Bruins Swamp Cougars in Pullman
By Bruin Basketball Report
UCLA got back on the winning track in Pullman with a 71-51 thrashing of Washington State.
After suffering two consecutive losses at home, the Bruins came out much more active on the defensive end and never let the Cougars into the game.
The Bruins did an exceptional defensive job against the Cougars high scorer Klay Thompson, who was frustrated into just 2 of 9 from the field for 8 points, as the UCLA 2-3 zone shaded towards him all game long and kept a lid on him.
For the contest the Cougars (15-11, 5-9) shot just 36% from the field.
UCLA senior Michael Roll finished with a game-high 15 points on a sharpshooting 6 of 7 from the field including 3 of 4 from beyond the arc. He also added 4 assists.
Tyler Honeycutt and Nikola Dragovic contributed 14 points apiece for the Bruins. Honeycutt once again played a solid all around game. His savvy court sense and physical abilities make him an exciting player to watch.
After numerous subpar performances sophomore Jerime Anderson played a solid game finishing with 10 points, 4 assists, and more importantly just 1 turnover in 24 minutes of action. While Anderson is still far from the level of point guard UCLA needs, he did play with more confidence, and hopefully, its a starting point for future improvement in his game.
Freshman Reeves Nelson suffered a nasty gash over his left eye in the first half after he came down hard on a dunk shot and hit his head on the court. He left the floor with a pool of blood under the basket.
Nelson later returned to the bench in the second half with 15 stitches above his eye, fortunately he reportedly did not suffer a concussion. No doubt this latest episode will only add further to the hard-nosed legend of the wildly popular freshman post player.
J'mison Morgan played significant minutes in place of Nelson and played one of his better games of the season. On defense his big 6'10 frame clogged up the middle of the zone. Morgan had 3 blocked shots and added 3 reboudns in 21 minutes of play.
UCLA (12-13, 7-6 Pac-10) shot 65% from the field and 50% from beyond the arc on 6 of 12 shooting.
The Bruins now travel westward to Seattle to face the Washington Huskies on Saturday. The Huskies were losers on Thursday night to USC, 67-64.
BBR :: Article Link :: 2:37 PM ::
5 comments
5 Comments:
I turned on the game with 4 minutes left...that was ugly...maybe I will stop watching the rest of the season...I saw Drag-O miss a wide open dunk, Roll miss 2 free throws etc...We won. Frickin wonderful!
Keefe, sorry to hear about ya shoulder. Thank you for your hard work and workman-like effort. I'd like to know who recruited you cuz OC players are soft and never pan out. Lamb, hit the weights and practice your J...we need points nxt yr.
Coach BH, it's your blessing to add minutes to the under-developed/raw youngsters to save your a** these nxt 2 yrs.
Hey Ray M. You want to be the starting guard at UCLA? Get over here! I'll find somebody with a handicap placard...just kidding...I'm not that desperate (yet)
I'll be in New Orleans (not So Cal) so I will not watch Sat's gm. GO BRUINS!!
One of the things I liked about Coach Howland when he started was his consistency. Unfortunately, this is gone now.
BruinFan if you did not see the whole game then your assessment from the last 4 minutes is uneducated! The game was over at that point, but if you HAD watched the entire game, it was probably the team's best overall performanace of the year. Now I am not saying the problems are cured and we are on our way (rah-rah-rah) but when I see a game like this I at least feel the team has the competitive drive and focus in them. Granted WSU is not the most talented team in the PAC-10, so let's see how they play at Washington.
I am as disappointed as any fan of the Bruins this year, but it is rather strange how everyone has jumped Howland's ship when just last year the same people were saying he walked on water.
Every team has years where they will not be so talented or competitive, and hopefully Howland will use that to evaluate and land the appropriate recruits for the limited time they stay in college.
I have been one of the first to publicly state that the Bruins have needed to get more beef to compliment our finesse players for a few years now.
But to Howland's credit, show me another University that it's NBA players are doing better collectively in Pros that have come out in the last 3 or 4 years?! That alone should be the major recruiting tool!!!
Anyone else besides me impressed with the job Simon Miles did on last nights broadcast? I had never heard him do a Bruins game before and I thought "Oh, great. Another announcer that doesn't know anything about UCLA that is going to misprounounce everyone's names and call the wrong people by the wrong name (ala CBS)" but I was pleasantly surprised. He was very knowledable about both teams. Good work Miles!
Oh, the one question I had that maybe someone here can answer. Simon said last night that Malcolm Lee hasn't played point since his senior year in H.S.. If I remember correctly, wasn't Lee the tallest player on his team and was forced to play center his senior year??? That kept bugging me last night.
I love my Bruins as much as the next guy but that win last night might have been a mirage. True the Bruins are playing much better than at the beggining of the season but WSU is just aweful on offense and defense. Their defense is so porous, I have no clue how they could have 15 wins. Hoping this game gives UCLA some confidence going into the final stretch of the year. We need to win the P10 tourney to give me something to plan my life around come late March!!!
Malcolm Lee played PG his senior year in H.S???!....doesn't look like it.
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