 |  David Wear |
from The Official UCLA Men's Basketball website Jan. 17, 2013Box Score | Box Score (PDF) 
| Photo Gallery 
Video Highlights 
| Postgame Press Conference
LOS ANGELES (AP) - Freshman Shabazz Muhammad scored 21 points and classmate Kyle Anderson added 17 to lead No. 24 UCLA past Oregon State, 74-64, on Thursday night as the Bruins earned their 10th consecutive victory.
Travis Wear finished with 17 points, logging his sixth consecutive game scoring in double figures.
The Bruins led at halftime, 37-26, and pushed their margin to as many as 20 points early in the second half.
"That's not really a focus," Anderson said about the Bruins' winning streak. "We'll let that all fall into itself. We can only focus on what we want to control."
UCLA has equaled its longest winning streak since 2008-09. In addition, the Bruins have won 23 of the last 24 games played against Oregon State on their home court.
"We were really young coming into this season and it took time for these guys to adjust and for our team to understand what each other was about," Wear said. "We understand defensive rotations a lot better and it's showing in our stats."
UCLA has opened its conference schedule with a 5-0 mark for the first time since 2003-04, head coach Ben Howland's first season in Westwood.
"We're a much better team than we were my first year," he said.
That team promptly lost its next six in a row, then lost another six straight to end the season.
After Thursday night's game, Howland said he doesn't talk to his team about streaks - win or lose - while keeping their focus on the next game.
Roberto Nelson scored 17 points and Joe Burton added 12 for the Beavers (10-7, 0-4). They lost their fourth straight and fifth in their last six.
"The effort was good, but the execution is what has to get better," Oregon State head coach Craig Robinson said. "These guys got used to winning and now they have lost four in a row. And they're mad. That's good. I want them to be mad. I want them to be mad enough to play better."
The Beavers had the upper hand in the game's opening minutes before the Bruins took over for good. Ahead by 11 points at halftime, UCLA ran off 11 straight points early in the second half to take a 48-28 lead.
"We came out ready, but when you play a team that has this many good players, you can't let up or you get behind and it's hard to come back, especially when you are on the road," Robinson said.
Muhammad had a three-point play, Wear and Jordan Adams had baskets and Anderson scored four straight points during the run that put the Beavers in a double-digit deficit the rest of the game.
"I just let the game come to me," Muhammad said. "My teammates gave me an opportunity to score. I think I played fast on the road. I'm not sure if it was jitters. I just came out here relaxed."
Oregon State got to 58-48 during an 8-0 scoring run capped by Nelson's 3-pointer. But Muhammad answered with a 3-pointer to key a 7-0 spurt and extend UCLA's lead to 65-48.
The Beavers were held under their 75.7-point scoring average. They are one of two Pac-12 teams with five players averaging double figures, but only three players reached that mark in the game.
The Beavers opened the game on a 12-7 run while UCLA struggled with turnovers and missed shots.
"They kind of woke us up. I don't know that our guys understood that they were coming at us," Howland said. "Our defense in the first half was particularly good. That's been key for us."
The Bruins settled down and outscored the Beavers 20-7 to take a 27-19 lead. Muhammad and Norman Powell hit consecutive 3-pointers, while Travis Wear had six points in the spurt.
Anderson and Muhammad combined to score UCLA's final eight points of the first half, extending its lead to 37-26.
Former UCLA star Jamaal Wilkes had his No. 52 jersey retired at halftime, with former Bruins stars Bill Walton, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Mike Warren on hand. He helped lead the Bruins to NCAA championships in 1972 and 1973, and an 86-4 record in his three years under coach John Wooden. Wilkes had his jersey retired by the Los Angeles Lakers last month, and he was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame last year.
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| Photo Gallery Video Highlights | Postgame Press Conference LOS ANGELES (AP) - Freshman Shabazz Muhammad scored 21 points and classmate Kyle Anderson added 17 to lead No. 24 UCLA past Oregon State, 74-64, on Thursday night as the Bruins earned their 10th consecutive victory.
Travis Wear finished with 17 points, logging his sixth consecutive game scoring in double figures.
The Bruins led at halftime, 37-26, and pushed their margin to as many as 20 points early in the second half.
"That's not really a focus," Anderson said about the Bruins' winning streak. "We'll let that all fall into itself. We can only focus on what we want to control."
UCLA has equaled its longest winning streak since 2008-09. In addition, the Bruins have won 23 of the last 24 games played against Oregon State on their home court.
"We were really young coming into this season and it took time for these guys to adjust and for our team to understand what each other was about," Wear said. "We understand defensive rotations a lot better and it's showing in our stats."
UCLA has opened its conference schedule with a 5-0 mark for the first time since 2003-04, head coach Ben Howland's first season in Westwood.
"We're a much better team than we were my first year," he said.
That team promptly lost its next six in a row, then lost another six straight to end the season.
After Thursday night's game, Howland said he doesn't talk to his team about streaks - win or lose - while keeping their focus on the next game.
Roberto Nelson scored 17 points and Joe Burton added 12 for the Beavers (10-7, 0-4). They lost their fourth straight and fifth in their last six.
"The effort was good, but the execution is what has to get better," Oregon State head coach Craig Robinson said. "These guys got used to winning and now they have lost four in a row. And they're mad. That's good. I want them to be mad. I want them to be mad enough to play better."
The Beavers had the upper hand in the game's opening minutes before the Bruins took over for good. Ahead by 11 points at halftime, UCLA ran off 11 straight points early in the second half to take a 48-28 lead.
"We came out ready, but when you play a team that has this many good players, you can't let up or you get behind and it's hard to come back, especially when you are on the road," Robinson said.
Muhammad had a three-point play, Wear and Jordan Adams had baskets and Anderson scored four straight points during the run that put the Beavers in a double-digit deficit the rest of the game.
"I just let the game come to me," Muhammad said. "My teammates gave me an opportunity to score. I think I played fast on the road. I'm not sure if it was jitters. I just came out here relaxed."
