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The Times' UCLA football beat writer, Chris Foster, today reported that four-star running back Aundre Dean of Katy High School (Katy, Texas) has confirmed his commitment to attend UCLA.
Dean (6-1, 200) made an early verbal commitment last fall, but was considered to be wavering and has now reconfirmed his intention to sign a National Letter of Intent to attend UCLA.
The Bruins won easily, 84-51, and there was a lot to think about after their best overall effort of the conference season:
>> UCLA improved to 19-2 overall and 7-1 in the Pac-10 Conference. Arizona State dropped to 14-6 and 4-4 in the
league (it has lost four in a row).
>> In the all-time series, UCLA now leads 55-14 and has won seven in a
row over ASU. The Bruins are now 29-5 against the Sun Devils while playing in Los Angeles.
>> Bruin Coach Ben Howland now has a career mark of 9-4 against the Sun Devils
while ASU Coach Herb Sendek is now 0-3 against UCLA.
>> UCLA guard Darren Collison had a season-high nine assists and has
now made 28 straight free throws in five games. That ties the UCLA school
record for consecutive free throws made in conference play, set by Gary
Cunningham in the 1960 season (28-28 in 12 games). The UCLA school record is
36 by Henry Bibby (1972).
>> Bruin freshman center Kevin Love had his 12th double-double of the
season, with 20 points and 10 rebounds.
>> UCLA sophomore guard Russell Westbrook had a career high of
four steals (previous, 3 at Washington State on Jan. 12).
>> The Bruins shot 58.5% from the field tonight, their best so far this
season (previous, 57.7% vs. Washington State on Jan. 12).
UCLA also had — by far — its best three-point shooting night this season with
8-12 for 67% (previous, 56.3% on 9-16 vs. Stanford on Jan. 3).
>> Arizona State sophomore guard
Derek Glasser had a season high of 13 points and led the team in scoring for
the first time this season.
>> Tonight was the 11th time that UCLA has held its opponent to less
than 40% from the field (ASU shot 38.3%). It also was the 13th time that UCLA
has shot 50% or better from the field (58.5%).
>> Other Pac-10 scores, with updated conference records:
Arizona 80 (5-3), at USC 69 (4-4) California 69 (3-5), at Washington State 64 (5-3) - Stanford 65 (6-2), at Washington 51 (3-5)
Quotes from Arizona State Coach Herb Sendek: "Obviously, we got whipped in every facet of the game. Tonight was just a learning experience. We have a short turnaround; we have a game on Saturday against SC. We just have to keep working and no player in particular stood out tonight."Quotes from UCLA Coach Ben Howland: "I was really pleased with how we played tonight. We played exceptionally well, especially against their zone. We did a good job penetrating, jump-stopping and making the extra pass. We were really able to break it open. When Kevin Love hit his three and then Darren [Collison] added his own off a turnover, we didn’t look back.
"The only negative was that Lorenzo Mata-Real injured his [left] wrist when he tried to take a charge. We don’t know how bad it is, but he will have an X-ray after he gets washed up.
"I thought ASU played well, even though they have been struggling on the road. Russell Westbrook and Darren were exceptional tonight. They combined for 16 assists against only one turnover. Darren was perfect from the line and from the field and also added a season-high nine assists.
"Russell penetrated very well and made a lot of good plays on jump stops, pump-fakes and passes. I think this is the best we’ve attacked the zone in my five years at UCLA. This performance will give us a lot of confidence for the rest of the season."
The Bruins started strong in the second half with an all-court "Love Letter" outlet the length of the court to Darren Collison for a lay-in by center Kevin Love. UCLA is up, 53-27, with 16:09 to play in the game.
>> UCLA has rarely looked more in control than during tonight's game. The Bruins have penetrated the ASU zone at will and the Sun Devils have done poorly in coming back out to pressure Josh Shipp on three-point tries. So Shipp has 21 on 6-11 shooting and 5-8 from three-point land. The Bruins lead, 76-42, with 6:59 to play.
>> Four Bruins finished in double figures, led by Shipp with 21, Love with 20 (and a game-high 10 rebounds), Collison with 14 and Russell Westbrook with 10. UCLA shot 58.5% from the field for the game and held ASU to just 38.3%.
Final score: UCLA 84, Arizona State 51
Luc Richard Mbah A Moute started the game and looked frisky in the first few minutes with a rebound and a lay-in to start a 13-0 Bruin run that opened an 18-7 lead for UCLA.
>> The Sun Devils have had a hard time shooting — they look "out of phase" as engineer Montgomery Scott would have said on "Star Trek." With 7:38 to go in the half, UCLA leads 27-15 as Arizona State has shot 33.3% from the field.
>> The Bruins shot 60.7% from the floor, looked great in driving into the lane to beat the Sun Devil zone and Kevin Love had 13 hard-fought points to forge a 46-24 lead at the half. Arizona State shot only 32.1% from the field and super frosh James Harden had a hard time even handling the ball. He was just 2-5 from the floor and scored six points.
UCLA had a 20-13 rebounding edge in the half and a 22-8 edge in points scored in the lane. Arizona State Coach Herb Sendek was not happy, and got a warning from umpire Bruce Hicks with 5:50 to go in the half.
 UCLA is favored by 13 1/2 points tonight over 14-5 Arizona State (4-3 in conference) at Pauley Pavilion. The over-under line is set at 127, so the Bruins are supposed to win by a score of 70-57. UCLA has beaten Arizona State in their last six meetings.
>> As usual, defense will be the key. The Bruins are allowing opponents to shoot 41.9% from the field, but the Sun Devils are allowing only 39.7% shooting.
>> Tonight’s game features a pair of high school teammates and a pair of brothers facing each other. Arizona State’s junior forward Jeff Pendergraph was a teammate of Bruin point guard Darren Collison at Etiwanda High School, and the brothers Shipp — Bruin Josh and Sun Devil Jerren — will be together on the court. All four are starters.
>> Although the Sun Devils have lost three games in a row, they have led in each: 12 over Stanford, nine over Washington and 11 over Washington State. But one of the reasons they’ve collapsed is the play of Pendergraph, who is averaging only 7.3 points a game in those three outings. "It seems like when I get on a roll, we get on a roll," he told Norm Frauenheim of the Arizona Republic. "It’s almost like defenses are saying: ‘We can’t get Jeff get going.’ " With freshman sensation James Harden almost unstoppable, that’s a good strategy.
"There are a million excuses," said point guard Jamelle McMillan. "But we've lost three games we should have had."
>> The latest NBA mock draft from NBAdraft.net has two Bruins listed in the first round: Collison at No. 13 and freshman center Kevin Love at No. 20. Also on the board in the second round are Josh Shipp (who has said he plans to return to school) at No. 34 and junior forward Luc Richard Mbah A Moute at No. 40. All together, this mock draft has 15 Pac-10 players listed out of the 60 picks to be made by NBA teams.
Common sense has prevailed and UCLA Sports Information sent this notice earlier this evening: All students are welcome to come to Pauley Pavilion for ESPN College GameDay on Saturday morning. Members of The Den, wearing their Den t-shirt will receive priority seating.
Gate 10 at Pauley Pavilion will open at 6:30 am SportsCenter will air live from Pauley at 7:00 am, followed by College GameDay at 8:00 am.
The UCLA band and Spirit Squad will also be present.
CollegeGameDay will also air live from Pauley at 5:00 pm leading into the 6:00 pm contest between Arizona and UCLA.
UCLA Sports Information issued an update on junior gymnast Kristina Comforte, who injured her right knee during the floor exercise portion of the dual meet win against Stanford last Sunday:
"An MRI taken on Monday indicated significant bone bruising but no ligament damage. Surgery will not be necessary, but she is out indefinitely."
