Wednesday, February 12, 2014

UCLA Basketball Returns Home to Host Colorado on Thursday

Tony Parker has averaged 7.3 points and 4.8 rebounds per game (photo by Scott Chandler)
Tony Parker has averaged 7.3 points and 4.8 rebounds per game (photo by Scott Chandler)

Courtesy: UCLA Athletics

Courtesy: UCLA Athletics
Release: Monday 02/10/2014
Article Link
LOS ANGELES – UCLA will host Colorado in a Pac-12 contest in Pauley Pavilion on Thursday at 6 p.m. (PT). The Bruins’ game against the Buffaloes (18-6, 7-4) will be nationally televised on ESPN2. UCLA won the previous meeting between the two schools this season, earning a 69-56 win at Colorado’s Coors Events Center on Jan. 16. Since the Buffaloes joined the Pac-12 Conference, UCLA has gone 3-0 against Colorado. The Bruins will close their homestand on Saturday against Utah (2 p.m., PT).
GAME INFORMATION
Venue: Pauley Pavilion (13,800)
Tipoff Time: 6:05 pm (PT)
TV: ESPN2
TV Talent: Dave Pasch (play-by-play), Bill Walton (analyst)
Radio: AM 570 (KLAC)
Radio Talent: Chris Roberts (play-by-play), Tracy Murray (analyst)
SIRIUS Satellite Radio: Channel 110
SIRIUS XM Radio: Channel 191
LAST WEEK
UCLA won at USC, 83-73, last Saturday evening to sweep the regular-season series against the Trojans. Norman Powell scored 17 of his season-high 21 points in the second half, helping the Bruins overcome a 41-35 halftime deficit. UCLA opened the second half on a 10-0 run and built its cushion to as many as 16 points late in the second half. Kyle Anderson registered his conference-leading 12th double-double against USC, totaling 15 points and 10 rebounds.
RETURN FROM THE ROAD
The Bruins recently concluded a seven-game stretch that included five road games (UCLA went 5-2 in that span, 3-2 on the road). Over the last four weeks (since Jan. 15), Pac-12 teams have gone 9-33 in conference road contests, with UCLA notching a league-best three of those nine wins. Overall, visiting teams in Pac-12 play have gone 18-46 (UCLA has gone 3-2). The Bruins’ Pac-12 road wins came at Colorado, at Oregon and at USC.
THE LATEST
Through games played Sunday, Feb. 9, UCLA ranked 12th in the nation in scoring (82.9 ppg), ninth in field goal percentage (49.0) and fifth in assists per game (17.2) ... UCLA ranks second in the Pac-12 in points per game.
Through 23 games, Kyle Anderson (15.1 ppg, 8.7 rpg, 6.7 apg) has become the first UCLA player to average at least 10.0/5.0/5.0 since Bill Walton finished with 19.3 ppg, 14.7 rpg and 5.5 apg as a senior in 1973-74.
Kyle Anderson has become the first NCAA Division I player to average at least 14.0 ppg, 8.0 rpg and 6.0 apg in one season since Ohio State’s Evan Turner finished the 2009-10 campaign with 20.4 ppg, 9.2 rpg and 6.0 apg.
Sophomore Jordan Adams has led UCLA in scoring, either by himself or tied with teammates, in 11 of 23 games ... he has scored in double figures in 21 of UCLA’s 23 contests and has reached the 20-point plateau eight times.
UCLA’s roster features seven players who have scored at least 20 points in one career game, with six of those seven players having registered at least 20 points in one game this season.
TRIPLE THREAT
No player in the country has averaged as close to a triple-double as has Kyle Anderson (15.1 ppg, 8.7 rpg, 6.7 apg). Through games played Feb. 9, Anderson was the nation’s only player averaging at least 10.0 ppg, 8.0 rpg and 6.0 apg. In addition, Anderson is the only player to rank in the top five (in his conference, BCS conferences only) in rebounds, assists and steals and be among the top 15 scorers (includes AAC, ACC, Big Ten, Big 12, Pac-12, SEC).
PROTECTING THE BALL
Through games played on Feb. 9, UCLA led all Pac-12 teams in assists per game (17.2), assist turnover ratio (1.58), steals per game (10.3) and turnover margin (+4.5). UCLA has committed the third fewest turnovers per game (10.9) of any Pac-12 team. UCLA’s defense has forced the highest average of turnovers among Pac-12 teams (15.3). Kyle Anderson (153 assists, 76 turnovers) has accounted for 38.6 percent of UCLA’s total assists.
KEY SCORER
Sophomore guard Jordan Adams leads UCLA with 16.8 points per game, the seventh-highest scoring average among Pac-12 players (through Feb. 9). He scored a career-high 30 points against Morehead State (Nov. 22, 2013) and registered his third double-double of the season at Colorado with 14 points and 13 rebounds (Jan. 16, 2014). He finished second in scoring for UCLA last season, averaging 15.3 points per game as a freshman.
PICKED THEIR POCKETS
