With all its distractions and bright lights seducing people around the clock, Las Vegas is an apt destination to determine UCLA men’s basketball’s postseason fate. If the Bruins (16-15, 9-9 Pac-12) want to overcome long odds and make their way into the NCAA tournament, they’ll need to focus. They’ll need to focus on not turning […]
Author Archives: Hanson Wang
Men’s basketball goes into final week of regular season with possible bye in sight
With a good week, UCLA men’s basketball could climb as high as the No. 3 seed for next week’s Pac-12 tournament. With a bad week, the Bruins are looking at the dreaded four-games-in-four-nights draw starting March 13 in Las Vegas. But to obtain the path of least resistance toward the conference’s automatic NCAA tournament bid, […]
Even with bevy of youth, men’s basketball sees leadership emerge after comeback win
Leadership was always going to be a question mark for the Bruins this season. Aside from two redshirt juniors, UCLA men’s basketball’s rotation consists entirely of freshmen and sophomores. So it’s no surprise that after a nonconference slate that got former coach Steve Alford fired, the Bruins have struggled to stay above the .500 mark […]
Freshmen guards emerge as future backcourt starters for UCLA basketball
David Singleton and Jules Bernard have both ended up on the floor of Pauley Pavilion more often than they anticipated. The 6-foot-6-inch Bernard is an aggressive slasher who specializes in driving to the hoop and drawing contact. As for Singleton, he simply fell asleep on the hardwood floor after a tiring summer workout. Soon, both […]
Men’s basketball defeated by Utah 93-92 at the buzzer after giving up 22-point lead
This post was updated Feb. 9 at 5:35 p.m. A polar vortex recently sent bitter cold weather and biting winds into the Midwest. The Pacific Northwest is currently experiencing a brutal winter storm, prompting Washington Gov. Jay Inslee to declare a state of emergency. UCLA experienced its own Game of Thrones-esque winter late in the […]
Men’s basketball leads Utah 49-32 after defensively dynamic half
UCLA had a surprise brewing for Utah. Earlier in the week, interim coach Murry Bartow said his team simply was better statistically in a zone defense compared to man-to-man. But after sticking with a zone defense for the first 10 games of Pac-12 play, the Bruins started in man-to-man defense for the first few minutes […]
Men’s basketball focuses on setting screens, utilizing deep rotation
Thirty-foot airballs are not the only whiffs that occur beyond the 3-point line. With 6 minutes left in the game against USC, Jaylen Hands caught a pass 30 feet from the hoop and dribbled to the right wing. Freshman center Moses Brown set a screen to the right of the sophomore guard, so Hands opted […]