Oregon State got to 58-48 during an 8-0 scoring run capped by Nelson's 3-pointer. But Muhammad answered with a 3-pointer to key a 7-0 spurt and extend UCLA's lead to 65-48.
The Beavers were held under their 75.7-point scoring average. They are one of two Pac-12 teams with five players averaging double figures, but only three players reached that mark in the game.
The Beavers opened the game on a 12-7 run while UCLA struggled with turnovers and missed shots.
"They kind of woke us up. I don't know that our guys understood that they were coming at us," Howland said. "Our defense in the first half was particularly good. That's been key for us."
The Bruins settled down and outscored the Beavers 20-7 to take a 27-19 lead. Muhammad and Norman Powell hit consecutive 3-pointers, while Travis Wear had six points in the spurt.
Anderson and Muhammad combined to score UCLA's final eight points of the first half, extending its lead to 37-26.
Former UCLA star Jamaal Wilkes had his No. 52 jersey retired at halftime, with former Bruins stars Bill Walton, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Mike Warren on hand. He helped lead the Bruins to NCAA championships in 1972 and 1973, and an 86-4 record in his three years under coach John Wooden. Wilkes had his jersey retired by the Los Angeles Lakers last month, and he was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame last year.
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Muhammad leads way in UCLA’s win over Oregon State
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| Tim Bradbury / Daily Bruin. After struggling from the field in UCLA’s two road games against Utah and Colorado, freshman forward Shabazz Muhammad rebounded in a big way Thursday night with a game-high 21 points on 8-of-14 shooting. |
Men's Basketball
UCLA 74
Oregon State 64
UCLA fans braced themselves for deja vu.
Against both Utah and Colorado, UCLA built up seemingly insurmountable leads in the second half after sluggish starts to the game. In both cases, the Bruins coughed up their comfortable lead, allowing it to dwindle in the waning minutes of the game.
This time, UCLA finished strong and fought off Oregon State runs with runs of its own down the stretch. The Bruins built up a 20-point lead just five minutes into the second half and cruised their way to a 74-64 win over the Oregon State Beavers, who are now winless in conference play.
“I told our guys early in the second half we had a 20-point lead and we get to where we relax,” said coach Ben Howland. “We take our foot off the pedal a little bit and we have to learn to be able to power through that and not let teams come back on us. That’s happened to us the last three home games so hopefully we can get a little better at that.”
UCLA, on the other hand, is now 5-0 in Pac-12 play and on a 10-game win streak, marking the first time the Bruins have gotten off to such a start in conference since the 2003-2004 season – Howland’s first year at the helm of the UCLA basketball program.
However, Howland said that he believes this team is much better than the one he coached in his first year.
After falling into a five-point hole at the very beginning of the game, Howland called a quick timeout and set his team back on course. The Bruins responded with a 20-7 run to gain the lead – one they wouldn’t let slip this time around.
Freshman forward Shabazz Muhammad provided much of the offensive firepower, shooting an efficient 8-of-14 from the floor, amassing 21 points along with six rebounds. Thursday was the seventh time, out of the 15 contests he has played this season, that Muhammad has breached the 20-point barrier.
Muhammad struggled in the two previous contests on the road against Utah and Colorado, scoring a combined 20 points on 9-of-29 shooting.
“I just let the game come to me tonight,” Muhammad said. “My teammates gave me an opportunity to score. I think I played fast on the road. I’m not sure if it was jitters. Our confidence as a team has improved our chemistry; we are really trusting each other.”
And while the Bruins were on cruise control, perhaps the most exciting moment for fans was during halftime as former UCLA great Jamaal Wilkes’ jersey was retired – just the eighth Bruin to have the honor.
In a halftime ceremony, Wilkes’ No. 52 was placed in the rafters among the likes of Gail Goodrich, Ed O’Bannon, Bill Walton, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Sidney Wicks, Walt Hazzard and Marques Johnson.
“It’s real tough to get your number retired. So many great players have come through here that don’t have their numbers retired – I was one of them for a long time,” Wilkes said.
Accompanying Wilkes to the court to accept the honor were other UCLA legends such as Walton and Abdul-Jabbar.
When asked the impact of having these alumni around on the current team, Wilkes said, “Even if they don’t understand it, I think it gives the program a shot in the arm. They may not know John Wooden’s career but they know of him as an icon and to bring back an iconic figure like him through one of his players, I think, helps the program.”
And a shot in the arm is just what the Bruins could use by Saturday with the team set to take on the No. 21 Oregon Ducks, who knocked off the then-No. 4 and undefeated Arizona Wildcats on Jan. 10.
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| Oregon State guard Langston Morris-Walker (13) and UCLA guard Norman Powell (4) collide in the first half on Thursday at Pauley Paviliion. REED SAXON, AP |
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Whicker: Travis Wear is no mere sidekick at UCLA
Published Jan 17, 2013 Updated 1032 pm
LOS ANGELES – Back in December, this keyboard punched out the observation that the Wear twins had become "support players" at UCLA.
Since then, Travis Wear has been far more like Gladys Knight than a Pip.
The Bruins had a four-game winning streak at the time. On Thursday night they won their 10th consecutive, 74-64 over Oregon State, and are 15-3.
Beginning with the breakthrough victory over Missouri on Dec. 28, Travis Wear has scored 22, 15, 11, 12, 23 and 17 points. He is shooting 61.1 percent during that metamorphosis. Here he had 17 points and seven rebounds and shot 6 for 9.
Nothing auxiliary or secondary about that.
Brother David also had 16 against Missouri, but Travis' spurt has been noticeable because he gave no warning. In his five previous games he hadn't reached double figures, and he was 2 for 7 against Texas and played only 23 minutes.
"The team was playing pretty good going into Missouri, but, individually, I was pretty frustrated," Travis said.
"It was Christmas break. I went back into the gym (at Mater Dei) and kept working on my game, because I didn't like what I was doing. I was playing timid, not playing with confidence, not doing a lot of things that I knew I could do."