The No. 8-ranked Bruins travel to Washington this week for the first of four meets away from Pauley Pavilion.
Bruin freshman center Kevin Love has, like several other freshman stars, made his way onto the mid-season awards lists released yesterday.
Love appears on the "Player of the Year" watch lists for both the Naismith and Wooden awards. He’s the only Bruin on the Wooden Award list; Josh Shipp is also on the 30-player Naismith Award list.
>> The ESPN "College Gameday" origination from Los Angeles on Saturday will have host Rece Davis in Pauley Pavilion with analysts Jay Bilas, Hubert Davis and former Notre Dame coach Digger Phelps on Saturday morning. Bilas and Davis never played in Pauley, but Digger was a familiar figure as the Notre Dame coach from the 1971-72 season through 1990-91. He had a 14-18 mark against UCLA, but broke the Bruins’ 88-game win streak with a 71-70 victory at South Bend in 1974. He was 6-10 against UCLA in Pauley Pavilion, but won four in a row at one point; he had a 2-6 record against John Wooden overall, but 12-12 against a succession of Bruin coaches that followed. Check the student section Saturday to see if the ancient folding sign from the 1970s -– still preserved -– that reads "Digger is a Wimp" is trotted out for his return.
>> Bruin Coach Ben Howland has said that the UCLA-Notre Dame series was exciting and should be re-started. Would Saturday be a good day to announce that, with Phelps in the house? UCLA has a 27-19 record against the Irish and the teams last met in 2004-05 in South Bend in Howland's first year at UCLA, a 75-65 Bruin win. Notre Dame's 19 wins is the most by any non-conference opponent against UCLA and more than the 13 wins achieved by Arizona State and Washington State against the Bruins.
>> Rivals.com recruiting analyst Jerry Meyer sees next season’s star recruit, Jrue Holiday, as a potential "one-and-done" player at UCLA. He writes, "No need to convince us that he is the best and most complete perimeter player in this class, but will he get the chance in a potentially loaded UCLA backcourt to convince the NBA executives?"
Things are getting crazy in recruiting, but spring practice dates have been set for April 3-26 with the spring game scheduled for Saturday the 26th.
>> The Austin American-Statesman reported that the nation’s No. 1-rated running back, Darrell Scott of Ventura St. Bonaventure, has Texas and Colorado as his top two picks for schools at present, but the Bruins are recruiting him hard.
>> Just to show how strange recruiting can be, Notre Dame Prep (Scottsdale, Az.) quarterback Sean Renfree turned down Arizona State and Boise State and will sign with Duke. The Blue Devils, despite being a perennial loser in football, just hired David Cutcliffe as head coach. Cutcliffe coached Peyton Manning at Tennessee and Eli Manning at Mississippi. Kelly Page, a highly-regarded quarterback from Mesquite, Texas, de-committed from Oregon after the Ducks got two verbal commitments from other option quarterbacks and will now go to Ball State.
>> In case you missed it, the only former Bruin selected in the inaugural All-American Football League Draft last Saturday was quarterback David Koral, who was primarily a reserve in 2004 and 2005. He was the fifth pick in the first round and went to Michigan, which will play its home games at Ford Field in Detroit. The six-team league will begin play in April with a ten-game regular season.
The ESPN "College GameDay" show will originate from Pauley Pavilion 8 a.m. PST on Saturday, before the UCLA-Arizona game that will be shown on ESPN beginning at 6 p.m.
At today’s news conference, it was announced that members of The Den, UCLA’s student fan group -– the ones with the blue shirts -– will be able to attend the show live. The Bruin athletic department made the determination that no one else, student or otherwise, will be allowed in.
 Bruin Coach Ben Howland had encouraging news on the injury front at today’s news conference, starting with forward Luc Richard Mbah A Moute, who suffered a concussion against USC:
"Luc is practicing today. He had a CT [scan] yesterday, just for [a] precaution; it’s all negative. He worked out for about an hour yesterday and felt fine afterwards. Hopefully, he’ll have a good result again today.
"Lorenzo [Mata-Real] obviously played on Saturday and he should be fine. [Michael Roll] is at least a few [more] weeks."
Howland said having Mbah A Moute back will help defensively: "He’s one of our best defenders. Having more depth is obviously a huge factor for us, especially on the perimeter."
>> On the Sun Devils, Howland said, "They’re really good. They’re coming off two tough losses at home where they had a chance to win. [James] Harden is one of the best players in the conference. Just look at his numbers and what he’s been able to do as a true freshman; it’s really astounding. He does a lot of things that are hard to deal with. [Jeff] Pendergraph is playing great; [Ty] Abbott’s an outstanding shooter, he really played well on the road in their last road trip to Northern California. So it will be a very, very tough challenge for us.
"They’re very well coached, very disciplined, the kids are playing very much together. They run a Princeton offense, so they have a lot of little, special, quick hitters out of it.
"They play all zone. They play a little 1-3-1 and 1-3-1 trap, but primarily it’s a 3-2 match-up zone that’s pretty aggressive and they pressure the ball, play the passing lanes and match-up on the guys in their area."
>> On the Arizona game Saturday, Howland said he hadn’t researched the Wildcats yet, but said, "I know they’re very good and playing really well, to no one’s surprise. They have outstanding players. In Lute [Olson]’s absence, Kevin [O’Neill] has done a great job. Their defense is very, very good. [Jerryd] Bayless is one of the best players in the conference, another freshman. When he was out of the lineup, they lost a couple of games. When he’s in the lineup, their record is close to being perfect."
Howland also was very pleased with the win at Oregon, noting, "We won a very important game with a lot of our key guys injured. To be able to put it all together in that kind of difficult environment was a very satisfying win."
Asked about the abuse heaped on freshman center Kevin Love, Howland said he received a call from Oregon Athletic Director Pat Kilkenny. "He called yesterday," he said. "He called for me and I wasn’t in, but it was nice of him to do that. That’s behind us now; we’re not worried about that." He noted that Oregon Coach Ernie Kent addressed the crowd about their behavior before the game against USC last Saturday.
 It’s said that there is no off-season for sports any more. That’s certainly true for some of the Bruins as four stars from UCLA’s fall women’s teams are in training with the U.S. National Teams.
Football:
>> UCLA announced today that the home game against Arizona scheduled for Sept. 27 has been moved to Sept. 20 at the request of television. The Bruins will now play Fresno State, Tennessee, at BYU and Arizona on consecutive weekends before their first bye.
>> Bruin fullback Michael Pitre, lost for the entire 2007 season due to injury, is filing for a sixth year of eligibility with the NCAA. He has been told by UCLA that his scholarship will be honored for his final year in school, whether he is allowed to play or not.
Softball:
>> The pre-season polls are out and perennial NCAA title contender UCLA is considered good, but not great. The Bruins were ranked 10th in the nation in the ESPN/USA Softball Collegiate Top 25 poll and 17th in the NFCA national coaches poll. In the Pac-10 coaches poll, the Bruins were ranked third behind Arizona (pre-season national title favorite) and Arizona State. UCLA starts play Feb. 8 at Easton Stadium on campus.
Men’s Golf:
>> The Bruins were ranked second nationally going into this week’s PING Invitational in Arizona, but have fallen well back after two rounds of the three-round tournament. Senior Kevin Chappell was the individual leader, however, with the final round being played today.
Men’s Tennis:
>> The match between No. 9 UCLA and No. 17 Pepperdine that was re-scheduled for Monday has been moved to today at the Los Angeles Tennis Center, beginning at 3 p.m.
