The Official UCLA Basketball Thread~~>

["THE" MoSav]

35 pts all game!! thats disgusting. Our defense was 

[LAKERS_FAN89]

No. 19 Trojans and No. 2 Bruins Square Off in Pivotal Pac-10 Game
USC invades Pauley Pavilion as UCLA looks to win its 18th straight at home



Feb. 6, 2007

LOS ANGELES -





GAMEDAY CENTRAL
DATE: Feb. 7, 2007
SITE: Pauley Pavilion (12,800)
TIP-OFF: 7:34 p.m. PST
TV: FSN Prime Ticket
TALENT: Bill Macdonald (play-by-play), Don MacLean (analyst)
RADIO: AM 570
TALENT: Chris Roberts (play-by-play)
SIRIUS RADIO: Channel 181
WEB: www.uclaBruins.com
SERIES: UCLA leads 123-99


#2 UCLA vs. #19 USC
This is the 223rd meeting between UCLA and USC with the Bruins leading the series 123-99, including winning 18 of the last 25 games. However, the Trojans have won six of the last 11 meetings. The two teams split the season series a year ago, each team winning on its home floor. Last year, the Bruins handed USC a 66-45 thumping in Pauley Pavilion on Jan. 18, 2006. Jordan Farmar led three Bruins in double figures with 15 points. Arron Afflalo added 11 points while Luc Richard Mbah a Moute chipped in 10 points and seven rebounds against the Trojans. Earlier this year, Arron Afflalo hit a 15-foot jumper with four seconds left to give the Bruins a 65-64 win at USC on Jan. 13. Darren Collison led UCLA with 17 points while Afflalo added 15. Lorenzo Mata had a solid outing with 12 points and eight rebounds.Nick Young led USC with 14 points while Lodrick Stewart and Gabe Pruitt had 13 and 10 points, respectively. Bruin head coach Ben Howland sports an overall record of 4-3 against USC while the Trojan's head coach Tim Floyd, now in his second season, is 1-2 against the Bruins.


NATIONAL POLLS
UCLA is currently ranked second in both the ESPN/USA Today and Associated Press polls. Earlier this year, UCLA spent six weeks (Nov. 27-Jan. 1) ranked first in the AP poll and five weeks (Dec. 4-Jan. 1) atop the Coaches poll. UCLA has spent more time (134 weeks) at number one in the history of the AP poll than any other program.


RISE AND SHINE ... YOU'RE BURNIN' DAYLIGHT
The Bruins are no strangers to early morning wake-up calls. UCLA is 3-1 this season in games that tip-off prior to noon. The Bruins handed then sixth-ranked Texas A&M a 65-62 loss in an 11:30 a.m. tip-off at Honda Center in the John R. Wooden Classic on Dec. 9. UCLA later crushed Michigan 92-55 with an 11:00 a.m. tip in Pauley Pavilion on Dec. 23. Then the Bruins lost an 11:00 a.m. game 68-66 at 16th-ranked Oregon on Jan. 6. But the Bruins won their last morning game, a 65-64 win at USC in an 11:30 a.m. tip-off at Galen Center on Jan. 13. UCLA still has two more early morning games. The Bruins will tip at 10:00 a.m. (PST) at West Virginia on CBS (Feb. 10) and again at 10:00 a.m. (PST) at Arizona on CBS (Feb. 17).


HOME SWEET HOME
UCLA has won the last 17 games at home, including the last 11 Pacific-10 Conference games. The last Pac-10 team to beat the Bruins in Pauley Pavilion was 13th-ranked Washington, which defeated the 11th-ranked Bruins 69-65 on Jan. 14, 2005. The last team to beat UCLA at home was 12th-ranked West Virginia, which posted a 60-56 victory over the 18th-ranked Bruins on Jan. 21, 2006.


AFFLALO LEADS PAC-10 IN DOUBLE-FIGURE SCORING STREAK
UCLA junior Arron Afflalo has scored in double figures in 21 straight games, the longest streak of his career, on the team and in the Pacific-10 Conference. Sophomore Darren Collison saw his streak (12 games) come to an end with only four points in the win at Cal (Jan. 25). Sophomore Josh Shipp also saw a 12-game streak get snapped when he scored nine points in the win over Arizona (Jan. 20).


