Author Archives: Jeff Eisenberg

Two days after finishing the regular season in the upper half of the Pac-10 standings for the first time since the 2001 season, the UCLA men’s basketball team was rewarded for its success. The conference coaches named guard Jordan Farmar the Pac-10 Freshman of the Year on Monday, and selected senior Dijon Thompson to the […]

Self-motivated, focused and overflowing with confidence, UCLA’s Lara Saye stepped into the throwing circle at Drake Stadium on Saturday morning intent on re-establishing herself as one of the nation’s best. Two regional-qualifying marks in the hammer and shot put were a good start to the day for Saye. Yet it was her impressive 183-foot throw […]

One by one, they recited the company line, a stale, humdrum, one-at-a-time mantra that the Bruins have adopted since the calendar turned to March. First, UCLA coach Ben Howland stepped up to the podium on Saturday night after the Bruins defeated Oregon, 73-61, and reiterated that the team must keep winning to assure an NCAA […]

Fed up with Michael Fey’s sluggish play Thursday night against Oregon State, UCLA coach Ben Howland scoured the bench, searching for a big man who could supply the Bruins with a jolt of energy. Ryan Hollins provided UCLA with exactly that. Having played sparingly this season, Hollins seized the opportunity, scoring nine points in 25 […]

Scrawled on a sheet of paper hanging in Dijon Thompson’s apartment is a lengthy list of personal goals the UCLA forward compiled before the season began. He has already accomplished most over the course of a sterling senior season. A few will go unfulfilled. But Thompson hopes to be able to safely check off perhaps […]

The last time the UCLA campus was abuzz with Bruin basketball, it didn’t last very long. Less than one week after returning from an encouraging late-January weekend in Arizona, UCLA stumbled at home against Stanford and California, draining some of the enthusiasm that had been built by its quick start to conference play. Now that […]

Asked about UCLA’s NCAA Tournament hopes after Sunday’s victory at Notre Dame, Arron Afflalo glanced at UCLA coach Ben Howland before flashing a sheepish grin. “I have to wait until after we get to the 18-win mark to talk about that,” the freshman guard said. But even the tight-lipped Howland had already acknowledged that the […]