| 02 February 2012
The Huskies receive another chance to prove to the nation that they are an NCAA Tournament caliber team as ESPN covers tonight's game against UCLA. The Dawgs are coming off of two huge road wins in Arizona to vault them into a first place tie with California atop the Pac-12 standings. UCLA attempted to salvage a lost season by beating up on both Utah and Colorado at home last week.
The Basics:
6 p.m. PST. ESPN. Alaska Airlines Arena.
Washington Huskies (14-7; 7-2) UCLA Bruins (12-9; 5-4)
|
G |
Abdul Gaddy |
6'3 |
G |
Lazeric Jone |
6’0 |
|
G |
Tony Wroten |
6'5 |
G |
Jermaine Anderson |
6'2 |
|
G/F |
Terrence Ross |
6'6 |
G/F |
Tyler Lamb |
6'5 |
|
F |
Desmond Simmons |
6'7 |
F |
David Wear |
6'10 |
|
C |
Aziz N'Diaye |
7'0 |
F |
Travis Wear |
6'10 |
Breaking Down The Bruins
If you are reading this post, I will go ahead and assume you’ve heard of the Bruins struggles this season. In case you’ve been living under a rock, here’s the gist: Reeves Nelson was on the cover of Sports Illustrated this year to showcase the highly touted Bruins (ranked in the top 20 by SI, ha!). Fast-forward to today. Reeves Nelson has been dismissed from the Bruins (and also from the Lithuanian team he joined after UCLA dumped him) and the Bruins are a measly 12-9 and in a three-way tie for fifth place in the conference. MORE AFTER THE JUMP!
UCLA has won just one road game this season, against conference cellar-dweller USC, and come into tonight’s nationally televised game with a 1-6 record away from home. The Bruins are also a meager 4-9 against RPI top 150 teams.
The Bruins have not had a true scoring leader emerge, but are lead by Lazeric Jones with 13.4 points per contest. Jones also averages 4.5 APG. The Wear twins, although first year players for UCLA (North Carolina transfers), have put together extremely solid minutes in the post for the Bruins since being thrust into the starting role, replacing Nelson and a severely underperforming Joshua Smith. Each twin is averaging at least 10 points and 5 rebounds per game.
The height of the frontcourt for the Bruins has allowed them to lead the conference in blocks with 4.7 per game. However, height does not necessarily translate to rebounds, as UCLA is 8th in the conference with 36 rebounds a night. Ben Howland prides himself on team defense and was finally able to execute well last week, as the Bruins gave up just 54.5 points per game against Utah and Colorado.
Keys to the Game
Rebounding: The Huskies have an opportunity to dominate the Bruins on the boards, as the Wear twins are not nearly as physical as UW’s big men. N’Diaye and Sefarian-Jenkins will each get their chances to manhandle the Wear twins in the paint, while both of them are much faster than 300+ lb. Josh Smith.
Momentum: Back to back road wins is the furthest thing from common for Husky fans. UW can come back to Hec Ed with some swag in their step, knowing that they sit atop the league standings.
Tempo: Ben Howland’s squad made huge strides in their defensive performance last week in Los Angeles. The question is, can they keep pace with UW’s offense? The Dawgs seem to let other teams take control of the tempo at will and it will be a big test to see UW square off against UCLA in a half court battle.
Mismatches: This one is specifically for Tony Wroten, who makes any smaller guard look like Muggsy Bogues when he takes them into the lane. The Bruins will most likely throw Jermaine Anderson at Wroten, but Anderson is still only 6’2. If UCLA decides to have Tyler Lamb D up Tony, Ross will find a mismatch. UCLA cannot counter the size of the Husky guards. 6’5 junior De’End Parker (maybe because yesterday was Signing Day, but his first name is absolutely ridiculous) will likely see a lot of playing time for the Bruins.
Prediction
UCLA has one road victory all year and that’s if one wants to count 6-16 USC as an actual basketball team. The Dawgs are coming into this one riding high after a very emotional win at Arizona on ESPN and look to make it two nationally televised victories in a row. ESPN must be regretting this game, as UCLA has gone to shambles without Reeves Nelson and their supposed frontcourt depth. This one won’t be close, as the Dawgs run away with an 83-65 victory.