JOHN R. WOODEN AWARD ANNOUNCES MIDSEASON TOP 30 CANDIDATES
UCLA junior Arron Afflalo has been named to the John R. Wooden Award Midseason All-American team. Composed of the top 30 players who will compete for this season's player of the year award, the midseason list is based on individual player performance and team records during the first half of the season.


COLLISON NAMED AS A BOB COUSY AWARD FINALIST
Sophomore point guard Darren Collison is one of 17 finalists for the Bob Cousy Award, as announced by the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in conjunction with The Hartford Financial Services Group, Inc., on Feb. 1, 2007. The Bob Cousy Award is an honor presented annually to the nation's top collegiate point guard. Nominees for the Bob Cousy Award presented by The Hartford were solicited through the College Sports Information Directors of America (COSIDA) and the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC). A committee comprised of CoSIDA members narrowed the field to 17 student athletes from all three divisions of men's NCAA college basketball. The group of 17 will be reviewed and a winner chosen by a Blue Ribbon selection committee comprised of Hall of Famers, Mr. Cousy, college coaches, media members, and a vote representing the top vote getter in the on-line poll at www.cousyaward.com. The committee is comprised of Hall of Famers including Bob Cousy, Lute Olson and Jim Calhoun, college coaches from Divisions I, II and III, members of the media and additional college basketball experts and celebrities. The 2007 Bob Cousy Award presented by The Hartford winner will be announced at the NCAA Men's Final Four in Atlanta on April 2. Previous winners of the award include Dee Brown of Illinois (2006), Raymond Felton from North Carolina (2005) and Jameer Nelson from St. Joseph's University (2004).


UCLA TO HONOR 1967 CHAMPIONSHIP TEAM
UCLA will celebrate the 40th anniversary of its 1967 NCAA Championship team on Saturday, Feb. 24, when the Bruins host Stanford. The team will have a pregame reception and be honored at halftime. Led by legendary Bruin head coach John Wooden, the '67 National Champions were 30-0 overall (the second time in school history UCLA recorded a perfect 30-0 record, matching the Bruins' first NCAA title team in 1964) and it was the Bruins' third NCAA title under Wooden (1964-65-67) in four years. UCLA was led by sophomore center Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (Lew Alcindor), who earned All-American honors. He averaged 29.0 points a game, set an NCAA record by shooting .667 from the field and set the school single-game scoring record with 61 points in a 100-78 victory over Washington State on Feb. 25, 1967 in Pauley Pavilion. He also recorded UCLA's second-best (56) and third-best (45) single-game scoring marks that season. Joining Abdul-Jabbar in the starting lineup were - at guards, junior captain Michael Warren (12.7 ppg) and sophomore All-Conference Lucius Allen (15.5 ppg), and at the forwards, sophomores, Ken Heitz (6.1 ppg) and Lynn Shackelford (11.4 ppg). Also on the coaching staff were varsity assistant Jerry Norman, head freshman coach Gary Cunningham and the trainer was Bruin Hall of Famer Ducky Drake. Like this year's Bruin squad, there was not a senior on the 1966-67 roster.

[LAKERS_FAN89]

No. 2 Bruins Storm Back To Beat No. 19 Troajns, 70-65
UCLA (21-2, 10-2 Pac-10) extends home winning streak to 18 games



Feb. 8, 2007



LOS ANGELES (AP) -Darren Collison scored 17 points and No. 2 UCLA capitalized on a late-game technical foul to beat 19th-ranked Southern California 70-65 Wednesday night. 

The Bruins (21-2, 10-2 Pac-10) trailed until there was about six minutes left against the Trojans (18-7, 8-4).

With a victory, the Trojans could have tied UCLA for the conference lead, but instead they dropped to third behind idle Washington State (8-3).

UCLA extended its Pauley Pavilion winning streak to 18 games as the Pac-10's only undefeated team at home.

Arron Afflalo scored 13 of his 16 points in the second half, including two free throws that gave UCLA the lead for good with 4 1/2 minutes left. Luc Richard Mbah a Moute added 11 points and 10 rebounds.

Nick Young led USC with 20 points, Gabe Pruitt added 16 and Lodrick Stewart 13. It was Stewart's technical foul for spiking the ball that led to the Trojans' undoing against their crosstown rivals in front of a raucous crowd that included former UCLA coach John Wooden and Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.

USC led by seven points early in the second half before things got tight.

