UC Davis-UCLA: Post-Game

In the all-time series, 12-1 UCLA now leads 2-0 as there was a meeting in 1939-40 with the Bruins pulling out a 34-32 win. Other notes:

>> Bruin freshman center Kevin Love had four blocked shots today, a career high. His prior best was one.

>> UCLA had 20 assists on 33 baskets today, tying a seasonal high (Youngstown State).

>> The 37 field-goal attempts by UC Davis were the lowest UCLA has given up in a single game this season (previous low was 44 vs. Michigan State). It’s also the lowest total by UC Davis in a game this season (previous, 43 twice).

Quotes from UC Davis Head Coach Gary Stewart:

"There is no moral victory. We’re kind of disappointed that we couldn’t get the job done. But there are some things that we can build on. This is a good tape for us to evaluate our team.

"This is a great test to play against Division I opponents like UCLA. We’re only going to get better by playing against teams like this. We hope to make strides from this experience.

"The two freshmen, Max Payne and Ryan Silva, got into the heart of the defense and made some good decisions. Overall, we are going to look at this film and take away the positives. We shot 50% against a team like UCLA. That shows us what we’re capable of."

Quotes from UCLA Head Coach Ben Howland:

"UC Davis played tough tonight. They spread us out defensively, by running a Princeton-style offense. I was happy the way we responded, especially in the second half. It’s great to have the non-conference schedule behind us.

"We did a good job forcing turnovers without gambling tonight. I felt our man defense was aggressive and got them to do things they were uncomfortable with. Our 1-and-2 guards (Collison and Westbrook) are some of the most athletic in the country and they did a great job pressuring defensively. I also thought Alfred Aboya did a great job tonight. He plays so hard; I get excited watching him and the others pressure the ball.

"I was also excited with the way Darren [Collison] looked. He was unselfish to a fault and did a good job regaining his conditioning. He should be taking his brace off for practice Monday. I felt that the whole team lost a little bit of their conditioning with the break for Christmas; we will get up to speed by this weekend.

"Mike Roll also did a good job tonight. He had a couple of uncharacteristic passes, but I was most excited about him drawing his first charge ever.

"The Cal and Stanford trip is going be extremely tough. They have four NBA-caliber big men between them. Both teams also have good players around their front court. Stanford is a very solid team that is very well coached. They have some depth this year and their stadium is always a hard place to play in. Cal is very similar and will also be a tough game for us."