Tag: UCLA Bruins basketball

USC and UCLA face off in massive hoops showdown on Thursday; Bruins are on a roll

USC and UCLA meet on Thursday night. UCLA has 10 straight victories entering the game. USC badly needs a high-end win for its NCAA tourney hopes.

The USC Trojans and UCLA Bruins both saw their football seasons end in heartbreak. Both teams blew leads and lost on last-second scores.

Now, fans can begin to turn their full attention to the hardwood.

What better way to begin the 2023 calendar year than an L.A. battle at Pauley Pavilion?

The Trojans hit the road to face UCLA on Thursday night, and the 10th-ranked Bruins are no easy task for Andy Enfield’s team.

The Trojans just lost by 10 to Washington State on New Year’s Day despite four starters scoring in double digits.

However, the bench scored a grand total of 11 points (Reese Dixon-Waters had seven) and the Trojans still need help from their reserves. USC also got lit up by Wazzu for 14 3-pointers. USC’s 3-point defense has to get a lot better.

The Cougars shot a blistering 48.3% from downtown and 49.1% from the field as the Trojans went just 3-18 from 3-point land in an ugly loss.

UCLA has responded with 10 straight wins since the Bruins lost back-to-back games to Illinois and Baylor (a pair of ranked teams). They have defeated Maryland and Kentucky since then.

Jaime Jaquez Jr. and Tyger Campbell always give USC a hard time, and the Trojans’ defense — which is their calling card once again — will be tested in this showdown.

The last time these teams met, UCLA ended the Trojans’ hopes of a Pac-12 Tournament title, so USC will seek some revenge.

It won’t be easy, and the Trojans need to find a way to get Boogie Ellis and Drew Peterson some help.

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USC win over Auburn completed a Pac-12 weekend feast against the SEC

The #Pac12 got the best of the SEC this weekend: Oregon State over Florida, Arizona stopped Tennessee, UCLA beat Kentucky, and USC handled Auburn. 4-0.

The Pac-12 Conference dominated the SEC this weekend in football and basketball. It’s not often you can say that, but it was true on Saturday and Sunday. The Pac-12 flexed its muscles and the SEC was dealt a series of body blows.

Cherish it, folks. It’s not the regular state of play in college sports.

It began with the Oregon State Beavers capping off their 10-win season with a 30-3 victory over the Florida Gators in the Las Vegas Bowl. Beavers head coach Jonathan Smith was named the  Pac-12 Co-Coach of the Year. The Beavers dominated from start to finish as the Gators played without star QB Anthony Richardson.

On the hardwood, Pac-12 teams outflanked SEC teams in some of the best games of the weekend in college basketball.

First, UCLA defeated Kentucky at Madison Square Garden, 63-53, right after the Bruins smacked Maryland on the same day that the UC Regents approved their move to the Big Ten.

Future NBA lottery pick Oscar Tshiebwe was held in check with just eight points on 4-12 shooting from the field for Kentucky. Jaime Jaquez Jr. highlighted his NBA talent with 19 points and 12 rebounds on 9-19 shooting for UCLA.

To cap off the Saturday evening slate, the Arizona Wildcats defeated the Tennessee Volunteers, 75-70, in Tucson. Arizona’s box score was a bit strange: Four starters finished in double-figures, but nobody from the bench score a single point.

The McKale Center was loud, and the top offense in the country squeaked out a victory against one of the best defenses in the country.

The Pac-12-SEC battle continued on Sunday when the USC Trojans faced the Auburn Tigers. USC forced 23 Auburn turnovers. Boogie Ellis scored 28 efficient points. The Trojans got the win they desperately needed to improve their overall portfolio just before Christmas.

Pac-12 4, SEC 0. It was a special weekend for the Conference of Champions.

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Iowa Hawkeyes’ Keegan Murray named USA TODAY Sports second team All-American

USA TODAY Sports released its 2021-22 All-America teams. Iowa’s Keegan Murray was selected as a second team All-American.

Iowa’s 2021-22 basketball season came to a close in its first round NCAA Tournament loss to 12th-seeded Richmond, 67-63. Sophomore standout forward Keegan Murray isn’t done collecting hardware, though.