The Bruins got within one for the first time with an 8-2 run, including four in a row by Mbah a Moute, whose fastbreak layup came off his own steal.

The teams traded baskets before Afflalo hit a 3-pointer from deep in the left corner - just his second field goal of the game - that tied it at 46 and ignited the crowd.

Defense led to UCLA's first lead of the game. Alfred Aboya took the ball away from Pruitt and heaved a long pass to a streaking Afflalo, who dunked with abandon for a 50-48 lead with 5:51 remaining.

But Pruitt got fouled by Collison, who crouched in frustration, and made both for another tie at 50.

Trailing by two, Josh Shipp scored and got fouled by Young, who picked up his fourth. Before Shipp could step to the line, though, Stewart earned the technical. Afflalo made both of those for a 54-52 lead, then Shipp completed his three-point play.

Collison drove the lane for a one-handed layup that kept UCLA ahead 59-54. USC's RouSean Cromwell committed an intentional foul as the Trojans' frustration grew.

Dwight Lewis and Pruitt hit 3-pointers in the closing seconds, but UCLA proved steady at the foul line to preserve the win.

The Trojans came out aggressively to start the game, pulling away to a 20-10 lead while shooting 82 percent from the floor. They scored 11 points off UCLA's nine turnovers in the half.

The Bruins struggled offensively, missing several open shots until they outscored USC 11-4 to end the half trailing 30-29.

The Trojans failed to get a shot off on their final possesion before the shot clock expired. Attempting to give UCLA its first lead heading into the lockerroom, Collison's mid-court shot hit the rim and bounced away.

[LAKERS_FAN89]

GOOD GAME

["THE" MoSav]

Chalk up another W 

[Ðøšïå]

the UA rematch is on in about a week so im bumping this bitch. hopefully UA is getting out of that horrendous slump they were in and can play a full game of basketball.. we gotta beat USC first though

["THE" MoSav]

tough loss at WV. Tough to win with no Collison 
Great attempted comeback down by 19 in the 2nd half and we went on a 15-0 run to cut it to 4. But you can tell not having Collison hurt especailly at the end of the game. Westbrook just didnt get it done and forced some bad shots at the end..

[LAKERS_FAN89]

LOS ANGELES - UCLA head basketball coach Ben Howland met with the media on Monday to recap the West Virginia trip and to look ahead to this week's meetings with Arizona State and Arizona.

["THE" MoSav]

UCLA NEEDS A WIN ON THURSDAY! Collison is gonna be back most likely 

[Now_Im_Not_Banned]

Time for another streak...

["THE" MoSav]

Time for another streak...

exactly! We need to a nice streak going into the tourney, winning the Pac Ten Tourney is a must as well if we want a #1 seed in the west

[LAKERS_FAN89]

First-Place Bruins Return to Pac-10 Race at Arizona State
No. 5 UCLA holds a half-game lead over Washington State



Feb. 14, 2007

LOS ANGELES -






GAMEDAY CENTRAL
DATE: Feb. 15, 2007
SITE: Wells Fargo Arena (14,141)
TIP-OFF: 5:30 p.m. PST
TV: FSN Prime Ticket
TALENT: Steve Physioc (play-by-play), Marques Johnson (analyst)
RADIO: AM 1150
TALENT: Chris Roberts (play-by-play), Don MacLean (analyst)
SIRIUS RADIO: Channel 126
WEB: www.uclaBruins.com
SERIES: UCLA leads 53-14


#5 UCLA vs. ARIZONA STATE
This is the 68th meeting between UCLA and Arizona State with the Bruins leading the series 53-14, including winning the last five games. After losing 22 consecutive games to the Bruins (from 1990-2000), ASU has posted a 5-9 record (since 2000). The Bruins have won two straight in Tempe, Ariz., including last year's 61-60 win on Jan. 7, 2006. In that game, Arron Afflalo led the Bruins with 21 points while Josh Shipp was the only other Bruin to score in double figures with 10 points. It marked the last game that Shipp would play during the 2005-06 season. The last win for Arizona State was a 74-62 overtime victory on Feb. 12, 2004 in Tempe, Ariz. Earlier this season, the Bruins erased an 11-point deficit to post a 60-50 win in Pauley Pavilion on Jan. 18. Darren Collison led the Bruins with 16 points while Christian Polk led the Sun Devils with 16 points. Bruin head coach Ben Howland sports an overall record of 7-4 against ASU while Sun Devil head coach Herb Sendek is 0-1 against UCLA.


