s nest. We have to be up to the sense of urgency and energy level that they’re playing with to win – or we won’t.”
The Ducks beat USC without their best player, senior forward Joevan Catron. Catron was held out of the game last night with a strained calf muscle. His status remains uncertain for Saturday.
Jones injury update
Howland said that junior point guard Lazaric Jones’ injured finger appeared mildly swollen this morning because Jones had taped it tightly prior to Thursday’s contest.
But Howland added that Jones made big shots against the Beavers and will play on Saturday as he continues to let the finger heal.
“I think it gave confidence going into tomorrow that yeah, it’s better,” Howland said.
Smith to come off the bench, again
Howland also said that he will continue to start sophomore forward Brendan Lane over freshman center Josh Smith to keep the big man out of foul trouble.
“I think it’s just better for him psychologically to not get a foul in the first three minutes of the game,” Howland said. “That’s the whole deal.”
No comments:
Post a Comment