Men’s Track & Field:
>> Junior Laef Barnes was the highlight for the Bruins in the Washington Preview in Seattle, running the mile in a lifetime best of 4:03.28. That’s good enough for a provisional NCAA qualifying mark for the indoor nationals in his first race of the season.
Men’s Volleyball:
>> Fourth-ranked UCLA (6-3) will play the first of four home matches with a non-conference tilt against Cal Baptist (top-ranked in the NAIA) on Wednesday at Pauley Pavilion starting at 7 p.m. It’s also Club and High School team night and teams can register by calling (310) 206-3444.
Women’s Gymnastics:
>> The No. 8 Bruins barely got by No. 9 Stanford, 195.050 to 195.025 last Sunday, as senior Tasha Schwikert scored a needed 9.8 on the floor exercise to seal the win and got exactly that score. Anna Li and Brittani McCullough went 1-2 in the all-around for the third straight meet, but Kristina Comforte suffered a knee injury during the floor exercise and had to be carried off the floor. She had an MRI on Monday and will see a doctor today for further review.
Women’s Soccer:
>> UCLA’s dynamic duo of striker Lauren Cheney and midfielder Tina DiMartino have been called up to the training camp for the U.S. National Team, taking place at The Home Depot Center in Carson. Both played on the winning Four Nations Tournament team in China and the camp that starts on Feb. 1 will select players for the Algarve Cup in Portugal (March 5-12) and the CONCACAF Olympic Women’s Qualifying Tournament in Juarez, Mexico (April 2-13).
Women’s Volleyball:
>> All-American setter Nellie Spicer (pictured) joined former Bruin senior outside hitter Rachell Johnson with the U.S. National Team in Colorado Springs, Colo., earning an invitation from USA Volleyball. She will report Feb. 18 and is in the pool of players who could participate in the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing.
Women’s Water Polo:
>> No. 1-ranked UCLA beat Colorado State, 15-2 and Indiana, 15-6, on Sunday to finish the Michigan Invitational undefeated at 4-0. Junior forward Katie Rulon scored 12 goals over the weekend’s play to earn Mountain Pacific Sports Federation Co-Player of the Week honors with San Jose State goalie Kendra Adama. The Spartans were also 4-0 on the weekend.
Nellie Spicer photo courtesy UCLA.
The Times' UCLA football beat reporter Chris Foster notes that walk-on, back-up quarterback McLeod Bethel-Thompson, who played well in the Las Vegas Bowl against BYU and terribly in the regular-season loss to Notre Dame, will transfer to Sacramento State.
Multiple sources are reporting that UCLA is interested in former San Diego State quarterback Kevin Craft, who just completed his sophomore season at Mt. SAC. The San Bernardino Sun reported that Bruin coach Rick Neuheisel offered Craft a scholarship last weekend and that Craft has also been contacted by Hawaii and SMU. According to the Sun report, Mt. SAC coach Bob Jastrab said "It's kind of a last-minute deal. They just hired [Norm] Chow to be their offensive coordinator. They saw him on film amd liked what they saw. I think he's going to make a decision in the next couple of days."
Craft completed more than 60% of his passes at Mt. SAC last season, throweing for 4,231 yards and 44 touchdowns.
Bruin freshman center Kevin Love received his third U.S. Bank/Pac-10 Player of the Week honor today for his performance in the two games against the Oregon schools on the road last weekend.
Love recorded his 10th and 11th double-doubles of the year and averaged 21.0 points and 19.5 rebounds per game. He also shot 63.6% (14 for 22) from the field and 50.0% (2 for 4) from three-point range.
There’s no doubt that Love played brilliantly, but what about Bruin guard Darren Collison? He had career highs of 22 and 33 points in two games, was 19-19 from the foul line, had nine assists, three steals and only two turnovers.
In addition to working diligently to keep a very good recruiting class together, new Bruin football Coach Rick Neuheisel and his assistant coaches have been talking to new recruits, and reportedly having some success. The Bruins are in hot pursuit of several defensive players:
>> Otis Jones of Leuzinger (6-2, 275), a defensive tackle who previously made an oral commitment to Arizona State.
>> Defensive end Eugene Germany (6-4, 280) of Mt. SAC and formerly of Pomona High School. He originally attended Michigan, but transferred back home and has two years of eligibility remaining.
>> Oak Park High School linebacker Sean Westgate (5-11, 200), reported by the Daily News as having made an oral commitment to UCLA over the weekend, after committing earlier to Arizona.
The first day of the national signing period is Feb. 6.
UCLA moved up to No. 5 in the Associated Press and ESPN/USA Today polls today, passing conference rival Washington State, which dropped to ninth in both polls. Memphis stayed at No. 1, followed by Kansas, Duke and North Carolina and then the Bruins. Duke and North Carolina will play each other in Chapel Hill in the first of two meetings this season on Feb. 6.
Stanford moved up to 14th in both polls, but was the only other Pac-10 school to be ranked. Arizona, USC and Arizona State received votes in both polls.
RPI watchers will note that five Pac-10 teams have ratings of 45 or better, usually the number needed to get into the NCAA Tournament. Arizona has the highest RPI of any Pac-10 school at No. 7 now, followed by Washington State (10), UCLA (12), Stanford (29) and USC (38). Dangerously low are Oregon (52), Washington (88), Arizona State (90), Cal (92) and Oregon State (235).
 A nice weekend for the Bruin basketball teams and a great win for the men’s volleyball team against No. 2 Pepperdine in Malibu on Saturday were the highlights of a busy week:
Baseball:
>> Last week: The Bruins were listed as No. 17 in the preseason coaches poll. UCLA was ranked No. 1 by Baseball America and No. 7 by Perfect Game Crosschecker.
>> This week: The annual Alumni Game was moved to Feb. 16 at Jackie Robinson Stadium. The heavy rains, coupled with the renovation of the field, will make play Feb. 2 too difficult.
Football:
>> Last week: Legendary offensive coordinator Norm Chow agreed to join Rick Neuheisel’s staff Monday, former Bruin strength and conditioning coach Mike Linn agreed to return Tuesday and former Bruin running backs coach Wayne Moses came aboard Wednesday. Former Bruin head coach Karl Dorrell was hired as the wide receivers coach of the Miami Dolphins.
>> This week: Recruiting is the name of the game this week as the signing period begins Wednesday, Feb. 6. Word is that Neuheisel has been in more homes than a Century 21 agent, many of them for prospects not already committed to UCLA.
Tennis:
>> Last week: The men’s-women’s doubleheader scheduled for last Friday was rained out. The Bruin men were supposed to face BYU and the women were scheduled to play No. 13 Baylor. The women’s match will be played Feb. 26, but there has been no announcement on whether the UCLA-BYU men’s match will be played.
>> This week: The Bruin men will be busy, playing Pepperdine on Monday at the Los Angeles Tennis Center (weather permitting) and then heading to the Bay Area for matches against Stanford on Friday and California on Saturday. The women (1-0), ranked third in the nation, will take on Irvine at the LATC on Thursday and then head to Malibu to play Pepperdine on Friday.
Men’s Basketball:
>> Last week: Brilliant weekends by both Kevin Love and Darren Collison highlighted No. 7 UCLA’s two wins at Oregon and Oregon State. Playing in noisy McArthur Court in Eugene on Thursday, Collison had a career high of 22 and Love had 26 points and 18 rebounds as the Bruins pulled out an 80-75 win with a late rally. On Saturday in Corvallis, Collison had another career high with 33 points and Love added 16 and a career-best 21 rebounds as UCLA ran away from the Beavers, 85-62.
