During his tenure at Sacramento State, men’s basketball head coach Brian Katz has seen his share of success against Pac-12 schools.
In 2010, Sac State defeated Oregon State and just last season, the team upset the University of Utah, 74-71.
For only the second time in school history, the Hornets will travel down to Los Angeles Monday night to face No. 24 UCLA. The only other previous meeting came in 2005 when Sac State lost, 86-56.
“Every time someone thinks about UCLA, they think about its great historic program,” Katz said. “They won 10 National Titles in 12 years.”
In his sixth season, Katz is 2-5 all time against Pac-12 schools and said it would be a big lift for the program if it could leave with the win.
“It would be front page news that’s for sure,” Katz said.
UCLA comes in with a record of 2-0 after wins against Drexel University and Oakland University.
UCLA’s first year head coach, Steve Alford, held the same position at the University of New Mexico and was hired following the firing of the Bruins former coach Ben Howland last May.
“They are a new team with a new coach, so they are trying to find their way a little bit,” Katz said.
The Bruins feature 6-foot-9-inch sophomore Kyle Anderson, who was named to the preseason all Pac-12 second team and ranks as the No. 11 point guard in the country by Lindy Sports.
This season, he is averaging 10 points, 10.5 rebounds and 6.5 assists per game.
Although the Hornets have more size than in years past with freshman Eric Stuteville at 6 feet 11 inches and junior Alex Tiffin at 6 feet 9 inches, the Hornets have only out-rebounded their opponents by 4.5.
“They are going to be a big team, so we are going to have our hands full on the glass,” said junior point guard Dylan Garrity, who this season averages 2.5 rebounds per game.
Garrity has played against Pac-12 schools in years past, but said the team treats this game with no more or less respect than their previous opponents CSU Bakersfield, UC Santa Cruz and Menlo College.
“It’s just another game for us,” he said.
While in his career Garrity has averaged 10.1 points per game in November, in his last outing he scored 22 points that included four 3-pointers.
“I just can’t wait until we are losing to be aggressive,” Garrity said. “I have to be aggressive to start.”
Katz said senior forward Joey Quigley is questionable for Monday’s game after hurting his groin earlier this week.
The game will be televised on the Pac-12 Networks. Tipoff is at 8:05 p.m.
Ryan can be reached on Twitter at @rskuhn
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