UCLA Concludes 2010-11 Regular Season at Washington State The Bruins lead the all-time series with Washington State 98-14 and have won 17 in a row in Pullman, Wash.
March 4, 2011
PULLMAN, Wash. -
GAMEDAY CENTRAL
DATE: Mar. 5, 2011
SITE: Friel Court (11,671)
TIP-OFF: 2:37 p.m. (PT)
TV: FSN and Prime Ticket
TALENT: Steve Physioc (play-by-play) and Ernie Kent (analyst)
RADIO (UCLA Sports Network from IMG College): AM 570 KLAC
SIRIUS SATELLITE RADIO (UCLA's): 126
SIRIUS XM SATELLITE RADIO (WSU's): 193
TALENT: Chris Roberts (play-by-play) and Don MacLean (analyst)
SERIES: UCLA leads 98-14
IN THE POLLS
UCLA is unranked in the AP Top 25 and the ESPN/USA Today Coaches Poll (Feb. 7) and received 24 votes in the coaches poll and 75 in the AP poll. The Washington State Cougars (19-10, 9-8) are unranked in both polls, and didn't receive any votes in either poll.
SERIES VS. WASHINGTON STATE
This is the 113th meeting between UCLA and the Washington State Cougars with the Bruins leading the series 98-14. UCLA has won 34 of the last 36 meetings, including the last 17 contests in Pullman, Wash. UCLA is 43-8 against the Cougars all-time in Pullman, Wash. UCLA won last year's meeting at Friel Court 71-51 on Feb. 18, 2010 in what was easily the Bruins' best game of the year. UCLA shot 65.9 percent (29-of-44) from the field for the game. Michael Roll scored 15 points while Nikola Dragovic and Tyler Honeycutt added 14 points each. The Cougars shot just 36 percent, including a 3-of-19 performance from 3-point range. They were led by Reggie Moore's 11 points. UCLA opened up the 2011 Pac-10 season with an 80-71 win over Washington State on Dec. 29, 2010. Klay Thompson scored a game-high 26 points while Faisal Aden chipped in 19 for WSU. Reeves Nelson (21 pts., 11 rebs.) and Lazeric Jones (10 pts., 11 asts.) had double-doubles for UCLA. Malcolm Lee added 21 points for the Bruins. Head Coach Ben Howland is 14-2 against the Cougars, and 7-0 at WSU.
BRUINS' INJURY REPORT
Lazeric Jones sprained his left wrist in the second half of the Bruins' home win over USC (Feb. 2). He finished the game and was taken for X-Rays immediately after the contest. The X-Rays were negative. He has been playing with a heavily-wrapped wrist ever since.
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Wazzu's Thompson out for Saturday's game against UCLA
By RYAN MENEZES
The Daily Bruin
Published March 4, 2011 in Sports: Bruin Sights
Updated: March 4, 2011, 3:50 PM
Tuesday night’s loss in Seattle eliminated UCLA’s chances at an outright Pac-10 title, but the Bruins’ chances of finishing the season on a high note seemingly got a little better with some news out of Washington on Friday.
Washington State junior guard Klay Thompson has been suspended for Saturday’s game against UCLA after he was cited by police Thursday night in Pullman, Wash. Thompson was charged with marijuana posession hours after leading the Cougars to an 85-77 win over USC.
For UCLA, it means coach Ben Howland won’t have to account for the conference’s leading scorer in the teams’ regular-season finale. Thompson, who averages 21.1 points per game, poured in 26 points in UCLA’s 80-71 home win in December, and had just led Washington State to its biggest win of the year, a 80-69 win over rival Washington in Seattle.
“Obviously he’s a great player,” Howland said. “I know him, he’s a great kid. We wish him nothing but the best. He has a wonderful family, he’s a good kid. I’m disappointed for him and his family that he won’t be able to play tomorrow.”
Howland continued to say that the Cougars could rally around Thompson’s absence, much like UCLA did when freshman center Joshua Smith was out for the Jan. 22 game against Stanford.
“Sometimes it inspires the team even more,” Howland said. “With or without Klay it’s going to be difficult for us.”
Cougars’ fourth-leading scorer Reggie Moore, who was arrested on marijuana possession earlier in the year and also suspended by coach Ken Bone, sprained his ankle in Thursday night’s game. His status for Saturday has yet to be determined.
There has been a local buzz to the story despite the distance between Los Angeles and Pullman. Mychal Thompson, Klay’s father and a longtime NBA player, took to the radio airwaves to candidly discuss his son’s situation. Mychal, a former Laker and current NBA analyst, spoke on 710 ESPN Friday morning. DBSports alum Jeff Eisenberg has excerpts of Mychal’s comments on his blog, The Dagger.
Howland concluded his Friday teleconference by discussing how his team is held responsible when it comes to the matter of drugs.
“There’s constant drug testing going on within the athletic department,” Howland said. “That’s something they’re all aware of. And all athletes at UCLA for that matter. There’s random drug testing throughout the year.”
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