It’s no Space Jam, but last night’s Spring Sing intro video pitted four members of the UCLA men’s basketball team against the Company. My vote for best scene starts at 3:23.
Before he lost his job, Ben Howland said Kyle Anderson would become a full-time point guard — at least on offense.
Over a month after UCLA made its coaching change, that’s no longer the case. Filling in the void left by Larry Drew II is still paramount, but the Bruins may help themselves more by utilizing the multi-talented Anderson all over the court.
“We’ve got to figure out what’s going to be best for the Kyle,” head coach Steve Alford said. “We’ve got to keep all that open as far as how many different ways we can play him.” Continue reading
Fans who enjoyed Vegas during the Pac-12 Tournament won’t have to wait until March to visit again.
UCLA officially announced today that it will play in the 13th annual Las Vegas Invitational on Nov. 28 and 29. The Orleans Arena will host the Bruins, Nevada, Northwestern and Missouri. UCLA also has a nonconference game scheduled against the Tigers.
The regional round will take place the weekend prior, with UCLA hosting two teams. Those matchups will be against Chattanooga, IUPUI, Morehead State or Gardner-Webb.
UCLA did its best to give new coach Steve Alford a warm welcome, rolling out a grand stage for him on the Pauley Pavilion floor Tuesday at noon. Here’s the full scene from the day as well as a photo gallery featuring Shaquille O’Neal, but these are the main highlights. Continue reading
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.
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
UCLA pulled out a big 66-64 victory against Arizona to advance to the Pac-12 title game, but the cost was a season-ending broken foot for Jordan Adams (story here). The freshman guard erupted for 18 second-half points, including 13 straight, as the Bruins beat the Wildcats for the third time this season.
Tomorrow’s 8 p.m. tipoff (ESPN) pits UCLA against Oregon — a tough matchup for the Bruins even with Adams.
More notes after the jump. Continue reading
UCLA freshman guard Jordan Adams is out for the season with a broken fifth metatarsal in his right foot. He had scored a game-high 24 points to carry the Bruins to a 66-64 win over Arizona in the Pac-12 Tournament semifinals.
Adams injured the foot trying to defend Solomon Hill’s last shot, and told teammates as he limped off the court that he suspected it was broken. He suffered a similar injury two summers ago.
“It’s horrible,” forward Travis Wear said. “His toughness and his shot, and what he brings to this team, it’s going to be hard to replace. The way, he’s been playing, it sucks.
“He came out and he put us on his back. To hurt your foot on the last play of the game, with what we have coming up, it doesn’t get worse than this.”
What a huge win for UCLA in another Pac-12 Tournament thriller. The Bruins advanced the the championship game with a 66-64 victory against Arizona. For that, they can thank Jordan Adams’ monstrous second-half performance. The freshman guard scored 13 straight points to bring UCLA back from a double-digit deficit, and had 18 of his game-high 24 after halftime. He also appeared to be limping after the game. More updates on that as well as the game after UCLA.
UPDATE: Jordan Adams broke the fifth metatarsal in his right foot and is done for the season. Adams told teammates he knew it was broken as soon as he hurt it on the final play of the game. The freshman had suffered a similar injury two summers ago.
Count Ben Howland among those who weren’t happy when the Pac-12 announced its conference awards yesterday.
“I was just really disappointed, miffed, stunned that Jordan Adams wasn’t on the all-freshmen team,” the UCLA coach said. “I couldn’t believe it. I felt hurt, sad, stunned, miffed.”
He’s not alone. The exclusion of UCLA’s freshman had many crying foul, including Arizona coach Sean Miller. The least touted member of the Bruins’ recruiting class quickly became the team’s most valuable player — especially while Co-Freshman of the Year Shabazz Muhammad missed three games and worked his way back into shape. Continue reading