What both Wears can do is flash into the lane or toward the baseline, catch and score.
Neither twin had much room to maneuver when Joshua Smith was trying to play center, although, thanks to largeness of body and shortness of breath, Smith couldn't appear for very long.
When he transferred to Georgetown, some thought UCLA would become a defensive doughnut hole. Instead, the Bruins just cut out some carbs.
What happens now is that centers, who have to guard somebody, wind up on Travis.
"There's no 5-man who can go out there on the perimeter and guard him," Howland said. "But mainly he's just a very good player. Nobody on our team, in our family, is surprised by the way he's playing."
"It seems like there are mismatches all over the place and it's huge," Wear said. "When 5s try to guard me on the perimeter it gives me a chance to use my quickness. When we have matchup advantages all over the court, we're going to get buckets."
When Smith and Tyler Lamb left, on top of Anthony Stover's departure, it meant the end of experimentation.
The result was a team that was comfortable with its own unorthodoxy, but very uncomfortable for most defenses.
Larry Drew II, whose assist-turnover ratio is now 146-31, is of course the point guard, but Kyle Anderson, the variety pack, has the same eyes.
One of the very few memorable moments Thursday came when Drew led a fast break and handed off to Anderson, who bounce-passed to a running Shabazz Muhammad for the finisher.
That made it 42-28 early in the second half, and Oregon State was on the way to an almost herculean 0-4 Pac-12 start.
On nights when Jordan Adams is involved, which wasn't the case Thursday, UCLA is a brain-teaser for man-to-man defenses. And with Muhammad's range from the wing, that old trick of using zones against Howland might not work either.
And the defensive crater that Smith was supposed to leave? No one has found it yet.
The Bruins gave up 42.9 shooting last year to Pac-12 opponents. This year it's 39.4, through five games. Without Smith, UCLA can actually jump out on pick-and-rolls, and the freshmen have listened to Howland's pleas for defense. Not all of his freshmen have.
"We're double-teaming the post a lot more, doing it the way we used to," Howland said, referring to Final Four teams that locked up the basketball inside the lane and usually refused to let it back out.
"I'm just trying to deny the ball, make it hard for them to shoot over me," Wear said. "Doubling the post speeds the other team up. As a result, we've forced a lot of turnovers (68 in five league games)."
The Bruins' identity will be challenged shortly. There's Oregon here Saturday and a trip to the Arizonas next week.
But with each practice and each game, the Bruins seem to accumulate.
"We're so young," said Wear, who, with Drew and his brother, is a fifth-year senior.
The twins aren't the most expressive fellows, but Travis was not bothering to restrain a smile.
"We're still working it out. We're just learning how to play 100 percent for 40 minutes. We have so many guys who can do stuff.
"We're already dangerous, but once we get everything down we're going to be a very, very tough team to beat. And it's exciting."
If the slimmed-down Bruins keep playing up to their banners, it looks like tradition by subtraction.
Contact the writer: mwhicker@ocregister.com. Follow on Twitter: MWhickerOCR
LOS ANGELES – Back in December, this keyboard punched out the observation that the Wear twins had become "support players" at UCLA.
Since then, Travis Wear has been far more like Gladys Knight than a Pip.
 |
| Oregon State forward Jarmal Reid, left, and UCLA forward Travis Wear tangle in the second half on Thursday at Pauley Pavilion UCLA won 74-64. Reed Saxon, AP |
Beginning with the breakthrough victory over Missouri on Dec. 28, Travis Wear has scored 22, 15, 11, 12, 23 and 17 points. He is shooting 61.1 percent during that metamorphosis. Here he had 17 points and seven rebounds and shot 6 for 9.
Nothing auxiliary or secondary about that.
Brother David also had 16 against Missouri, but Travis' spurt has been noticeable because he gave no warning. In his five previous games he hadn't reached double figures, and he was 2 for 7 against Texas and played only 23 minutes.
"The team was playing pretty good going into Missouri, but, individually, I was pretty frustrated," Travis said.
"It was Christmas break. I went back into the gym (at Mater Dei) and kept working on my game, because I didn't like what I was doing. I was playing timid, not playing with confidence, not doing a lot of things that I knew I could do."
What both Wears can do is flash into the lane or toward the baseline, catch and score.
Neither twin had much room to maneuver when Joshua Smith was trying to play center, although, thanks to largeness of body and shortness of breath, Smith couldn't appear for very long.
When he transferred to Georgetown, some thought UCLA would become a defensive doughnut hole. Instead, the Bruins just cut out some carbs.
What happens now is that centers, who have to guard somebody, wind up on Travis.
"There's no 5-man who can go out there on the perimeter and guard him," Howland said. "But mainly he's just a very good player. Nobody on our team, in our family, is surprised by the way he's playing."
"It seems like there are mismatches all over the place and it's huge," Wear said. "When 5s try to guard me on the perimeter it gives me a chance to use my quickness. When we have matchup advantages all over the court, we're going to get buckets."
When Smith and Tyler Lamb left, on top of Anthony Stover's departure, it meant the end of experimentation.
The result was a team that was comfortable with its own unorthodoxy, but very uncomfortable for most defenses.
Larry Drew II, whose assist-turnover ratio is now 146-31, is of course the point guard, but Kyle Anderson, the variety pack, has the same eyes.
One of the very few memorable moments Thursday came when Drew led a fast break and handed off to Anderson, who bounce-passed to a running Shabazz Muhammad for the finisher.
That made it 42-28 early in the second half, and Oregon State was on the way to an almost herculean 0-4 Pac-12 start.
On nights when Jordan Adams is involved, which wasn't the case Thursday, UCLA is a brain-teaser for man-to-man defenses. And with Muhammad's range from the wing, that old trick of using zones against Howland might not work either.
And the defensive crater that Smith was supposed to leave? No one has found it yet.
The Bruins gave up 42.9 shooting last year to Pac-12 opponents. This year it's 39.4, through five games. Without Smith, UCLA can actually jump out on pick-and-rolls, and the freshmen have listened to Howland's pleas for defense. Not all of his freshmen have.
