Sunday Syllabus: the week that was and the week ahead

The 6-5 UCLA football team is somehow still in the race for the Rose Bowl going into this week’s game with USC after shutting out Oregon, 16-0. But there were plenty of other highlights during a busy week in UCLA sports:

Men’s Basketball:

>> Last week: The 6-0 Bruins won two amazing games against Maryland and Michigan State to win the O’Reilly Auto Parts CBE Classic in Kansas City last Monday and Tuesday and then eased past Yale, 81-47, on Friday at Pauley Pavilion. More worrisome were an eye injury to forward Alfred Aboya (status unknown) and an ankle injury to center Kevin Love, who appeared to be fine by the end of the game.

>> This week: The Bruins will host two quality teams, George Washington (2-1) and no. 15 Texas (5-0), which just demolished seventh-ranked Tennessee, 97-78, on Saturday. UCLA hosts GWU on Wednesday, November 28 and Texas next Sunday, December 2 as part of the Big 12-Pac-10 Challenge.

Men’s Soccer:

>> Last week: UCLA defeated New Mexico, 1-0, on Saturday in the first round of the NCAA Tournament, played at Drake Stadium. Sophomore midfielder Kyle Nakazawa (pictured) scored on a free kick with 1:39 to play in regulation time to give UCLA (9-8-3) the win.

>> This week: The Bruins will take on seventh-seed Santa Clara (15-1-4) on the road in the second round of the tournament. The Broncos and Bruins met this season back on September 22, with Santa Clara winning, 2-1, in overtime. Both Bronco goals came with UCLA a man down.

Men’s Water Polo:

>> Last week: UCLA needed to win the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation tournament to get into the NCAA Tournament, but finished fifth instead. The Bruins, ranked no. 4 in the nation going into the MPSF, lost their first-round match with fifth-ranked UC Irvine, 10-9, in overtime. They rebounded to beat Long Beach State, 13-9 and UC Santa Barbara, 15-8 and finish the season at 21-7. Sophomore Scott Davidson finished the season with 49 goals to lead the team.

Women’s Soccer:

>> Last week: The no. 1-ranked Bruins (19-1-2) just edged past Virginia, 2-1, in overtime at Drake Stadium Friday night to advance to the quarterfinals of the NCAA Tournament. After Virginia took a 1-0 lead in the 76th minute, Kristina Larsen scored in the 83rd minute to tie it and Lauren Cheney won it in the 98th minute with her ninth game-winning goal of the season.

>> This week: The Bruins will host Portland (18-3-0) at Drake Stadium on Friday, November 30 at 6 p.m. in a rematch of last year’s national quarterfinal for the right to go to the College Cup on December 7. Earlier this season, UCLA defeated Portland, 2-1, in overtime at home on September 28.

Women’s Volleyball:

>> Last week: No. 10-ranked UCLA finished its regular-season schedule with a split in Arizona, defeating Arizona State in four sets on Friday night, but falling to Arizona on Saturday in four sets. The Bruins finished the season with a 20-10 mark, but just 9-9 in Pac-10 play, good for sixth.

>> This week: The Bruins received the national no. 8 seed in the NCAA Tournament and will play their first-round game against Alabama A&M (15-9) on Friday, November 30 in Clemson, South Carolina. If UCLA should win, the Bruins will play the winner between Alabama (15-14) and host Clemson (28-3).

Kyle Nazakawa photo courtesy UCLA.