>> This week: The Bruins are 18-2 overall and 6-1 in Pac-10 play and are in first place by a game over Stanford and Washington State. Much-improved Arizona State (14-5, 4-3) comes to Pauley Pavilion on Thursday for a 7:30 p.m. game and Arizona (14-6, 4-3) invades on Saturday at 6 p.m.
Men’s Soccer:
>> Last week: Senior defenders Brandon Owens and Greg Folk were selected in the MLS Supplemental Draft. Owens was the 10th pick in the first round and went to DC United while Folk was chosen by the Los Angeles Galaxy with the fourth pick of the third round. That brings the total number of UCLA players selected by MLS teams to five.
Men’s Volleyball:
>> Last week: The fifth-ranked Bruins won a major victory Saturday, defeating No. 2 Pepperdine in Malibu for the first time since 2004, in five games, 21-30, 30-20, 27-30, 30-28 and 15-12. The win improved UCLA’s record to 6-3 overall and 4-2 in Mountain Pacific Sports Federation play. UCLA dropped a five-set match to USC at the Galen Center on Wednesday.
>> This week: The Bruins have two matches this week, both at Pauley Pavilion. UCLA will face Cal Baptist in a non-conference match on Wednesday, then host UC Irvine on Friday.
Women’s Basketball:
>> Last week: Kathy Olivier’s young team improved to 6-3 in Pac-10 play with two wins over the Oregon schools in Pauley Pavilion. UCLA rebounded from a 49-35 deficit with 10:10 to go to outscore Oregon, 19-2, late in the second half and held on for a 63-59 win Thursday. The same thing happened Saturday as a 12-0 run in the second half helped UCLA defeat Oregon State, 74-70. Senior Lindsey Pluimer had 19 points for the Bruins in each game and junior Tierra Henderson had a career-high 16 against the Beavers.
>> This week: UCLA (11-9 overall) heads to the Bay Area for two difficult games against national powers No. 8 California, on Thursday at 7 p.m., and No. 7 Stanford, at Maples Pavilion on Saturday at 2 p.m.
Women’s Golf:
>> Last week: Bruin All-American Tiffany Joh was selected to play for the U.S. team in the Curtis Cup against a British-Irish amateur team on May 30-June 1 at The Old Course in St. Andrews, Scotland. She’s the first Bruin in 20 years to be selected to play in the Curtis Cup.
Women’s Gymnastics:
>> This week: The No. 8 Bruins (5-0) host No. 9 Stanford (1-1) today at 2 p.m. in Pauley Pavilion in the annual John Wooden Challenge, then head to Seattle to face Washington on Friday evening.
Women’s Soccer:
>> Last week: UCLA head Coach Jillian Ellis was named as an assistant coach for the U.S. Women’s National Team. She will remain as the Bruin coach, but will no longer be responsible for the U.S. Under-20 squad, which she had been coaching.
Women’s Water Polo:
>> Last week: The top-ranked Bruins began their season Saturday, crushing No. 11 Arizona State and then No. 8 UC San Diego by identical 14-5 scores. Junior Katie Rulon had four goals in each game to lead UCLA in scoring.
>> This week: UCLA continues play in Michigan today against Colorado State and Indiana. The Bruins will return home and take a short trip Saturday to play Loyola Marymount.
Lindsey Pluimer photo courtesy UCLA.
The Bruins are now 18-2 overall and 6-1 in first place in the Pac-10 Conference after an 85-62 win at Oregon State. Of note:
>> The Bruins took control with a 42-23 second-half flurry and had control of the game after a 17-1 run to start the half.
>> Darren Collison had a career-high 33 points and was a startling 13-13 on foul shots. He had 55 points in the two Oregon games, both career highs. He was 16-26 (61.5%) from the field in the two games.
>> Kevin Love had his 11th double-double in 20 games, 16 points and a career-high (and freshman record) 21 rebounds. For the weekend, he had 42 points and 39 rebounds!
The Bruin defense picked up in the second half, and OSU ended up shooting only 36% for the game after a 48% first half. The Bruins had a 31-21 edge in rebounding (15-5 in the second half). The Bruins also had 15 points off turnovers to only eight for OSU.
It was a solid win for UCLA over an underdog Oregon State team, but the Bruins will have to play a lot better to beat Arizona State and/or Arizona this coming week at Pauley Pavilion.
Darren Collison equaled his career high of 22 points with a basket in the first minute of the second half. He has another 18 minutes to set a new high, and the Bruins are out to a 47-39 lead with two baskets to open the half.
>> Four more Bruin points and it's an 8-0 UCLA run to start the half. It's a 51-39 Bruin lead with 15:52 to go. Collison has his career high at 24 points.
>> Explosion! Collison now has 29 points on 9-10 FG and 9-9 FT, and the Bruins are on a 17-1 run to start the second half. OSU still doesn't have a field goal after 5:36 in the second half. The Bruins are up, 60-40.
>> Oregon State finally got a field goal to cut the Bruin lead to 62-46, but UCLA ran away with a 17-4 edge in the first 8:17 of the second half while the Beavers were 0-10 to start the half.
>> Just as with the USC game Thursday, Oregon State has been crushed in the second half. The Beavers lost the second half to the Trojans, 41-19, and it's UCLA 34, OSU 15 so far with 4:33 to play (UCLA 77-54 overall).
>> Collison and Kevin Love finally sat down with a minute and a half to go. Collison had 33 tonight — a career high — and 55 in the two games on the Oregon trip. Love had 21 rebounds tonight — a freshman record — and he's the sixth player in UCLA history to have 21 or more rebounds in a game. Only Willie Naulls, Bill Walton, Lew Alcindor, David Greenwood and Sidney Wicks have had more in a game.
Final score: UCLA 85, Oregon State 62
Luc Richard Mbah A Moute won't play tonight, but the Bruins are running. After a 0-4 start, guards Russell Westbrook and Darren Collison are releasing early and center Kevin Love has flung the ball down court twice after rebounds for easy scores. UCLA leads, 7-4, after three minutes.
>> With 12:05 to play, Lorenzo Mata-Real comes into the game after missing the Oregon contest with a concussion. The Bruins are leading, 14-11, and James Keefe and Nikola Dragovic are playing in the first half.
>> There's 8:19 to play in the half and OSU is shooting only 31%, with seven turnovers. The Bruins are up, 23-13, and are shooting 43% from the floor.
>> A cause for concern: Josh Shipp's shooting has been poor this weekend — just 2-8 in the Oregon game Thursday and only 1-5 tonight.
>> Now the Beavers are shooting the ball like they haven't been all season: up to 48% to just 40% for the Bruins. And they are 4-8 from three-point range. Freshman Lathen Wallace has a career high of 12 points in just the first half! All that and OSU is up by one, 35-34, with 3:11 to play in the half. (Let's remember that USC led OSU, 27-25, at the half Thursday before a 41-19 second half and 68-44 final.)
>> Darren Collison had a career high of 22 points Thursday and has 20 in the first half tonight! But the Bruins are only up four after giving up 48% shooting to OSU in the first half. The Beavers also out-rebounded UCLA, 17-16. The Beaver bench outscored the Bruin bench, 16-0.
Halftime score: UCLA 43, Oregon State 39
On the UCLA pregame show on KLAC-AM (570), host Chris Roberts reported that Bruin reserve center Lorenzo Mata-Real should be able to play tonight but that forward Luc Richard Mbah A Moute will be a game-time decision. Both suffered concussions against USC last week.
Roberts said he asked Mata-Real, "How’s your head?" The senior center replied, "It’s hard."
UCLA needs to win at Oregon State tonight to maintain its one-game lead in the Pac-10. The Bruins are 17-2 overall and 5-1 in the conference, but both Stanford and Washington State have completed today’s play with 5-2 records.