"We're double-teaming the post a lot more, doing it the way we used to," Howland said, referring to Final Four teams that locked up the basketball inside the lane and usually refused to let it back out.
"I'm just trying to deny the ball, make it hard for them to shoot over me," Wear said. "Doubling the post speeds the other team up. As a result, we've forced a lot of turnovers (68 in five league games)."
The Bruins' identity will be challenged shortly. There's Oregon here Saturday and a trip to the Arizonas next week.
But with each practice and each game, the Bruins seem to accumulate.
"We're so young," said Wear, who, with Drew and his brother, is a fifth-year senior.
The twins aren't the most expressive fellows, but Travis was not bothering to restrain a smile.
"We're still working it out. We're just learning how to play 100 percent for 40 minutes. We have so many guys who can do stuff.
"We're already dangerous, but once we get everything down we're going to be a very, very tough team to beat. And it's exciting."
If the slimmed-down Bruins keep playing up to their banners, it looks like tradition by subtraction.
Contact the writer: mwhicker@ocregister.com. Follow on Twitter: MWhickerOCR
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UCLA defeats Oregon State, 74-64, for 10th straight win
The Bruins are 5-0 in Pac-12 play going into a key stretch of games starting Saturday.
By Chris Foster
The LA Times
January 18, 2013
There are things UCLA Coach Ben Howland will avoid discussing at the moment.
The Bruins' 10-game winning streak, following a 74-64 Pac-12 Conference victory over Oregon State on Thursday at Pauley Pavilion.
"We don't care about the streak," Howland said.
The fact that the last time he had a UCLA team that started 5-0 in conference was 2003-04, and the Bruins won only two more games that season.
"Shabazz [Muhammad] and Kyle [Anderson] were 8 or 9 years old," Howland said. "It means zilch."
The crucial two-game trip to Arizona next week.
"That is an eternity away," Howland said.
But those things have a way of working into the conversation.
The Bruins (15-3 overall, 5-0 in Pac-12 play) do have a 10-game winning streak, after defeating the Beavers in an uneven performance.
Muhammad had 21 points and Anderson 17 to help put the embarrassing loss to Cal Poly further in the past and leave No. 24 UCLA stalking teams in the top 25 again.
"It took some time to adjust and find out what each other is about," said forward Travis Wear, who had 17 points.
"It took cohesion for us to develop as a team."
UCLA did match its best conference start under Howland. He called the 5-0 start in 2003-04 a "miracle," and said, "I'm not surprised with the way our team has started off this year."
The Bruins do play at Arizona and Arizona State next week, part of a key stretch of games that can make them, break them or leave them treading water. It begins with No. 21 Oregon on Saturday afternoon at Pauley Pavilion.
"It's time to worry about Oregon," Muhammad said.
But …
"Arizona, that's always in the back of our minds," Muhammad said. "The coming schedule is hectic."
So was the past game.
About the only thing that could be called smooth Thursday was former UCLA player Jamaal Wilkes, whose number was retired at halftime. Bookending the ceremony was a Bruins' performance that was herky-jerky.
UCLA got it done in spurts.
A 10-0 first-half run put the Bruins ahead and led to a 37-26 halftime advantage. A 11-0 run early in the second half put some distance between them and the Beavers.
UCLA led by as many as 20 points in the second half. Oregon State never looked capable of overcoming such a deficit. The Beavers (10-7, 0-4) could only get as close as 10 midway through the second half.
"We had a couple down moments," Wear said. "Once we figure out how to play for 40 minutes, we're going to be a much better team."
The spurts were enough.
Anderson did a little bit of everything throughout. He made seven of nine shots, had nine rebounds, three assists, two blocks and two steals.
"He starts breaking guys down, it creates for us 'bigs,'" Wear said. "Someone has to go help on him and our eyes get big. We dive right to the basket."
Muhammad had labored with his offense in road games at Utah and Colorado. He made eight of 14 shots Thursday.
"I think I played too fast on the road," Muhammad said. "I came out tonight and relaxed."
That's something the Bruins won't be able to do starting Saturday. Howland already had a list of things heading into the Oregon game.
"Our rebounding, we beat them by two boards [37-35]," Howland said. "We had too many turnovers [13]."
Still, he said, "We're playing pretty good right now. We've won 10 in a row."
Something, it seems, he will discuss … at times.
chris.foster@latimes.com
twitter.com/cfosterlatimes
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UCLA 74, OREGON STATE 64: Bruins earn first 10-game winning streak since 2008-09 by beating Beavers
Posted: 01/17/2013 10:36:23 PM PST
Updated: 01/17/2013 11:11:14 PM
PST
UCLA isn't struggling these days. It's trying to set records.
Depending on what milestone you're discussing, the team is matching feats
either four or nine years old.
In comfortably defeating Oregon State 74-64 Thursday night at Pauley
Pavilion, the Bruins extended two streaks: 10 straight wins for the first time
since the 2008-09 season and five straight to open conference play, a first
since Ben Howland's inaugural UCLA season in 2003-04.
These are footnote-type feats that belong in press packets rather than halls
of fame, but they are feats nonetheless - ones that have kept the team on top of
the Pac-12. And these days, Howland - whose very job may have been in jeopardy a
month ago - can afford to dismiss them as trivial.
"That's for you guys to enjoy, to bring up, to ask questions about," he said.
"I don't need to do that."
His young players have fallen in line as well. Take freshman Kyle Anderson,
who was also asked whether or not he was conscious of the streak.
"No, not really," said the point forward, who just two days earlier had
talked about the significance of winning so many straight games at the college
level. "That's not really a focus. We'll just let that all fall into itself.
Right now, we only focus on what we want to control."
Never mind that extending your own winning streak seems to fall under that
category. Right now, the Bruins (15-3, 5-0) have fallen lock-step into the
mantra of "one win at a time" - a phrase that seems vaguely reminiscent of the football team
two months ago.
