Report: Howland to be fired Sunday

Posted on March 23, 2013 by Jack Wang

Multiple reports indicate that UCLA could fire head coach Ben Howland as soon as Sunday.

Recruiting guru Alex Kline first reported the news, and SNY.tv’s Adam Zagoria followed up with more details.

Yahoo! Sports reported Saturday evening that Howland had been notified of his firing, with an official announcement to come within the next 48 hours.

“Contrary to multiple media reports this evening, UCLA has not fired men’s basketball coach Ben Howland,” the school said in a statement.

According to Zagoria, UCLA is looking at Florida’s Billy Donovan, Butler’s Brad Stevens, VCU’s Shaka Smart, Villanova’s Jay Wright and North Carolina State’s Mark Gottfried. Kline’s source said Smart is the No. 1 target, and that Kyle Anderson and Shabazz Muhammad are both headed for the NBA. Continue reading →

UCLA’s season ends with a whimper

Posted on March 23, 2013 by Jack Wang

AUSTIN, Texas — Without Jordan Adams, sixth-seeded UCLA closed out its turbulent season with a flatlined performance against No. 11-seed Minnesota.

The Bruins were the slated underdog all week long. Once the game actually began at the Frank Erwin Center, they did nothing but reaffirm that talk in a 83-63 loss. What started out as an ugly but mutually designed affair — the teams missed their first 12 combined field goal attempts — eventually turned into a Gophers rout.

Despite shooting 26.7 percent in the first half, UCLA stayed within 10 points at the intermission due to a surprisingly strong rebounding effort. The team ended up with a 42-36 edge on the glass, grabbing 19 offensive boards on 43 missed shots.

It wasn’t until Minnesota point guard Andre Hollins caught fire in the second half that the Bruins were completely sunk. The sophomore scored 23 points after halftime, and added nine rebounds to go with five assists.

Some notes from the game. Continue reading →

Minnesota 35, UCLA 25: Halftime update

Posted on March 22, 2013 by Jack Wang

AUSTIN, Texas — All week long, UCLA insisted it was ready for the big stage.

The No. 6-seeded Bruins embraced the underdog role as it opened the NCAA tournament. They would prove the doubters wrong, they said, just as they had done on their way to a regular-season Pac-12 title.

But just 20 minutes into their matchup against No. 11-seed Minnesota, UCLA barely looked like a team that belonged in the NCAA tournament. The Bruins shot 8-of-30 from the field before halftime as it gave up a 35-25 lead to the Gophers. Continue reading →

CSUN head coach candidates include UCLA assistants

Posted on March 22, 2013 by Jack Wang

UCLA assistant coaches Scott Garson and Phil Matthews are candidates for the Cal State Northridge head coaching vacancy. Garson has been with the Bruins for seven years, while Matthews has for three.

Matadors athletic director Brandon Martin, hired in late February, did not renew Bobby Braswell’s contract — ending the coach’s 17-year tenure. The other finalists for the position are Los Angeles D-Fenders coach Reggie Theus, Cal State Dominguez Hills coach Damaine Powell and Gonzaga assistant Donny Daniels.

Brown’s sprained ankle another hit to thin lineup

Posted on March 21, 2013 by Jack Wang

With UCLA down to a seven-man rotation, coach Ben Howland will need to turn to walk-ons if anyone else gets injured between now and Friday’s 6:57 p.m. PT tipoff against Minnesota.

Sophomore guard David Brown, who hit a 3-pointer in his 13 minutes of play this season, would have been the first man off the bench had he not sprained his ankle in yesterday’s practice. He was wearing a boot over his left foot in today’s public shootaround. Howland said Sooren Derboghosian will be the first big he’ll use, while Aubrey Williams will be the first guard. Both have played a total of seven minutes.

Freshman Jordan Adams did not make the trip to Austin, Texas for the NCAA tournament after undergoing surgery this week.

Howland using bulletin-board material

Posted on March 21, 2013 by Jack Wang

When UCLA returned to the court following its stinging loss in the Pac-12 title game last week, it found something waiting for them.

After Las Vegas pegged the Bruins as one of two higher-seeded teams to lose in NCAA tournament’s round of 64, coach Ben Howland decided to post up predictions of Friday’s matchup against No. 11-seed Minnesota. Continue reading →

Obama picks Gophers over Bruins

Posted on March 20, 2013 by Jack Wang

President Barack Obama unveiled his March Madness bracket this morning with ESPN’s Andy Katz, and joined the crowd when it came to the UCLA-Minnesota first-round game.

“UCLA lost a key player (in Jordan Adams),” he said. “Minnesota’s been playing tough. I think Tubby Smith’s team’s gonna do pretty well.”

Obama only picked one national champion correctly (UNC, 2009) in his first term, and his 2012 bracket was in the 63.6th percentile of ESPN users. This year, he picked Indiana to beat fellow No. 1-seed Louisville in the title game, with No. 3 Florida and No. 2 Ohio State filling out the rest of his Final Four.

Gavin Schilling announces Wednesday

Posted on March 19, 2013 by Jack Wang

I will announce my college decision tomorrow at 11 15 am west coast time.

— Gavin Schilling (@GSchills32) March 19, 2013

Three-star forward Gavin Schilling is deciding between Minnesota, Villanova, Michigan State and UCLA, and will announce Wednesdy at 11:15 a.m. on Twitter. The 6-foot-9 recruit watched the Bruins’ win over Arizona in the Pac-12 semifinals, and his Findlay Prep teammate Allerik Freeman is already signed to UCLA.

UPDATE: Schilling said he will announce at 12:30 p.m. instead.

UCLA earns a No. 6 seed in NCAAs

Posted on March 17, 2013 by Jack Wang

Updated with team reactions

UCLA secured a No. 6 seed on Selection Sunday, but the celebration was somewhat muted.

The Bruins were happy more or less happy with the number, though coach Ben Howland said he expected a four- or five-seed. They were fine with playing No. 11-seed Minnesota on Friday, a team they still need to study on film.

But the location? Those 1,300 miles to Austin, Texas, wasn’t what the team wanted — especially not as two other Pac-12 schools were slotted in California. Howland said last week that he was more concerned with the location than the seed, and stuck true to that sentiment after the bracket was released.

“Honestly? I’d rather be Cal right now, playing in San Jose,” he said. “I’d rather be a 12-seed right now, playing in San Jose. Absolutely. Especially for the fans.” Continue reading →

Short-handed UCLA falls short of Pac-12 tourney title

Posted on March 17, 2013 by Jack Wang

Without shooting guard Jordan Adams, UCLA couldn’t do enough to beat Oregon for the Pac-12 tournament championship. As Adams sat at the end of the bench with a broken right foot, the Bruins lost 78-69 and failed to put together one strong, late rally.

UCLA cut the Ducks’ to two points with 12 minutes left to go on a 3-pointer by Larry Drew II, but proceeded to give up a 6-0 run over the next 90 seconds. It went the rest of the way down between six and 12 points — save for a 19-second stretch that saw the deficit shrink to four.

Oregon won its first tournament title since 2007. No team has won both the regular-season and tournament championships since the Bruins did so in 2008.

– UCLA’s seed for the NCAA tournament will likely drop due to Adams’ absence. The NCAA selection committee often account for injuries in their decision, and the Bruins being without their second-leading scorer could weigh heavily. In 2000, top-ranked Cincinnati missed out on a No. 1 seed when Kenyon Martin broke his leg. In 2009, St. Mary’s missed the tournament despite 26 wins because point guard Patty Mills hadn’t shaken off rust after breaking his hand. Continue reading →

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