USC-UCLA BASKETBALL NOTES

USC-UCLA BASKETBALL NOTES: Smith wasn't punished
By Jon Gold and Scott Wolf, Staff Writers
The San Bernardino Sun
Posted: 02/02/2011 11:44:56 AM PST


LOS ANGELES - UCLA head coach Ben Howland defended his late-game rotation against Arizona State during Monday's news conference by reiterating he didn't bench center Joshua Smith for a lack of hustle. He was trying to match up with the Sun Devils' smaller lineup.

After blowing a 15-point lead in regulation, the Bruins needed overtime to defeat the pesky Sun Devils on Saturday. Smith was sidelined for much of the end of regulation and the entire overtime.

Smith was caught arguing with referees with less than seven minutes left and Arizona State was afforded a 5-on-4 break, which culminated in a Jamelle McMillan 3-pointer that cut the UCLA lead to 49-44.

"I wouldn't term it benching him; I didn't punish Josh," Howland said. "That one play when I took him out, yeah, I was disappointed. He thought he got fouled. Whether or not he was doesn't matter, they don't blow the whistle, you have to run back. But as the game progressed, even going into overtime, you want to play the guys who've been in there who know the flow of the game.

"If we brought Josh in, that puts Reeves either on (Trent) Lockett, their driver, or on (Rihards) Kuksiks, which is a terrible matchup."


The defense rests

USC coach Kevin O'Neill delivered some blistering remarks to the Trojans during a late-night practice about a lack of intensity.

O'Neill told the Trojans they are 10-1 when holding opponents to less than 40 percent shooting.

Arizona made 61 percent of its shots against the Trojans last Saturday.

"We need to pick it up defensively," O'Neill said. "The difference between this year and last year is our perimeter defense."

Senior forward Alex Stepheson agreed with O'Neill.

"Our intensity needs to get better and it will," he said. "We'll be OK."


Split personality?

UCLA might have a 6-3 record, but a closer look at the statistics shows the Bruins perhaps are a lucky 6-3.

UCLA's scoring differential in Pac-10 contests is just positive 0.3 as the team has averaged 69.4 points and allowed 69.1. The numbers are not so surprising, however, considering the Bruins have three 11-point losses in conference - to Washington, USC and Arizona - and a 10-point win over Stanford on Jan. 22.

"We've been fortunate to win some close games, no question," Howland conceded. "I was so relieved we won (Saturday's) game and I started thinking about it. (We had) big leads at Oregon State, at Arizona State, the game against Cal where that happened.

"Bottom line is we came out on top in all three and I'm very thankful for that."


History lesson

USC players will attempt to beat UCLA for the fifth consecutive time tonight. That would be the longest streak for the Trojans since they defeated UCLA 42 consecutive times between 1932-43.

"I didn't know the last time it happened," Stepheson said.

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The Fabulous Forum
The who, what, where, when,
why — and why not — of L.A. sports

USC basketball: Nikola Vucevic expects UCLA fans to chide him for his playing 'like women' comment

By Baxter Holmes
The Los Angeles Times
February 2, 2011 | 8:50 am


After practice Tuesday night, USC junior forward Nikola Vucevic stood outside the Trojans' locker room and answered questions from reporters in person for the first time since he last did that in Arizona on Saturday.

If you remember, he got in a bit of hot water for the comments he made then, after USC's 82-73 loss to Arizona in Tucson.

If you don't remember, no worries.

This is the Internet, where everything lasts forever, so to refresh your memory, here's what he said:

"I felt like we played like women," Vucevic said. "We didn't play hard at all. Every single one of us just played like women."

Vucevic, who leads USC in scoring (16.0 points a game), the Pacific 10 Conference in rebounding (10.0) this season and also has a league-high 12 double-doubles, apologized the next day for his comments, saying he didn't mean to offend anyone, and that his comments were just lost in translation (great movie, by the way).

“It was kind of a mistranslation. I didn’t try to offend anyone," he reiterated again Tuesday night. "I was just trying to say we didn’t play that hard. When you say that at home in Montenegro it means you didn’t play hard, but it doesn’t offend women. But here’s different, and I didn’t know that and I apologize for it."

Vucevic largely learned English when he came to Simi Valley Stoneridge Prep in October 2007, but he often admits that he struggles with common English jargon and translating common Serbian phrases into English.

But apologies aside, Vucevic' comments still drew some unwanted attention (see here, here, here, here) and while it has slowed down, it hasn't stopped, as indicated by how USC senior guard Donte Smith ribbed Vucevic on Tuesday night when Smith walked into USC's locker room.