Anderson scored 17 points, three shy of a career high, and may have notched
his sixth double-double of the year. The postgame boxscore gave him nine
rebounds, something that Howland said he wanted reviewed later on film.
Shabazz Muhammad, too, bounced back from a 9-of-29 performance over his past
two games. The star swingman lit up the Beavers for 21 points on 8-of-14
shooting, chipping in six rebounds as well. He also had his first block of the
season.
"I think I just let the game come to me," Muhammad said. "My teammates really
gave me the chance to score and I just did the best I could to slow the game
down. I think I played too fast on the road. I'm not sure if it was jitters.
Just came out here, relaxed, and we all played well."
UCLA carried a 37-26 lead into halftime and quickly opened up a chasm after
the break. Oregon State (10-7, 0-4) scored the first bucket of the second half
on a jumper by guard Roberto Nelson - who led the team with 17 points - but the
Bruins were responsible for the next 11. When Anderson laid in a bucket at
16:07, they had a game-high, 20-point lead.
The Beavers narrowed the deficit to single digits at brief moments through
the second half, but UCLA pulled away each time.
Forward Travis Wear, arguably UCLA's most valuable player over the past
month, scored 17 points to extend his double-digit scoring streak to a
career-best six games.
"Nobody on our team, in our family, is surprised by how he's playing,"
Howland said of Wear. "It's not a surprise at all. What's really an advantage
for him is he's a four (power forward) matched up with a five man (center)
trying to guard him. There's no five man that can guard him out on the
perimeter. He's too good a shooter. He's too skilled."
Wilkes honored
The lights dimmed at Pauley Pavilion and, for the first time in nearly a
decade, a jersey was unveiled at the top of the storied arena.
Jamaal Wilkes' No. 52 joined seven others on the west end of the stadium,
bathed in light Thursday after a halftime unveiling.
With all the former UCLA luminaries in attendance - from Kareem Abdul-Jabbar,
to Bill Walton, to Marques Johnson - it was a special moment.
Wilkes, a former All-American forward who was part of the famed 88-game
winning streak under coach John Wooden from 1971-74, also had his jersey retired
by the Lakers last month. He mentioned that his presence, along with those of
other famed Bruins, could have a positive effect on the current squad.
"Even if they don't understand it, I think it gives the program a shot in the
arm," Wilkes said. "They might not know John Wooden's career, but they know of
him, the icon. When you bring back an iconic figure like him through one of his
players, I think it helps the program."
Few other players could channel the famous coach as well as Wilkes, now 59
years old with gray creeping along the side of his head.
In 1985, Wooden described his ideal player to the New York Post: "I would
have the player be a good student, polite, courteous, a good team player, a good
defensive player and rebounder, a good inside player and outside shooter. Why
not just take Jamaal Wilkes and let it go at that."
Wilkes is the first UCLA jersey retired since 2004, when Gail Goodrich's No.
25 was raised to the rafters.
"This will always be the house that Coach Wooden built," Wilkes said. "Words
will never be able to express how honored I am to have my jersey, No. 52,
retired. Go Bruins."
This was a fairly comfortable win for the Bruins, who led by double digits for the vast majority of the second half. It’s worth noting that UCLA still has some trouble boxing out; despite Oregon State missing the nation’s sixth-leading rebounder in Eric Moreland (suspension), the visitors had 35 rebounds to UCLA’s 37.
The Bruins have won 10 straight for the first time since 2008-09, and five straight to open conference play for the first time since 2003-04, Howland’s first season.
– Travis Wear had a sixth straight double-digit scoring effort with 17 points on 6-of-9 shooting. Two of his seven rebounds also came on offense, the first time he’s had multiple offensive boards since grabbing four against Missouri.
“Nobody in our team, in our family is surprised by how he’s playing. It’s not a surprise at all,” Howland said. “What’s really an advantage for him is he’s a four matched up with a five man trying to guard him. There’s no five man that can guard him out on the perimeter. He’s too good a shooter. He’s too skilled.”
– Shabazz bounced back easily from a mini-slump in the mountains, and spread his 21 points well across the entire game. “I think I just let the game come to me,” he said. “My teammates really gave me the chance to score and I just did the best I could to slow the game down. I think I played too fast on the road. I’m not sure if it was jitters. Just came out here, relaxed, and we all played well.”
– Oregon State guard Ahmad Starks is a chucker, so neither five points nor 22 percent shooting are season-worst marks. Giving up at least five inches in size to Larry Drew II probably didn’t help him out either as he ended a five-game double-digit scoring streak.
“Larry Drew II did a nice job on Starks, holding him to five points,” Howland said. “We got out on our hedges, helping our point guard get over the top.”
– Kyle Anderson, on whether or not the streak matters: “No, not really. That’s not really a focus. We’ll just let that all fall into itself. Right now, we only focus on what we want to control.”
– UCLA guard Norman Powell missed most of pregame warmups with a headache, but looked normal on the court with five points and three rebounds in 20 minutes.
– Jamaal Wilkes’ No. 52 jersey was retired Thursday night, and the aura of Pauley Pavilion apparently struck the visitors. From Oregon State freshman forward Olaf Shaftenaar, who scored a career high 10 points: “It was an honor and very special to be here in this arena, with so much tradition.”
Former UCLA star Jamaal Wilkes had his No. 52 jersey retired at halftime, with former Bruins stars Bill Walton, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Mike Warren on hand. He helped lead the Bruins to NCAA championships in 1972 and 1973, and an 86-4 record in his three years under coach John Wooden.
By Peter Yoon
Reggie Miller's No. 31 will be retired on Jan. 30, and Don Barksdale's No. 11
on Feb. 7. Their additions will bring the total number of retired jerseys at
Pauley Pavilion to 10.
__________________
UCLA 74, Oregon State 64: Notes and Quotes
This was a fairly comfortable win for the Bruins, who led by double digits for the vast majority of the second half. It’s worth noting that UCLA still has some trouble boxing out; despite Oregon State missing the nation’s sixth-leading rebounder in Eric Moreland (suspension), the visitors had 35 rebounds to UCLA’s 37.