The Cardinal defeated California, 82-77, in Berkeley and WSU pulled out a 56-55 win on the road at Arizona State. Coupled with Arizona’s 84-69 win over Washington at home, the Pac-10 standings show a logjam for fourth, with Arizona State and Arizona at 4-3 and USC could join them if the Trojans defeat Oregon in Eugene.
>> The Bruins are a 17-point favorite to beat Oregon State, with an over-under of 126. That makes the projected final UCLA 72, Beavers 55.
>> UCLA has won five in a row from OSU, sweeping the season series in each of the last two years. Oregon State’s last win came in March 2005, when OSU won 79-72 in Corvallis. Bruin Coach Ben Howland has a 7-3 career mark against the Beavers.
>> Tonight is OSU’s second game since Coach Jay John was dismissed, as was center C.J. Giles. The Beavers kept Thursday’s game with USC close for a half, but they were blown out in the second half and lost, 68-44.
>> Oregon State isn’t too bad defensively, but has a lot of problems on offense, shooting only 37.9% from the floor and 27.9% from the three-point line. The Beavers average only 60.6 points per game compared to UCLA’s 74.5.
 UCLA’s comeback 80-75 win at Oregon on Thursday night was compelling enough without the added drama of Ducks' fans yelling at Bruin freshman center Kevin Love and his family in the stands. But the attention to Love made the game all that more dramatic.
Love, on the FSN Prime Ticket "Bruins Live" postgame show with Michael Eaves, noted the hostile screams of the Oregon student section, known as "The Pit Crew," but said: "You don’t want to wake a monster and that’s kind of what they did tonight. I just kept a calm attitude and just played my game."
He told the [Portland] Oregonian, "Coming back to Oregon, all my family and friends were here and all the people that hate me for not going to Oregon were here as well. So it was a fun game and a fun atmosphere. I’m not going to lie, it was pretty nice."
Love winked at his father, Stan, a couple of times during the game, which was attended by Chris Dudley, a former NBA player who also was Love's assistant coach at Lake Oswego High School. Also in the crowd were former Oregon stars Aaron Brooks (who beat the Bruins in Eugene with a last-second jumper a year ago) and Dennis Dixon and NBA star Tracy McGrady of the Houston Rockets, who attended the game with his teammate Brooks.
About the atmosphere, which the Eugene Register-Guard reported included several signs that were confiscated by the arena’s security force, Bruin guard Russell Westbrook said afterward, "It was bad. But they have to take the loss."
Stan Love told the Eugene newspaper, "He was gonna try and destroy Oregon because of their making him change his [cellphone] number. Look what he’s doing out there. They should keep it up." That was at halftime, when Kevin Love had 14 points; he finished with 26.
It’s unlikely that Love will receive the same attention at Oregon State on Saturday night, as the Beavers are a woeful 0-7 in conference play. He can probably get ready by adding a Simon & Garfunkel tune to his iPod: "The Sounds of Silence."
Kevin Love and Ben Howland photo courtesy of UCLA
Gary DeLoach, who coached the safeties and special teams for UCLA last season, has returned to North Texas as the defensive coordinator. Here's the North Texas release: After orchestrating some of the most prolific defenses in North Texas football history, Gary DeLoach has been hired to come back as the Mean Green’s defensive coordinator. Head football coach Todd Dodge made the announcement today.
Returning to a familiar role, DeLoach spent five seasons as a North Texas assistant from 1998-2002, including his final three as the Mean Green’s defensive coordinator. His 2002 defense ranked third in the nation in scoring, allowing an average of just 14.8 points per game. That same unit ranked ninth nationally in total defense, allowing 288.7 yards per game. Both of those averages are the best by any North Texas defense since returning to Division I-A in 1995.
"We are tremendously excited about the return of Gary DeLoach as our defensive coordinator," Dodge said. "He is a great motivator and teacher and he has a proven track record of developing and implementing successful defensive systems. At the end of the day we hired a great defensive coach, but more importantly we hired a guy who is a great fit for North Texas and this football program."
DeLoach has spent the last five years as the defensive secondary coach at UCLA. During his time with the Bruins, DeLoach’s secondary unit ranked in the top 50 nationally in pass efficiency defense four times. His 2003 group led the Pacific-10 Conference in passing defense and ranked 32nd nationally, allowing just 200.7 yards per game and 15 touchdowns. In 2006, DeLoach coached safety Chris Horton, who led the team in tackles with 95, and in 2004 he coached Matt Clark, who earned first team all-conference honors. DeLoach also coached special teams for UCLA in 2007, helping the Bruins lead the Pac-10 and rank sixth nationally in kickoff return average.
During his time at North Texas, DeLoach directed some of the best defenses in school history. His 2001 and 2002 defensive units led the Sun Belt Conference in both scoring defense and total defense. In fact, during his three years leading the defense, North Texas ranked in the top three in the conference every year in total defense, scoring defense, rushing defense and passing defense. Under his leadership, 11 defensive players earned first team all-conference honors from 2000-02, including Brad Kassell and Brandon Kennedy, who were Sun Belt Defensive Players of the Year in 2001 and 2002, respectively.
"I am thrilled at the opportunity to return to a place that is very special to me," DeLoach said. "I have a great deal of respect for Coach Dodge and am confident that we have the pieces in place to return this program to prominence. We have had success here and we will be successful again."
DeLoach has spent 28 years as a college coach, including 16 as a defensive coordinator. He was the defensive coordinator at Stephen F. Austin from 1983-89, New Mexico State from 1990-94, Trinity Valley Community College in 1997 and North Texas from 2000-02. Trinity Valley won the 1997 JUCO national championship with a perfect 12-0 record thanks in large part to his defense that held opponents to an average of 13 points per game.
DeLoach is a Houston native and a graduate of Howard Payne University in 1976.
The Bruins beat Oregon, 80-75, at McArthur Court in Eugene, Ore., to move into sole possession of first place in the Pac-10 Conference. UCLA is now 17-2 overall and 5-1 in the conference heading into Saturday's game against Oregon State in Corvallis. Oregon dropped to 12-7 overall and 3-4 in the conference.
>> Kevin Love! He had 26 points, one short of his seasonal and career high, and shot 8-11 from the field and 2-2 from three-point range. He also had 18 rebounds, a career high, in 35 minutes.
>> Darren Collison found his offense tonight with a career-high 22 points — 7-14 from the field and 6-6 from the foul line — also in 35 minutes. He and Love had 48 of the Bruins' 80 points (60%).
>> Russell Westbrook had 15 points and seven rebounds, second highest on the team.
>> The Bruins shot 49.1% for the game, with Oregon at 48.3%. The Bruins were especially explosive from long range, at 9-21 (42.9%) for the game. UCLA out-rebounded Oregon, 36-24, and had only eight turnovers. The Ducks had only five turnovers, but had five shots blocked by the Bruins.
UCLA ended Oregon's perfect season at home, giving the Ducks their first loss against eight wins. The Bruins are 4-0 on the road this season.
Oregon is 1-1 when trailing at the half and 4-6 when outshot from the floor during the game. The Bruins outshot, out-rebounded and out-hustled Oregon in the half.
>> The Bruins gave up five points to start the half, just like they gave up seven to start the game.
>> Alfred Aboya can't buy a break. He's picked up his fourth foul with 16:27 to play, so James Keefe is going to have to step up.
>> Now Keefe has four fouls. Joevan Caton appeared to step on Levin Love's ankle and the Bruins are trailing by four, 51-47, with 13:34 to play.