NATIONAL POLLS
UCLA is currently ranked fifth in the Associated Press poll and seventh in the ESPN/USA Today poll. Earlier this year, UCLA spent six weeks (Nov. 27-Jan. 1) ranked first in the AP poll and five weeks (Dec. 4-Jan. 1) atop the Coaches poll. UCLA has spent more time (134 weeks) at number one in the history of the AP poll than any other program.


HOWLAND REACHES MILESTONE VICTORY
UCLA Head Coach Ben Howland won his 250th game this week with the 70-65 home win over 19th-ranked USC at home on Feb. 7, 2007. Howland, now in his 13th season as a Division I head coach, is averaging 19.2 wins per season with still more games to play in 2006-07. Equally impressive is the fact that he won his 200th victory just last year on Nov. 19 in a 56-37 home win over Delaware State.


COLLISON WILL BE A GAME-TIME DECISION FOR ASU GAME
Sophomore point guard Darren Collison will be a game-time decision for Arizona State contest (Feb. 15) with a sprained AC joint in his left shoulder. He returned to practice yesterday for the first time since the USC contest (Feb. 7) but was limited to shooting drills.


RISE AND SHINE ... YOU'RE BURNIN' DAYLIGHT
The Bruins are no strangers to early morning wake-up calls. UCLA is 3-1 this season in games that tip-off prior to noon. The Bruins handed then sixth-ranked Texas A&M a 65-62 loss in an 11:30 a.m. tip-off at Honda Center in the John R. Wooden Classic on Dec. 9. UCLA later crushed Michigan 92-55 with an 11:00 a.m. tip in Pauley Pavilion on Dec. 23. Then the Bruins lost an 11:00 a.m. game 68-66 at 16th-ranked Oregon on Jan. 6. But the Bruins won their last morning game, a 65-64 win at USC in an 11:30 a.m. tip-off at Galen Center on Jan. 13. UCLA still has two more early morning games. The Bruins will tip at 10:00 a.m. (PST) at West Virginia on CBS (Feb. 10) and again at 10:00 a.m. (PST) at Arizona on CBS (Feb. 17).


HOME SWEET HOME
UCLA has won the last 18 games at home, including the last 12 Pacific-10 Conference games. The last Pac-10 team to beat the Bruins in Pauley Pavilion was 13th-ranked Washington, which defeated the 11th-ranked Bruins 69-65 on Jan. 14, 2005. The last team to beat UCLA at home was 12th-ranked West Virginia, which posted a 60-56 victory over the 18th-ranked Bruins on Jan. 21, 2006.


AFFLALO LEADS PAC-10 IN DOUBLE-FIGURE SCORING STREAK
UCLA junior Arron Afflalo has scored in double figures in 23 straight games, the longest streak of his career, on the team and in the Pacific-10 Conference. Sophomore Darren Collison saw his streak (12 games) come to an end with only four points in the win at Cal (Jan. 25). Sophomore Josh Shipp also saw a 12-game streak get snapped when he scored nine points in the win over Arizona (Jan. 20).


JOHN R. WOODEN AWARD ANNOUNCES MIDSEASON TOP 30 CANDIDATES
UCLA junior Arron Afflalo has been named to the John R. Wooden Award Midseason All-American team. Composed of the top 30 players who will compete for this season's player of the year award, the midseason list is based on individual player performance and team records during the first half of the season.


COLLISON NAMED AS A BOB COUSY AWARD FINALIST
Sophomore point guard Darren Collison is one of 17 finalists for the Bob Cousy Award, as announced by the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in conjunction with The Hartford Financial Services Group, Inc., on Feb. 1, 2007. The Bob Cousy Award is an honor presented annually to the nation's top collegiate point guard. Nominees for the Bob Cousy Award presented by The Hartford were solicited through the College Sports Information Directors of America (COSIDA) and the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC). A committee comprised of CoSIDA members narrowed the field to 17 student athletes from all three divisions of men's NCAA college basketball. The group of 17 will be reviewed and a winner chosen by a Blue Ribbon selection committee comprised of Hall of Famers, Mr. Cousy, college coaches, media members, and a vote representing the top vote getter in the on-line poll at www.cousyaward.com. The committee is comprised of Hall of Famers including Bob Cousy, Lute Olson and Jim Calhoun, college coaches from Divisions I, II and III, members of the media and additional college basketball experts and celebrities. The 2007 Bob Cousy Award presented by The Hartford winner will be announced at the NCAA Men's Final Four in Atlanta on April 2. Previous winners of the award include Dee Brown of Illinois (2006), Raymond Felton from North Carolina (2005) and Jameer Nelson from St. Joseph's University (2004).