The Bruins have won 10 straight for the first time since 2008-09, and five straight to open conference play for the first time since 2003-04, Howland’s first season.
– Travis Wear had a sixth straight double-digit scoring effort with 17 points on 6-of-9 shooting. Two of his seven rebounds also came on offense, the first time he’s had multiple offensive boards since grabbing four against Missouri.
“Nobody in our team, in our family is surprised by how he’s playing. It’s not a surprise at all,” Howland said. “What’s really an advantage for him is he’s a four matched up with a five man trying to guard him. There’s no five man that can guard him out on the perimeter. He’s too good a shooter. He’s too skilled.”
– Shabazz bounced back easily from a mini-slump in the mountains, and spread his 21 points well across the entire game. “I think I just let the game come to me,” he said. “My teammates really gave me the chance to score and I just did the best I could to slow the game down. I think I played too fast on the road. I’m not sure if it was jitters. Just came out here, relaxed, and we all played well.”
– Oregon State guard Ahmad Starks is a chucker, so neither five points nor 22 percent shooting are season-worst marks. Giving up at least five inches in size to Larry Drew II probably didn’t help him out either as he ended a five-game double-digit scoring streak.
“Larry Drew II did a nice job on Starks, holding him to five points,” Howland said. “We got out on our hedges, helping our point guard get over the top.”
– Kyle Anderson, on whether or not the streak matters: “No, not really. That’s not really a focus. We’ll just let that all fall into itself. Right now, we only focus on what we want to control.”
– UCLA guard Norman Powell missed most of pregame warmups with a headache, but looked normal on the court with five points and three rebounds in 20 minutes.
– Jamaal Wilkes’ No. 52 jersey was retired Thursday night, and the aura of Pauley Pavilion apparently struck the visitors. From Oregon State freshman forward Olaf Shaftenaar, who scored a career high 10 points: “It was an honor and very special to be here in this arena, with so much tradition.”
__________________
View Photo UCLA guard Kyle Anderson (5) shoots over Oregon State guard Olef Scahftenaar (30), of the Netherlands, in the first half of an NCAA college basketball …
View Photo Oregon State guard Roberto Nelson (55) blocks a pass by UCLA guard Larry Drew II (10) in the first half of an NCAA college basketball game in Los Angeles, …
View Photo Oregon State guard Roberto Nelson (55) shoots as UCLA's Travis Parker (23) defends in the first half of an NCAA college basketball game in Los Angeles …
View Photo UCLA forward Shabazz Muhammad slam dunks three of his game-high 21 points against Oregon State in the second half of an NCAA men's basketball game in Los …
View Photo Oregon State center/forward Joe Butler (11), left and guard Challe Barton (4), of Sweden, defend UCLA guard David Wear in the first half of an NCAA college …
LOS ANGELES (AP) -- The UCLA Bruins who came into this season
young and inexperienced are finally melding together.
Shabazz Muhammad scored 21 points, fellow freshman Kyle Anderson added 17 and
No. 24 UCLA defeated Oregon State 74-64 on Thursday night, the Bruins' 10th
consecutive victory.
''That's not really a focus,'' Anderson said about the streak. ''We'll let
that all fall into itself. We can only focus on what we want to control.''
Travis Wear added 17 points for the Bruins (15-3, 5-0 Pac-12), who equaled
their longest winning streak since the 2008-09 season. They have won 23 of the
last 24 games played against Oregon State on their home court.
''We were really young coming into this season and it took time for these
guys to adjust and for our team to understand what each other was about,'' Wear
said. ''We understand defensive rotations a lot better and it's showing in our
stats.''
UCLA is 5-0 in the league for the first time since 2003-04, coach Ben
Howland's first season in Westwood.
''We're a much better team than we were my first year,'' he said. ''It was a
miracle we started 5-0 that year.''
That team promptly lost its next six in a row, then lost another six straight
to end the season.
But Howland said he doesn't talk to his team about streaks - win or lose -
while keeping their focus on the next game.
Roberto Nelson scored 17 points and Joe Burton added 12 for the Beavers
(10-7, 0-4). They lost their fourth straight and fifth in their last six.
''The effort was good, but the execution is what has to get better,'' Oregon
State coach Craig Robinson said. ''These guys got used to winning and now they
have lost four in a row. And they're mad. That's good. I want them to be mad. I
want them to be mad enough to play better.''
The Beavers had the upper hand in the game's opening minutes before the
Bruins took over for good. Ahead by 11 points at halftime, UCLA ran off 11
straight points early in the second half to take a 48-28 lead.
''We came out ready, but when you play a team that has this many good
players, you can't let up or you get behind and it's hard to come back,
especially when you are on the road,'' Robinson said.
Muhammad had a three-point play, Wear and Jordan Adams had baskets and
Anderson scored four straight points during the run that put the Beavers in a
double-digit deficit the rest of the game.
''I just let the game come to me,'' Muhammad said. ''My teammates gave me an
opportunity to score. I think I played fast on the road, I'm not sure if it was
jitters. I just came out here relaxed.''
Oregon State got to 58-48 during an 8-0 run capped by Nelson's 3-pointer. But
Muhammad answered with a 3-pointer to key a 7-0 spurt and extend UCLA's lead to
65-48.
The Beavers were held under their 75.7-point scoring average. They are one of
two Pac-12 teams with five players averaging double figures, but only three
players reached that mark in the game.
The Beavers opened the game on a 12-7 run while UCLA struggled with turnovers
and missed shots.
''They kind of woke us up. I don't know that our guys understood that they
were coming at us,'' Howland said. ''Our defense in the first half was
particularly good. That's been key for us.''
The Bruins settled down and outscored the Beavers 20-7 to take a 27-19 lead.
Muhammad and Norman Powell hit consecutive 3-pointers, while Travis Wear had six
points in the spurt.