USA TODAY Sports released its 2021-22 All-America teams and Murray earned second team recognition. Murray joined Duke freshman forward Paolo Banchero, Auburn freshman forward Jabari Smith, Arizona sophomore guard Bennedict Mathurin and Purdue sophomore guard Jaden Ivey on the second team.

Murray had a remarkable second season in Iowa City. The 6-foot-8, 225 pound forward ranked fourth nationally, averaging 23.5 points per game. That mark was tops in the country among power-five players. The Cedar Rapids, Iowa, native also ranked second in the Big Ten in rebounds per game with 8.7 per contest. That figure trailed only Illinois center Kofi Cockburn’s 10.6 rebounds per game.

Murray shot 55.4 percent from the field and 39.8 percent from 3-point range this season. He also blocked 1.9 shots and collected 1.3 steals per game. Now, he has a decision to make on his future. A pair of writers recently forecasted Murray as a 2022 NBA Draft lottery pick. SB Nation’s Ricky O’Donnell had Murray landing with the San Antonio Spurs as the No. 7 overall pick, while CBS Sports’ Kyle Boone projected Murray to be drafted No. 11 overall by the New Orleans Pelicans.

Following the Hawkeyes’ upset loss to Richmond, Murray didn’t sound like a player that had completely closed the door on returning to Iowa.

“I think for us it’s really just on to next year. Go through the offseason again, get better. We put our stamp on this program I feel like positively, so just go into the offseason and work,” Murray said.

Iowa finished its season 26-10 overall and won the program’s third Big Ten Tournament championship and first since the 2006 season. If it was his final game with Iowa, Murray was proud of what he and his teammates accomplished with the Hawkeyes.

“I think these two, especially our team last year kind of laid the framework just for what the expectations are now at Iowa and just what you’ve got to do to win here, and these last two seasons, I feel like kind of put the stamp on our program from what it was. These two were part of it, them two, and I feel like they’re a really big part of our program and will forever be a big part of our program,” Murray said of teammates Jordan Bohannon and Connor McCaffery.

The USA TODAY Sports selection for national player of the year went to Kentucky junior forward Oscar Tshiebwe. The rest of USA TODAY Sports’ first team All-Americans included Gonzaga junior forward Drew Timme, Illinois junior center Kofi Cockburn, Wisconsin sophomore guard Johnny Davis and Kansas senior guard Ochai Agbaji.

USA TODAY Sports’ third team All-Americans were comprised of Gonzaga freshman center Chet Holmgren, North Carolina junior forward Armando Bacot, Baylor senior guard James Akinjo, UCLA junior guard Johnny Juzang and Villanova senior guard Collin Gillespie. The national coach of the year was Duke’s Mike Krzyewski.

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Betting lines and analysis for Colorado vs. No. 5 UCLA

Betting lines for Colorado at No. 5 UCLA

We’re just hours away from the Colorado Buffaloes’ biggest challenge so far this season in No. 5 UCLA. A win for Tad Boyle’s young squad would be a massive upset in the world of college basketball.

Yet the Buffs did beat these Bruins 70-61 in the waning days of last season. However, that was before UCLA shocked many in its run to the NCAA Final Four.

Both Colorado and UCLA enter this early season Pac-12 matchup at 6-1. The Buffs’ lone blemish remains courtesy of Southern Illinois while UCLA’s was a little more respectable — an 83-63 defeat to then-No. 1 Gonzaga. With all that in mind, the Bruins are favored somewhat heavily as of Wednesday morning.

All Betting Lines are Courtesy of Tipico Sportsbook

  • Line: UCLA -12.5
  • Over/Under: 139.5
  • Moneyline: Colorado (+570), UCLA (-900)

As you can see, the Bruins are expected to handle this one easily in a high-scoring affair. We haven’t yet seen Colorado in a true road environment and facing UCLA at Pauley Pavilion should be a good barometer of where this young team is at.

For the Buffs to win, they’ll have to play better defensively than they did against Stanford and somehow contain Johnny Juzang, who is averaging 17.4 points. Jamie Jaquez Jr. leads the Bruins with 6.7 rebounds per game, but I am confident Jabari Walker and Evan Battey can make his life hard on the boards.

Tipoff is at 7:30 p.m. MT (6:30 p.m. PT) on the Pac-12 Network.

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