"We played like women!" Smith said playfully in Vucevic's direction as Vucevic was answering a reporter's question.

Vucevic laughed, but was obviously embarrassed. His teammates have been on him quite a bit about that comment ever since he made it.

"They just laugh about it and ask me why I said that," Vucevic said. "I say, 'I don't know. I don't think.' "

Does he expect to hear about it from UCLA fans during Wednesday night's rivalry rematch at Pauley Pavilion?

"I think I will, but I like this," he said. "I like when the other fans boo me. It makes me play harder."

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UCLA men’s basketball aims to keep USC’s win streak at four

By RYAN ESHOFF
The Daily Bruin
Published February 1, 2011 in Men's Basketball, Sports
Updated: 11:44 PM

USC
Today, 8 p.m.
Pauley Pavilion
FSN Prime

UCLA opens the second half of the Pac-10 season with a rematch against USC after losing by 11 points at the Galen Center.


The secret is out. Ben Howland loves “Animal House.”

“What a great movie,” the UCLA basketball coach said at his Monday press conference. “One of the best.”

Maybe Howland enjoys toga parties. Maybe he never misses a good food fight. The likeliest scenario, though, is that he’s inspired by Bluto’s legendary speech at the end of the film.

“Was it over when the Germans bombed Pearl Harbor?” John Belushi’s character famously cried. “Hell no!”
Expect a similar – if not more eloquent and historically accurate – oratory from Howland in advance of tonight’s showdown with crosstown rival USC. Not only have the Trojans (12-10, 4-5 Pac-10) beaten the Bruins (14-7, 6-3) once already this season, they have won the last four contests between the two teams dating back to the 2008-2009 season.

“When anybody beats you four times in a row, especially your main rival, I think you want to beat them more than usual,” sophomore forward Reeves Nelson said. “We’re all going to be really focused on the game.”

USC put a controversial exclamation point on its 63-52 home win over UCLA on Jan. 9 when many Trojans began celebrating, shaking hands and high-fiving with nearly a minute still left in the game.

UCLA players didn’t take too kindly to the gesture. With emotions running high, freshman center Joshua Smith even admitted to making an obscene gesture to a USC fan who allegedly insulted Smith’s family.

Is there any doubt that the rivalry is alive and well?

“It’s more of a pride factor,” sophomore forward Tyler Honeycutt said. “We want to get the win most importantly, but there’s also bragging rights that come from that.”

The two teams have taken divergent paths since that Trojan victory at the Galen Center. UCLA has rattled off wins in five of the six games since, while USC has won just two of its past six games. The Bruins’ recent run of success has them within just one game of conference co-leaders Arizona and Washington.

Still, coming off a mediocre showing in a loss to Arizona and a major second-half letdown in an overtime win over Arizona State, UCLA has its fair share of kinks to work out, chief among them being able to put together 40 minutes of consistent effort. The Bruins completely blew big leads against Cal and Arizona State, and had to roar back after starting off in a major deficit against Stanford.

“We’re still letting teams back into games when we shouldn’t be, but we’re turning the corner,” Honeycutt said.

In its first matchup with USC, UCLA actually led by a couple of points at halftime before Trojan forwards Nikola Vucevic and Alex Stepheson completely took over the game in the second half. Vucevic led all scorers with 20 points, while Stepheson had 13 of his own and pulled down 16 rebounds.

“We’ve got that first game to go on in terms of preparation, but it’s equally difficult,” Howland said. “They played well against us.”

Even with all the chatter centered around the front court, it may have been the UCLA guards that were the story that day. Juniors Lazeric Jones and Malcolm Lee combined for just seven points on one-of-12 shooting, with one mere assist apiece.

This time around, however, Jones is coming off a game in which he shot seven-of-nine from the floor en route to a game-high 18 points against the Sun Devils. Lee is playing some of the best all-around basketball of his career and will be asked to defend USC’s best perimeter scorer, junior Jio Fontan.

Chances are the Bruins won’t be too concerned with where they get their production, as long as it’s enough to snap the losing skid in the rivalry.

Only Lee and fellow junior guard Jerime Anderson have ever witnessed a victory over USC.

For Howland and company, four losses to the Trojans is too many.

“We don’t want to make it five,” he said. “It’s a must-win because we really need it bad for this year’s team.”

With reports from Eli Smukler, Bruin Sports senior staff.