Anderson and Muhammad combined to score UCLA's final eight points of the
first half, extending its lead to 37-26.
Oregon State forward Eric Moreland and guard Victor Robbins were suspended
for the game after violating team rules. They will be available to play at
Southern California on Saturday.
''They will be fresh and we will need those fresh bodies,'' said Robinson,
who will leave his team after Saturday's game to fly to Washington, D.C., to
attend the inauguration of his brother-in-law, President Barack Obama. He will
be back in time for the Beavers' home game against Washington on Wednesday.
Former UCLA star Jamaal Wilkes had his No. 52 jersey retired at halftime, with former Bruins stars Bill Walton, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Mike Warren on hand. He helped lead the Bruins to NCAA championships in 1972 and 1973, and an 86-4 record in his three years under coach John Wooden.
Wilkes had his jersey
retired by the Los Angeles Lakers last month, and he was inducted into the
Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame last year.
__________________
By Peter Yoon
ESPNLosAngeles.com
LOS ANGELES -- Since the end of the John Wooden era, creating a new legacy has been difficult at UCLA, a fact that became tangible Thursday night when the university retired the jersey of legendary Bruin Jamaal Wilkes at halftime of UCLA’s 74-64 victory over Oregon State at Pauley Pavilion.
The victory was the 10th in a row for the Bruins. It's a streak that might make for some smiles and pats on the back at other places, but when you do it in front of a man who was once part of an 88-game win streak, those back slaps become slaps back to reality.
And that’s kind of what the Bruins (15-3, 5-0 Pac-12) are facing right now: The grim reality is they haven’t yet accomplished anything. Despite the 10-game streak, UCLA’s longest since 2008-09, they are an unproven commodity.
Of those 10 wins, the only one that really stands out is the 97-94 overtime victory over Missouri. Others have come in nail-biting fashion against inferior competition, and the Bruins have shown a disturbing tendency to let down late in games after building a big lead.
The next two games will tell all for the Bruins -- a Saturday showdown against No. 21 Oregon and then a Jan. 24 road trip to Tucson for a matchup with No. 7 Arizona should decide once and for all where this team sits in terms of the Pac-12 title race and the quest for a top seed in the NCAA tournament.
Even now, with one of the longest active win streaks in the nation and the first 5-0 start in conference play since Ben Howland’s inaugural 2003-04 season, the jury is out on these Bruins.
“We haven’t really proven anything yet,” said forward Shabazz Muhammad, who led UCLA with 21 points Thursday night. “We won 10 games but we’re looking forward to playing Oregon and Arizona. Those are the best of the best, and we’re going to test ourselves and see where we are as a team.”
That’s because at UCLA, you don’t get measured by 10-game win streaks or sitting atop the conference standings five games into the season. They hang only national championship banners in Pauley Pavilion -- those and retired player jerseys.
And even those are difficult to come by. Wilkes became only the eighth player to have his jersey retired by UCLA despite a long line of basketball royalty having played at Pauley Pavilion.
“It’s real tough to get your number retired,” said Wilkes, who was inducted into the Pro Basketball Hall of Fame and had his jersey retired by the Los Angeles Lakers in December. “They have so many great players that have come through here that don’t have their numbers retired, and I was one of them for a long time. It’s just head and shoulders above most recognition.”
Those strict standards surround the program and raise expectations across the board. When the team showed up for practice a few weeks ago, the Bruins were greeted by Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. On Thursday, it was Wilkes in the house, and a host of former players --including Abdul-Jabbar and Bill Walton -- were there to honor him. Those types of experiences humble the current players, who begin to realize why going 15-3 through 18 games won’t draw much other than a few atta-boys.
“It’s a great impression,” Kyle Anderson said. “To put these four letters across our chest -- UCLA -- is an honor. You have to play hard every minute out there because you are part of a tradition that has been so rich back in their time so it’s just an honor to play for UCLA.”
To make history for UCLA requires much more than a 10-game win streak. Ask Howland about it, and he will brush it aside even though this team began the season looking nothing like a squad that had a 10-game win streak in it.
Howland is reverent to the past and glowed in talking about Wilkes on Thursday, but his only focus right now is the present. He knows the next two games can make or break all the goodwill the current streak has built up and that if the next streak is a two-game losing streak, the questions about the direction of the program and his stewardship will arise once again.
“We’re just on to the next game,” Howland said. “We don’t even care about that streak; it’s just on to trying to win our next game that presents itself.”
Howland knows all too well how streaks can go sour. The last time one of his teams had a 10-game win streak, it went 5-6 over the next 11 games, finished second in the Pac-10 and bowed out of the NCAA tournament in the second round.
And Howland’s last team to start conference play 5-0? That came during his first season, in 2003-04, and the Bruins proceeded to go 2-11 the rest of the way and finished the season 11-17.
“That was a miracle that we started 5-0 that year to be honest,” Howland said. “I’m not surprised with our team the way we started off here. But 10 years ago -- first of all, Shabazz and Kyle were 8 or 9 years old, I think. It’s not relative to them at all. It means zilch.”
And it will mean even less unless UCLA can keep it going over the next couple of weeks.
“All those teams coming up on our schedule are difficult,” Howland said. “And we’re a much better team than we were my first year. So hopefully we can ...”
Howland caught himself before he got to looking too far ahead.
“It’s just on to the next game,” he said. “One game at a time.”
History, after all, will judge the rest.
The victory was the 10th in a row for the Bruins. It's a streak that might make for some smiles and pats on the back at other places, but when you do it in front of a man who was once part of an 88-game win streak, those back slaps become slaps back to reality.
And that’s kind of what the Bruins (15-3, 5-0 Pac-12) are facing right now: The grim reality is they haven’t yet accomplished anything. Despite the 10-game streak, UCLA’s longest since 2008-09, they are an unproven commodity.
Of those 10 wins, the only one that really stands out is the 97-94 overtime victory over Missouri. Others have come in nail-biting fashion against inferior competition, and the Bruins have shown a disturbing tendency to let down late in games after building a big lead.
