Tag Archives: Ike Anigbogu

Ike Anigbogu expected to play Sunday in NCAA Tournament

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UCLA forward Ike Anigbogu dunks during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game against Oregon State, Sunday, Feb. 12, 2017, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)

After missing UCLA’s first-round game against Kent State on Friday with a sprained foot, forward Ike Anigbogu is slated to make his NCAA Tournament debut in the second round against Cincinnati.

Head coach Steve Alford said Saturday that he expects Anigbogu to play Sunday. Before practice, the 6-foot-10 freshman was seen without his protective walking boot.

“He’s improving great and we expect him to play,” Alford said.

The coach added that Anigbogu was “pretty close” to playing Friday, but said “it’s always the student-athlete’s best interest in mind first and we felt like he needed more time.”

Freshman Lonzo Ball‘s bruised hip shouldn’t be a problem. Alford said he believes Ball will be “close to 100 percent tomorrow” and that the hard fall just “stung him a little bit.”

Lonzo Ball’s hip is ‘fine’ after big crash

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SACRAMENTO, CA – MARCH 17: Lonzo Ball #2 of the UCLA Bruins is helped up after falling to the court and sustaining an injury against the Kent State Golden Flashes during the first round of the 2017 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament at Golden 1 Center on March 17, 2017 in Sacramento, California. (Photo by Jamie Squire/Getty Images)

UCLA’s already short-handed roster got another scare Friday night when Lonzo Ball crashed to the Golden 1 Center court against Kent State.

The freshman played through a right hip bruise to set UCLA’s single-season assist record at 257, surpassing Larry Drew II‘s mark of 256 from the 2012-13 season, as the Bruins advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament with a 97-80 win against Kent State. The Bruins (30-4) face Cincinnati on Sunday at 6:40 p.m. PT on TBS.

Ball played 17 minutes during the second half after suffering the minor injury and said afterward simply his hip is “fine.”

UCLA head coach Steve Alford said he doesn’t think it’s anything to worry about.

The greater concern is forward Ike Anigbogu, who missed Friday’s game with a sprained foot. He suffered the injury in practice Tuesday and was still in his protective boot while sitting on the bench Friday. According to a UCLA spokesperson, the freshman is still day-to-day. Alford said he’s hopeful that the 6-foot-10 forward will be back.

Against an undersized Kent State team, the Bruins didn’t miss Anigbogu much. They’ll surely need him against sixth-seeded Cincinnati.

The Bearcats (30-5) easily got past Kansas State 75-61 in the first round Friday. They scored 34 points in the paint and outrebounded the Wildcats 31-23. Kyle Washington, a 6-foot-9 forward, had 16 points and four rebounds while fellow forward Gary Clark had 15 points and seven rebounds. Guard Troy Caupain led the Bearcats with 23 points.

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UCLA basketball loses one third of prized recruiting class for 4-6 weeks

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One of the three members of the UCLA basketball team’s prized recruiting class won’t make his debut with the other two.

Freshman center Ike Anigbogu tore his right meniscus during practice last week and scout.com’s No. 17 recruit in the class of 2016 will miss four to six weeks after undergoing surgery on Tuesday. The tear is small enough that UCLA is hopeful for a return before Thanksgiving, in which case he would only miss the first four games of the season: Pacific, Can State Northridge, San Diego and Long Beach State.

On a team loaded with offensive talent, the 6-foot-10, 250-pound Anigbogu is the most imposing defensive presence. There isn’t another player on the UCLA roster in the mold of a rim protector who plays such a physical style.

“He’s a big body and we can pressure up more because we know Ike is in the back cleaning up shots and getting rebounds,” senior guard Isaac Hamilton said. “He’s going to be a huge key to our success.” Continue reading “UCLA basketball loses one third of prized recruiting class for 4-6 weeks” »

UCLA basketball picked third in Pac-12 preseason media poll

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From left to right, T.J. Leaf, Ike Anigbogu and Lonzo Ball form the No. 5 recruiting class in the country, according to rivals.com.

From left to right, T.J. Leaf, Ike Anigbogu and Lonzo Ball form the No. 5 recruiting class in the country, according to rivals.com.

Only Oregon and Arizona were chosen to finish ahead of UCLA in the Pac-12 preseason media poll. Returning nearly all of the Elite Eight team from last season, Oregon received 23 of the first-place votes and Arizona the remaining four, but UCLA finished third by a wide margin.

In the poll released Friday at Pac-12 Media Day, 50 votes separated the Bruins from Cal, which finished 10 votes ahead of fifth-place Colorado. Featuring perhaps the best freshman in the country in Markelle Fultz, Washington finished sixth, followed by USC and Utah.

UCLA can argue it may have the best freshman in the country in Lonzo Ball. Only Arizona landed a more highly ranked group of freshman in the conference than UCLA’s top-five recruiting class including forward T.J. Leaf and center Ike Anigbogu.

Seeing as the Bruins graduated just one player from the team that finished only ahead of Arizona State and Washington State last season, UCLA was richly rewarded by the media for their recruiting haul.

2016-17 Pac-12 Men’s Basketball Preseason Poll
1. Oregon (23)
2. Arizona (4)
3. UCLA Continue reading “UCLA basketball picked third in Pac-12 preseason media poll” »

UCLA links: Men’s basketball cruises to win in Australia

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UCLA coach Steve Alford said this year's Bruins don't respond as well to "mental pressure" as last year's team. (David Crane/Staff)

UCLA coach Steve Alford praised his three freshmen after the Bruins blew out Sydney University in their exhibition game Tuesday. (David Crane/Staff)

Freshmen starred for the UCLA men’s basketball team in its 123-76 exhibition blowout victory over Sydney University on Tuesday.

UCLA’s trio of freshmen had 46 combined points with TJ Leaf leading the way with a team-high 21. Ike Anigbogu had 16 and Lonzo Ball had nine. Leaf added nine rebounds and Anigbogu had eight boards. Ball had four assists, two steals and two blocks.

“They were outstanding, all three of them – Ike, Lonzo and TJ,” head coach Steve Alford told UCLABruins.com. “We know what they can do. They came here in their first exhibition game and all three played very well.”

UCLA seniors Isaac Hamilton and Bryce Alford had 18 and 17 points, respectively.

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