>> From a 58-51 deficit, the Bruins have rallied back to a 61-60 deficit with 7:35 to go, a 10-2 run keyed by Keefe's three-pointer from the top of the key with 9:32 to go. Unfortunately, Keefe has fouled out and Aboya has four.
>> Russell Westbrook made a 10-foot jumper in the lane to cut the deficit to 66-64 with a little more than five minutes to play. If the Bruins can get Josh Shipp the ball, they might be able to catch and pass the Ducks.
>> Westbrook made a three and it's a 69-67 game with 3:56 to play. The Bruins are getting their fingertips on loose balls, but are having a hard time getting stops against the Ducks. UCLA needs a turnover and better coverage on the pass to the perimeter from the low post.
>> An astonishing three-point bomb by Nikola Dragovic and then a steal, drive and lay-in by Westbrook have the Bruins up by one, 72-71, with 2:36 to play.
>> A tighter defense, Dragovic defensive rebound and Love offensive rebound led to two Collison free throws that have the Bruins up, 74-71, with 1:04 to go. Oregon has shot almost 60% in the second half, but if the Bruins can make another stop, they may have enough to win.
>> The tough, unpleasant UCLA defense came into play in the final two minutes. Good rebounding and some OK foul shooting have the Bruins in a position to win, 77-71, with eight seconds to play. Oregon didn't score between 3:33 to play and nine seconds left to turn a 71-67 deficit into a 78-73 lead (11-2 run). The Ducks didn't make a field goal from 4:38 to play to 0:09 to go, a stretch of 4:29.
>> The Bruins were 8-10 on foul shots in the final 1:03 and the Ducks were 1-8 from the field in the final 4:30.
Final score: UCLA 80, Oregon 75
Things are getting interesting in the Pac-10 tonight. Arizona beat No. 6 Washington State in Tucson, 76-64, to move WSU to 16-2 overall and 4-2 in the conference. Arizona is 3-3 in the Pac-10 and 13-6 overall.
In Eugene, Ore.:
>> The Bruins started down, 7-0, as they look tentative on offense, playing without Luc Richard Mbah A Moute and reserve center Lorenzo Mata. The crowd is booing Kevin Love every time he touches the ball, but the Bruins aren't playing defense on the floor.
>> Oregon's Maarty Leunen is playing Love in the low post and pushing him away from the goal. Malik Hairston is cheating over, so can Alfred Aboya or James Keefe help on the offensive end?
>> UCLA Coach Ben Howland's early substitution pattern shows his determination to keep his team fresh so it doesn't wear down as it appeared to at the end of the USC game. Keefe and Nikola Dragovic have already played significant minutes in the first half.
>> An 18-8 UCLA run has the Bruins up, 18-15, as Oregon calls a time out with 10:09 to play in the half. A bonus: Darren Collison seems to be stepping up tonight on the offensive end. It could be the start of his restart after minor injuries this season.
>> Upset! Washington rose up and beat Arizona State in Tempe, 72-61. It leaves ASU at 14-4 overall and 4-2 in the conference. Washington is 12-7 and 3-3. If the Bruins win, they will be in first place by themselves in the conference.
>> The Bruins are beginning to profitably exploit the matchups: Love has shot over and around Leunen and the 6-0 Collison looks like a giant against 5-6 Tajuan Porter of Oregon. Collison is headed to the line with 4:05 to play and the Bruins leading, 34-30.
>> With 1:34 to play in the half, Russell Westbrook used a playground play to score, bouncing an inbounds pass off the rear end of Leunen and then picking up the loose ball to score! The Bruins had only two seconds on the 35-second clock.
>> Love had 14 points and nine rebounds in the half, and Collison had 10. After a tough start, the Bruins outscored Oregon, 40-29, after trailing 7-0. The Bruins shot 48.4% to Oregon's 46.7%. So far, so good.
Halftime score: UCLA 40, Oregon 36
The Miami Dolphins today announced the hiring of former UCLA football Coach Karl Dorrell as the club's wide receivers coach.
That's good for Dorrell and good for UCLA, as his salary will reduce — on a dollar-for-dollar basis — the amount that the school must pay him under his Bruin contracts.
One source with knowledge of the Dolphins estimated that Miami probably will pay Dorrell about $200,000 to $300,000 per year. UCLA owes him a total of $2.05 million over the next two years.
Both of UCLA’s concussion-hobbled players, Luc Richard Mbah A Moute and Lorenzo Mata-Real, made the trip to Oregon, but are doubtful to play in tonight's 7:30 game in Eugene. Even so, the 16-2 Bruins are a four-point choice over 12-6 Oregon at McArthur Court even though the Ducks have won six of their last 10 games against the Bruins.
>> Defense will again be the issue for the Bruins. Oregon averages 80.4 points per game and the Bruins give up an average of only 57.9.
>> Oregon’s noted fans will be sure to give freshman center Kevin Love a wild welcome; however, his high school coach says Love played best in hostile conditions. He’s from Lake Oswego, Ore., just outside Portland.
>> Although UCLA lost to USC in its last game, the Bruins are on a 9-1 run while Oregon is 4-5 in its last nine. The Ducks are undefeated at home (8-0), but the Bruins also are unbeaten on the road (3-0). UCLA has an all-time record of 30-19 at The Pit in a series that dates to 1937.
The over-under on tonight’s game is 146, so the Bruins are supposed to win by a 75-71 final.
It's a crucial weekend for the Bruin basketball teams as both are playing the Oregon schools, plus a lot of other stuff going on:
Football:
>> Sports information director Marc Dellins says we jumped the gun in saying that UCLA is preparing to announce that the spring scrimmage will be at the Rose Bowl. Internal discussions are underway, but no final decision — or agreement with the Rose Bowl — has been made . . . yet.
Tennis:
>> A rare men’s and women’s doubleheader is scheduled Friday as the No. 9 UCLA men’s team (0-0) plays host to BYU at the Los Angeles Tennis Center at 1:30 p.m., followed by the third-ranked Bruin women (1-0) against No. 13 Baylor at 5 p.m. In case of rainy or threatening conditions, fans can call (310) 206-7870 to find out if one or both matches will be held.
Men’s basketball:
>> The 16-2 Bruins are in Oregon tonight to face the 12-6 Ducks in what is expected to be a raucous house at The Pit. Tip-off is 7:30 p.m. and the game will be televised on FSN Prime Ticket, with Ted Robinson on the call and analysis by Marques Johnson. Forward Luc Richard Mbah A Moute and center Lorenzo Mata-Real made the trip, but are still suffering from concussions and doubtful tonight. One or both could play Saturday when UCLA is in Corvallis to play Oregon State (6-12), playing its second game since Jay John was fired as head coach and forward C.J. Giles was excused from the team. That game will begin at 8 p.m., also televised on Prime Ticket.
Men’s volleyball:
>> The Bruins (5-3) fell to USC in five games Wednesday night at Galen Center — 26-30, 24-30, 30-23, 30-18 and 16-18 — and saw their Mountain Pacific Sports Federation record drop to 3-2. UCLA has another uphill climb Friday at No. 2 Pepperdine, starting at 7 p.m.
Women’s basketball:
>> UCLA (9-9 overall, 4-3 in the Pac-10) will play host to Oregon (10-8, 4-3) at 7 tonight at Pauley Pavilion. No suspensions were handed out from the end-of-game fracas with USC last week, so the Bruins will be close to full strength. Freshman guard Darxia Morris is day-to-day with a right-knee sprain suffered Jan. 6 against Cal. The Bruins will face Oregon State (10-8, 3-4) at 2 p.m. Saturday at Pauley Pavilion. Both games will be audiocast on uclabruins.com, with Dave Marcus on play-by-play and Michael Sondheimer as analyst. Saturday’s audiocast also can be heard on KTLK-AM (1150).