The next two games will tell all for the Bruins -- a Saturday showdown against No. 21 Oregon and then a Jan. 24 road trip to Tucson for a matchup with No. 7 Arizona should decide once and for all where this team sits in terms of the Pac-12 title race and the quest for a top seed in the NCAA tournament.
Even now, with one of the longest active win streaks in the nation and the first 5-0 start in conference play since Ben Howland’s inaugural 2003-04 season, the jury is out on these Bruins.
“We haven’t really proven anything yet,” said forward Shabazz Muhammad, who led UCLA with 21 points Thursday night. “We won 10 games but we’re looking forward to playing Oregon and Arizona. Those are the best of the best, and we’re going to test ourselves and see where we are as a team.”
That’s because at UCLA, you don’t get measured by 10-game win streaks or sitting atop the conference standings five games into the season. They hang only national championship banners in Pauley Pavilion -- those and retired player jerseys.
And even those are difficult to come by. Wilkes became only the eighth player to have his jersey retired by UCLA despite a long line of basketball royalty having played at Pauley Pavilion.
“It’s real tough to get your number retired,” said Wilkes, who was inducted into the Pro Basketball Hall of Fame and had his jersey retired by the Los Angeles Lakers in December. “They have so many great players that have come through here that don’t have their numbers retired, and I was one of them for a long time. It’s just head and shoulders above most recognition.”
Those strict standards surround the program and raise expectations across the board. When the team showed up for practice a few weeks ago, the Bruins were greeted by Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. On Thursday, it was Wilkes in the house, and a host of former players --including Abdul-Jabbar and Bill Walton -- were there to honor him. Those types of experiences humble the current players, who begin to realize why going 15-3 through 18 games won’t draw much other than a few atta-boys.
“It’s a great impression,” Kyle Anderson said. “To put these four letters across our chest -- UCLA -- is an honor. You have to play hard every minute out there because you are part of a tradition that has been so rich back in their time so it’s just an honor to play for UCLA.”
To make history for UCLA requires much more than a 10-game win streak. Ask Howland about it, and he will brush it aside even though this team began the season looking nothing like a squad that had a 10-game win streak in it.
Howland is reverent to the past and glowed in talking about Wilkes on Thursday, but his only focus right now is the present. He knows the next two games can make or break all the goodwill the current streak has built up and that if the next streak is a two-game losing streak, the questions about the direction of the program and his stewardship will arise once again.
“We’re just on to the next game,” Howland said. “We don’t even care about that streak; it’s just on to trying to win our next game that presents itself.”
Howland knows all too well how streaks can go sour. The last time one of his teams had a 10-game win streak, it went 5-6 over the next 11 games, finished second in the Pac-10 and bowed out of the NCAA tournament in the second round.
And Howland’s last team to start conference play 5-0? That came during his first season, in 2003-04, and the Bruins proceeded to go 2-11 the rest of the way and finished the season 11-17.
“That was a miracle that we started 5-0 that year to be honest,” Howland said. “I’m not surprised with our team the way we started off here. But 10 years ago -- first of all, Shabazz and Kyle were 8 or 9 years old, I think. It’s not relative to them at all. It means zilch.”
And it will mean even less unless UCLA can keep it going over the next couple of weeks.
“All those teams coming up on our schedule are difficult,” Howland said. “And we’re a much better team than we were my first year. So hopefully we can ...”
Howland caught himself before he got to looking too far ahead.
“It’s just on to the next game,” he said. “One game at a time.”
History, after all, will judge the rest.
__________________
Rapid Reaction: UCLA 74, Oregon State 64
By Peter Yoon
ESPNLosAngeles.com
January, 17, 2013 8:29 PM PT
LOS ANGELES -- The No. 24 UCLA Bruins extended their win streak to 10 games and maintained their spot atop the Pac-12 standings with a 74-64 victory over Oregon State on Thursday night at Pauley Pavilion. It is the first 10-game winning streak for the Bruins since 2008-09, and UCLA has won its first five conference games for the first time since 2003-04 -- coach Ben Howland's first season. Here’s a quick rundown:
How it happened: Getting off to a bit of a sluggish start, the Bruins fell behind 12-7 but took control with a 12-2 run that began with about 15 minutes left in the first half and cruised from there.
UCLA (15-3, 5-0) held Oregon State (10-7, 0-4) to only four field goals in the final 15 minutes of the half and took a 37-26 halftime lead. The Bruins opened the second half with a 13-4 run for a 50-30 lead and led 65-48 with eight minutes to play. Oregon State did not get closer than 10 points for the rest of the game.
Shabazz Muhammad rebounded from a poor two-game road trip last week to lead UCLA with 21 points on 8-of-14 shooting. Travis Wear continued his solid play, and finished with 17 points and seven rebounds, reaching double figures in scoring for the sixth consecutive game. Kyle Anderson had 17 points and nine rebounds, barely missing out on his sixth double-double of the season.
Player of the game: Muhammad scored 13 of his 21 points in the second half, in which he made five of six shots. It was a marked turnaround for UCLA's leading scorer, who averaged 10 points and made only nine of 29 shots in two games at Utah and Colorado last week. He was headed for another subpar performance Thursday with just eight points on 3-of-8 shooting in the first half but turned it on in the second half and recorded his seventh 20-point game of the season.
Stat of the game: Larry Drew II had nine assists and three turnovers. This marks the fifth time in the past six home games that he has reached nine assists with three or fewer turnovers.
What it means: The Bruins taking care of business at home against one of the lower-tier teams in the conference doesn't mean all that much in the grand scheme of things, but to do it with an important showdown with Oregon looming Saturday shows a level of maturity. Oregon and UCLA are two of the front-runners in the conference right now; it would have been easy to get caught looking ahead, so staying focused on the task at hand is a good sign for a young team.
What’s next: UCLA faces No. 21 Oregon on Saturday at 1 p.m. PT at Pauley Pavilion. It will be the first game between two ranked Pac-12 teams since March 13, 2009.
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