UCLA TO HONOR 1967 CHAMPIONSHIP TEAM
UCLA will celebrate the 40th anniversary of its 1967 NCAA Championship team on Saturday, Feb. 24, when the Bruins host Stanford. The team will have a pregame reception and be honored at halftime. Led by legendary Bruin head coach John Wooden, the '67 National Champions were 30-0 overall (the second time in school history UCLA recorded a perfect 30-0 record, matching the Bruins' first NCAA title team in 1964) and it was the Bruins' third NCAA title under Wooden (1964-65-67) in four years. UCLA was led by sophomore center Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (Lew Alcindor), who earned All-American honors. He averaged 29.0 points a game, set an NCAA record by shooting .667 from the field and set the school single-game scoring record with 61 points in a 100-78 victory over Washington State on Feb. 25, 1967 in Pauley Pavilion. He also recorded UCLA's second-best (56) and third-best (45) single-game scoring marks that season. Joining Abdul-Jabbar in the starting lineup were - at guards, junior captain Michael Warren (12.7 ppg) and sophomore All-Conference Lucius Allen (15.5 ppg), and at the forwards, sophomores, Ken Heitz (6.1 ppg) and Lynn Shackelford (11.4 ppg). Also on the coaching staff were varsity assistant Jerry Norman, head freshman coach Gary Cunningham and the trainer was Bruin Hall of Famer Ducky Drake. Like this year's Bruin squad, there was not a senior on the 1966-67 roster.

[LAKERS_FAN89]

yes we won that was closed one

["THE" MoSav]

yes we won that was closed one

hell yeah nice run to end the game. when we got down ten with ten to go i was gettin a lil nervous but once again Afflalo has a good second half, and Collison proves how HUGE he is for us down the stretch hitting three three's during our run the last ten mins. huge win 67-61!! AT ARIZONA SATURDAY! The Cougars are right on our ass in the Pac ten so this is a huge game this week! 5 games left!!

[LAKERS_FAN89]

No. 5 UCLA Tops Arizona on Road, 81-66
Darren Collison records a career-high 15 assists for the Bruins.



Feb. 17, 2007


Box Score



TUCSON, Ariz. (AP) - Darren Collison scored 17 points and added a career-high 15 assists as No. 5 UCLA defeated No. 19 Arizona 81-66 on Saturday afternoon.

The victory kept the Bruins (23-3, 12-2 Pac-10) in first place in the Pac-10, one game ahead of Washington State.

Josh Shipp tied a career high with 24 points for UCLA, which defeated Arizona for the fifth straight time. The Bruins scored the game's first six points and never trailed. Leading 35-34 at halftime, the Bruins hit 8 of 15 3-pointers in the second half to take command of the game.

Collison hit 5 of 7 from beyond the arc.

It was the second-worst home loss in Lute Olson's 24-year tenure at Arizona. The worst was a 92-64 loss to then-No. 4 North Carolina on Jan. 27.

Playing in his final home game, Mustafa Shakur scored 17 points for the Wildcats (17-9, 8-7), who lost five home games for the first time since 1986-87. The Wildcats lost a total of three games in McKale Center from November 1987 to December 1994.

Arizona fell to 4-14 against ranked opponents over the past two seasons. The Bruins, by contrast, are 8-1 against the Top 25 this season.

UCLA jumped out to a 23-11 lead eight minutes into the game. But Shakur hit a pair of 3-pointers to spark a 12-0 run to tie it at 23-23.

UCLA answered with a 7-0 run, with Shipp hitting a 15-footer and a 3-pointer, to go ahead 30-23. But Arizona scored the final 7 points of the half to pull within 35-34 at intermission.

The Bruins responded by scoring 10 of the first 14 points of the second half. The barrage began with 3-pointers by Collison and Shipp. The Wildcats came no closer than three points the rest of the way.