Women’s gymnastics:
>> The Bruins, ranked eighth nationally, will face No. 9 Stanford in the John Wooden Challenge at 2 p.m. Sunday at Pauley Pavilion. UCLA is 5-0 in dual competition and Stanford is 1-1. Tickets are $12 or $8 for adults, and $10 or $6 for youths. United Teachers Los Angeles members can receive two free mid-level general admission tickets by showing their UTLA membership card at Gate 1, and UCLA faculty and staff members can receive four free mid-level general admission tickets with their Bruin ID. Also, the first 1,000 in attendance will receive a copy of John Wooden’s "Pyramid of Success," and the Bruins will be available for autographs after the meet.
The meet will be videocast at uclabruins.com, with Darren Preston on the play-by-play and former Bruin Olympian Steve McCain as analyst.
Women’s water polo:
>> UCLA is a unanimous No. 1 pick in the preseason polls, and will be trying for a fourth straight NCAA championship this season. The Bruins will open in Ann Arbor, Mich., at the Michigan Invitational and face No. 11 Arizona State and No. 14 UC San Diego on Saturday, and unranked Colorado State and Indiana on Sunday.
Thanks to a surge in interest following the hiring of Rick Neuheisel, the retention of DeWayne Walker and the hiring of Norm Chow on the UCLA football coaching staff, the Athletic Department is preparing to announce that the spring scrimmage to conclude the spring football program will be held at the Rose Bowl.
About 5,000 people crowded into Spaulding Field for "Fan Appreciation Day" last spring, and it will not be large enough for the crowd anticipated for the spring scrimmage. Drake Stadium on campus is not usable because of track and field practice, which includes the discus, hammer and javelin throws that create a pock-marked field.
In one of the first clear dividends since the hiring of new Coach Rick Neuheisel and offensive coordinator Norm Chow, UCLA defensive coordinator DeWayne Walker was seen today on the campus at St. Bonaventure High School in Ventura, speaking with five-star running back Darrell Scott.
Walker apparently was there to speak with some of the school's junior players, but had a chance to talk to the 6-2, 215-pound Scott, who now reportedly is considering UCLA. He gained 1,697 yards and scored 21 touchdowns this season. Scott has been reported to be considering Colorado, Texas, LSU, Michigan, USC or Florida.
The Bruins already have verbal commitments from two top running backs: Birmingham High's Los Angeles City Player of the Year Milton Knox and Katy (Texas) star Aundre Dean.
There's a lot going on, so here we go:
Football:
>> Former Bruin assistant coach Wayne Moses will return to campus as the running backs coach for Rick Neuheisel. He coached at UCLA from 1990-95 and was most recently with the St. Louis Rams as their running backs coach. UCLA’s announcement of Moses said he "was the running backs coach at UCLA under Terry Donahue for six seasons (1990-95) and worked with Neuheisel for the first four. [Karim] Abdul-Jabbar and [Kevin] Williams led the Pac-10 in rushing under Moses' tutelage while [Skip] Hicks went on to earn All-America honors later in his career. In 1995, Abdul-Jabbar set UCLA's single-season rushing record and was named first-team All-America with Moses as his coach."
>> Bruce Davis will play for the North squad under the direction of Oakland Raiders Coach Lane Kiffin in this Saturday’s Senior Bowl in Mobile, Ala. The game will be televised by the NFL Network for those who can access its signal.
Men’s Golf:
>> Former Bruin Peter Campbell qualified for this week’s Buick Invitational at Torrey Pines in San Diego, starting tomorrow. He tied for second in the qualifying round Monday.
Men’s Tennis:
>> UCLA is ranked ninth in the nation and hopes to open its season Friday at home against BYU if it does not rain.
Women’s Gymnastics:
>> The Bruins scored a season-best 196.125 in winning a four-way meet at Fullerton last Sunday, beating Cal State Fullerton (191.025), Brown (183.025) and Wisconsin-Eau Claire (176.525).
>> UCLA balance beam specialist Marci Bernholtz was named the Pac-10 Event Specialist of the Week for her winning routine at the quadrangular meet at Fullerton this past weekend. The freshman from Unionville, Ontario, Canada, scored a 9.875 in her first collegiate competition, the fourth-best score in the nation so far.
Women’s Tennis:
>> UCLA is third-ranked and pitched a shutout at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, 7-0, on Monday on campus at the Los Angeles Tennis Center. The Bruins have four singles players -– Rita Zalameda (25), Andrea Remynse (27), Yasmin Schnack (28) and Tracy Lin (41) -– ranked in the top 41 nationally and the doubles team of Schnack and Zalameda is ranked 16th.
Women’s Volleyball:
>> Following tryouts from Jan. 7-12 in Colorado Springs, Colo., Bruin senior middle blocker Rachell Johnson was offered and has accepted an invitation to train as part of the United States National Team. She’ll play as an outside hitter for the American team and will have the opportunity to play her way onto the 2008 U.S. Olympic Team.
Women’s Water Polo:
>> The three-time defending national champion Bruins begin their season at the Michigan Invitational this weekend and are ranked No. 1 in the nation. Five of UCLA’s top six scorers are back from last season and last season’s back-up goalie Brittany Fullen will now start. The Bruins will play No. 11 Arizona State and No. 14 UC San Diego on Saturday and unranked Colorado State and Indiana on Sunday.
UCLA re-hired a former Bruin football starter, Mike Linn as its head strength and conditioning coach who was also on staff when new football coach Rick Neuheisel was a Bruin assistant. The UCLA announcement: UCLA announced today the hiring of Mike Linn as the head strength and conditioning coach. Linn, who has both collegiate and corporate experience, previously served as the Bruin head strength and conditioning coach from 1999-2002. The 1993 UCLA graduate was a three-year starter along the offensive line on the Bruin football team and a member of three Bruin bowl teams.
Linn rejoins the Bruin program after serving as the Vice President of Performance for Velocity Sports Performance since 2006. While at Velocity Sports Performance, he worked to develop training programs for its 63 franchise locations and over 20,000 athletes nationwide. In addition, Linn supervised the training and professional development for a network of over 700 coaches. Linn was also instrumental in launching several key initiatives with Velocity's national partners Gatorade, Nike and the National Strength and Conditioning Association during his tenure.
"The return of Mike Linn as head strength coach is another key to UCLA's future athletic success," said senior associate athletic director Glenn Toth. "In addition to being an accomplished coach, Mike also possesses outstanding administrative skills. He runs a tight, harmonious ship, is thorough, and is an excellent communicator. He'll command the respect of the athletes and coaches, and knows how to make weight training more fun and less of a chore. We expect great things from Mike."
From 2005-2006, Linn served as the Director of the Velocity Sports Performance franchise in St. Louis, MO. While at the St. Louis location, he collaborated on the training, injury prevention and rehabilitation of over 500 area athletes. He also directed professional athlete development programs for numerous NFL, MLB, NHL and MLS athletes.
Linn's collegiate experience includes a stint from 2002-2005 as the Director of Strength and Conditioning at St. Louis University. At SLU, he was responsible for all aspects of athletic performance for the over 350 student-athletes at the university that participated in 16 Division I sports.
Mike previously served as the Head Strength and Conditioning Coach at UCLA from 1999-2002. While managing all areas of the strength and conditioning department for over 700 student-athletes, Linn designed and administered weight training, conditioning, agility, plyometric and speed development programs for football and basketball.
