Preview: UCLA at California

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Preview: UCLA at California
SportsDirect Inc. staff
College Sports Matchups
2/19/2011

THE STORY: The last time UCLA met California was perhaps the turning point of the season for the Bruins. UCLA was in the midst of a rollercoaster season and watched a 14-point lead evaporate in the final two minutes against the Bears. But Reeves Nelson tipped in the game-winning shot with one second to play to propel the Bruins to an 86-84 victory Jan. 21, and they’ve been rolling since. The Bruins are playing with loads of confidence, and take a six-game winning streak into Berkeley on Sunday to face Cal, which has lost four straight.

ABOUT CALIFORNIA (13-13, 6-8 Pac-10): Freshman Allen Crabbe has missed the past two games after suffering a concussion early in a contest against Washington on Feb. 10. Crabbe, an electric guard from Los Angeles, is third on the team in scoring and rebounding. He was expected to play on Thursday but never appeared and remains questionable for Sunday. Crabbe had 17 points and seven rebounds against the Bruins in the first meeting. The Bears lost to Southern Cal 78-75 Thursday. Cal trailed by 12 with two minutes left and staged a furious rally to cut the deficit to one point on a 3-pointer by Markhuri Sanders-Frison with three seconds left, but USC made a pair of free throws with a second left to ice it.

ABOUT UCLA (19-7, 10-3): The Bruins have lost once since the dramatic win against the Bears and clawed their way into second in the Pac-10 standings, 1 1/2 games behind Arizona. UCLA has become the best defensive team in the conference as opponents have shot less than 37 percent in five of their last six games. In their latest victory, a 69-65 decision at Stanford on Thursday, UCLA never trailed and built a 16-point second-half advantage en route to its 10th win in its last 11 games. UCLA also shot 9 of 19 from 3-point range, and Nelson, who entered the game making 56 percent of his free throws, nailed 8 of 10 from the line to close out the contest.

WHO'S HOT/WHO’S NOT: UCLA’s Josh Smith continues to impress. He had three of his nine rebounds on one possession against Stanford and had 13 points as a major factor in the post. Sanders-Frison made the first two 3-pointers of his career on Thursday.

KEY STATISTIC: UCLA has won the battle on the backboards in every game of the winning streak.

RECENT HISTORY: Nelson and Lazeric Jones scored 24 apiece for UCLA in the first meeting. The Bears had won two straight in the series and knocked UCLA out of the Pac-10 Tournament last season.

LOOKING AHEAD: UCLA heads home for a crucial series against the duo from Arizona next week. Saturday’s game against the Wildcats could decide the conference title. Cal plays at Oregon and Oregon State next week. It swept the pair at home last month.

LAST WORD: The Bruins have seemingly played their way off the bubble with their torrid stretch and could appear in the Top 25 for the first time this season with a win on Sunday. UCLA is also shooting the ball well and getting solid contributions from all five starters.