UCLA has three players that rank among the Pac-12’s top 10 leaders in steals. Jordan Adams (66 steals, 2.9 spg) leads all Pac-12 players, having logged at least two steals in 18 of 23 games. He had a career-high eight steals against Sacramento State on Nov. 12. Kyle Anderson (39 steals, 1.7 spg) ranks fourth in the conference, whileNorman Powell (33 steals, 1.4 spg) is tied for 7th. UCLA leads all Pac-12 teams with 10.3 steals per game.
UCLA VERSUS COLORADO
UCLA has recorded a 7-1 record in the all-time series against Colorado, having posted a 3-0 mark since the Buffaloes joined the Pac-12 Conference prior to the 2011-12 school year. UCLA has gone 5-0 on its home court but has faced the Buffaloes just once in Pauley Pavilion (game on Dec. 2, 1977).
TRIPLE-DOUBLE
Kyle Anderson became the fourth player on record in UCLA history to record a triple-double (13 points, 12 rebounds and 11 assists) in UCLA’s 81-70 win over Morehead State on Nov. 22, 2013. That marked UCLA’s first triple-double since Dec. 18, 1995, when Toby Bailey had 23 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists against Stephen F. Austin. Since UCLA consistently tracked assists as a statistic beginning in 1971-72, the Bruins have had four triple-doubles (including one point-rebound-block effort from Jelani McCoy).
FROM DOWNTOWN
Kyle Anderson has made 20 of 40 three-point attempts (50.0 percent), a strong increase over his freshman year totals (8-for-28, 21.1 percent). Anderson shot a perfect 5-for-5 from long range in UCLA’s 74-69 loss to Utah on Jan. 18. That marked UCLA’s first “perfect” effort from three-point range with a minimum of five attempts since Ray Young went 5-for-5 from downtown on Feb. 22, 2003, in UCLA’s 93-84 loss to Stanford.
POWELL’S PRODUCTION
Norman Powell enters UCLA’s game against Colorado as the Bruins’ third-leading scorer, averaging 11.4 points per game. Powell’s 56.2 overall field goal percentage ranks eighth among Pac-12 players (through Feb. 9). The junior guard from San Diego, Calif., has scored in double figures in 14 games this season, leading UCLA to a 13-1 record in those contests. Powell has played in more games in a UCLA uniform (92) than any other current Bruins’ player.
UNIQUE TALENT
Kyle Anderson has become UCLA’s first player since 1994-95 (Charles O’Bannon) to register at least 200 rebounds and 100 assists in one season. A sophomore in 1994-95, O’Bannon finished the year with 201 rebounds and 110 assists (Anderson has 201 rebounds and 153 assists). Since UCLA officially recorded assists (1973-74), Anderson, O’Bannon and Bill Walton are UCLA’s only players to have logged 200+ rebounds and 100+ assists in one season.
MIDSEASON ACCOLADES
Kyle Anderson has been named as one of 25 players to the John R. Wooden Award midseason list. Anderson is among four Pac-12 players on the midseason list (along with Arizona’s Aaron Gordon and Nick Johnson and Oregon’s Joseph Young). The 6-foot-9 guard from Fairview, N.J., was among five players to be named a “midseason” All-America selection by The Sporting News. Joining Anderson on The Sporting News’ list of first-teamers included Marcus Smart (Oklahoma State), Nick Johnson (Arizona), Jabari Parker (Duke) and Doug McDermott (Creighton).
HIGH OCTANE
The Bruins have averaged 82.9 points through 23 games, the program’s highest per game offensive output through the first 23 games in any season since averaging 87.6 ppg after 23 games in 1994-95, the last year in which UCLA won the NCAA Championship. Earlier this season, UCLA compiled a seven-game streak of at least 80 points scored in victories. That feat had not been accomplished since the 1994-95 campaign (streak from Feb. 22-March 17, 1995).
BENCH PERFORMANCES
UCLA’s Zach LaVineBryce Alford and Tony Parker have played major roles off the bench. The Bruins’ bench has accounted for 28.7 percent of UCLA’s scoring (547/1906). LaVine ranks fourth on the team with 11.1 points per game and ranks seventh among Pac-12 players with a 43.0 three-point field goal percentage (37/86). Both LaVine and Alford rank in UCLA’s freshman top-5 list for three-point field goal percentage (miminum 0.75 three-pointers made per games played). LaVine’s 37 three-pointers is sixth on UCLA’s all-time freshman list.
INJURY REPORT
UCLA does not currently have any major injuries. Noah Allen missed 12 games after suffering multiple fractures to his face in a collision sustained with a player from Oakland (Nov. 12) in the game’s final minutes. Wanaah Bailmissed UCLA’s first five games recovering from left knee surgery which was performed on June 28, 2013. Travis Wear missed UCLA’s first three games after having underwent an appendectomy on Oct. 28, 2013.

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