Prior to becoming the head of the UCLA program, he worked with the Olympic sports teams as an assistant strength and conditioning coach from 1992-99. Five of his Bruin teams captured national championships during his tenure as an assistant (men's volleyball, men's water polo (2), men's soccer and women's softball). In addition, the women's basketball team won its first Pac-10 Championship and advanced to the Elite Eight.
Mike first came to UCLA as a freshman football recruit in 1987 after starring as an offensive lineman at Esperanza High School in Orange County, CA. He was also a school-record holder and All-CIF performer in the discus.
Mike is married to the former Karen Nelson, a UCLA gymnast who was a two-time All-American in the Vault and the 1994 Pac-10 Vault champion. They have two children, Kylie and Ryker.
UCLA coach Rick Neuheisel is considering former St. Louis Rams and veteran college running backs coach Wayne Moses to join his staff in that position.
Moses is familiar to Bruin fans from his stint as Bruin running backs coach from 1990-95 under Terry Donahue. Moses was an assistant on Donahue's staff from 1988-93 and was a part of Neuheisel's staff at Washington. Moses coached at Washington from 1997-2000 and Neuheisel was there from 1999-2002.
Moses has also coached at Cal (1996), USC (2001), Stanford (2002-03 and 2005) and Pitt (2004) before joining the NFL with the Rams. He played at Washington and was a member of the Huskies' Rose Bowl team in 1978.
Bruin guards Darren Collison and Josh Shipp took a few minutes to speak with reporters after practice on Tuesday and both recognized that too many mistakes were made against USC.
"We gave up too may transition baskets, that was a key for them to get momentum," said Collison. "Everybody was fine, I think it was more of a mental thing than a physical thing.
I don’t think it was fatigue. That’s not how we normally play."
He acknowledged that the Bruins might have been a "little more amped up" to play against the Trojans and "they did a lot of switching up on the defense, a lot of different tactics."
He’s confident in his team, but noted "Our back is against the wall. We have to win games no matter what; we’ve got to step up."
Collison said he believes that the injuries to Luc Richard Mbah A Moute and Lorenzo Mata-Real could be an opportunity for freshman forward Chase Stanback and soph forward Nikola Dragovic. "[The injuries] are unfortunate, but that’s when you have your coming out party. Chase and Nikola are more than capable; they show it in practice every day." He also felt James Keefe would be able to contribute more and more as the season progresses.
He said his knee is 100%, but that his "hip is taking some time to heal, it’s about 80%."
Shipp attributed the USC loss to not sticking "to our principles on the defensive end. We didn’t rotate; guys just got caught up on our regular rotations." Offensively, he noted that the Bruins "took quick shots, bad shots; we need to slow it down and run the offense and get those good open shots we had at the beginning of the game."
He’s ready for extra minutes because of injuries at Oregon. "If some guys have to play the whole game so be it that’s what we have to do. We don’t try to let outside factors bother us; it will take a total team effort to win this one." Shipp said that one of the keys in Eugene will be to "get back and stay in front of ball on transition. We need to contest those [three-point] shots."
Of Stanback and Dragovic, he’s hoping they’ll play. "They need to prove that they’re ready. Chase and Nikola have done a great job in practice for us. I definitely think they can help us out."
Bruin freshman center Kevin Love, who attended Lake Oswego High School in Oregon and was heavily recruited by the Ducks "since the sixth or seventh grade" knows what he’s in for when the Bruins head into McArthur Court on Thursday night.
"I’m expecting nothing but boos when I get announced for the game," he said on Tuesday.
"I think it will be fun, though. A lot of stuff will probably be derogatory, but I’m ready for it; it’s kind of what college basketball is all about. I’m definitely used to it."
Love said his father, Stan Love, one of the best players in Oregon history, will be there and rooting for the Bruins, as well as his uncle, Mike Love, of Beach Boys fame.
He’d also like to be able to see his high school team play against rival Oregon City in between Bruin games on Friday, but he knows it’s not his first priority on the trip.
Bruin head basketball coach Ben Howland finds his roster of available players quite thin going into Thursday’s contest against Oregon (12-6 overall, 3-3 Pac-10) in Eugene.
"Lorenzo [Mata-Real] is doubtful for Thursday’s game," said Howland at Tuesday’s news conference on campus. "Luc [Mbah A Moute} is questionable. There’s a lot that goes into it. They do computerized tests; some of it depends on headache. I’m not as optimistic about him as I am about Luc."
Mbah A Moute was apparently injured when his head collided with USC reserve Keith Wilkinson’s chest on a play under the basket during the first half of last Saturday’s game. He continued to play, but after sitting down at halftime, his adrenalin level subsided and the impact of the concussion became apparent. "When he came out," said Howland, "you could see he was out of it; he was glassy-eyed."
Mata-Real was injured when he took a charge from USC’s Daniel Hackett with 1:27 to play in the first half. "I’m hoping Lorenzo will be available by Saturday," said Howland.
The Bruin coach said the team watched film of the loss to USC yesterday. "This team’s always responded well when we’ve had a loss. I did a poor job in terms of preparation for this team because we were really out of sorts. Our transition defense was really, really poor. I can’t remember giving up that many layups and dunks to a team in a long time. I can’t even remember the last time.
"A lot of that was USC, they were very, very good, but a lot of it was also our responsibility and we’re going to make a few changes. Our transition D, we got hurt so bad, but also our shot selection. We had a four-point lead, 57-53, and we took three shots in our next four possessions, with the lead, with still 25 seconds to go on the shot clock and three of the four weren’t good shots. And we were playing without Luc.
"I didn’t do a good job, I should have put Chace [Stanback] in, in retrospect, because Josh [Shipp], Darren [Collison] and Russell [Westbrook] all played the rest of the half after the first minute or minute and a half [when Mbah A Moute came out]. That’s just poor coaching because you can’t expect guys to play that long. Some of those decisions on those shots are probably attributed to fatigue and that’s my fault for not giving the guys a little more rest."
He’s also concerned about Oregon, especially at McArthur Court. "They’re a very difficult match-up for us, because they all shoot it so well and they spread you out. Those three seniors – [Malik] Hairston, [Bryce] Taylor and [Maarty] Leunen – have been through a lot of games and have a lot of experience. The little guy [5-6 Tajuan Porter], you don’t know when he’s going to off and put 30 on someone; I just hope it’s not us on Thursday night. He’s so hard to guard because he’s so quick."
Howland said that UCLA’s transition defense is "going to be a big point of emphasis today as we get ready to play a team that is as good as anybody in our conference at pushing the ball. "
He wasn’t worried as much by any distractions the loud Oregon fans will have for freshman center Kevin Love, who will play his first collegiate game in his home state. "They’re obviously going to try to get his attention and he’s got to stay focused on his job.
"I don’t even worry about it. I’m so used to people yelling stuff at us or at me, I don’t even hear it. I’m oblivious to it all. That’s really how you have to become. You can’t get caught up in what anybody is saying; who cares?"
He also wasn’t concerned about friends and family wanting to spend time with Love. "We’re pretty much in lock-down. There’s not a lot of time for him to be pulled away. We’re not doing social events on our road trips."
Former UCLA head Coach Karl Dorrell is expected to be named the wide receivers coach of the Miami Dolphins, according to a story in today's Miami Herald.
According to the report, Dorrell is believed to have chosen Miami over Kansas City as both franchises want him as an assistant. At Miami, according to reporter Jeff Darlington, "The mind-set would be to groom Dorrell as [Dan] Henning's successor to run the offense -- a transition that would likely be a rapid one."
Former Bruin running backs coach Dino Babers also has a new job, as wide receivers coach and recruiting coordinator at Baylor. New Bears Coach Art Briles announced the hiring late Monday.
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