Author Archives: Ryan Menezes

UCLA selected as No. 7 seed, to face No. 10 Michigan State on Thursday

Their seed remained in question after a disappointing loss Thursday night, but the Bruins’ body of work still impressed the NCAA Tournament committee, which announced UCLA as a No. 7-seed on Sunday.

The Bruins, back in the Tournament after a one-year absence, will head to Tampa, Fla. to face No. 10 Michigan State (19-14, 9-9 Big Ten) in the second round on Thursday.

The winner will face No. 2 Florida (26-7, 13-3 SEC) or No. 15 UCSB (18-13, 8-8 Big West) on Saturday.

UCLA finished second in the Pac-10 during the regular season, but fell to Oregon in the Pac-10 Tournament quarterfinals. The Bruins’ had marquee wins over BYU and St. John’s and took down Arizona, the No. 10 team in the country at the time, at home in conference play.

The Spartans, one of seven Big Ten teams in the field, had a dramatic up-and-down season, and might consider themselves lucky to make the Tournament.

Ben Howland makes good on promise, plants a kiss on Jon Gold

You might have heard this already, but Ben Howland was in a loving mood Saturday evening.

The UCLA men’s basketball coach, seated in front of reporters after UCLA’s 58-54 win over Washington State, interrupted a question to address something on his mind.

“By the way, I’ll let you know that I thought about you, Jon.”

He was addressing Los Angeles Daily News UCLA beat writer Jon Gold, and remembering a chat they had in December. Gold had asked Howland how he would feel if the Bruins reached 22 wins ““ like Gold thought they would ““ and Howland said he would would kiss him, purely out of elation.

Well, win No. 22 rolled around in Pullman, Wash., and Howland wanted to praise Gold’s prediction.

“You are a psychic,” a beaming Howland said.

“You know what you said you’d do, right?” Gold quipped back.

The (slightly paraphrased) quote: “Jon, if we win 22 games, I’ll give you a kiss.”

Malcolm Lee, three other Bruins make All-Pac-10 teams

Headlined by Malcolm Lee, four UCLA men’s basketball players earned all-conference honors from the Pac-10 on Monday.

The junior guard landed on the all-Pac-10 First Team and the all-defensive team, while sophomore forwards Reeves Nelson and Tyler Honeycutt joined him on the First Team. Freshman center Joshua Smith rounded out the Bruins receiving honors with his all-freshman team selection.

Arizona, winners of the Pac-10 regular season title, took home two big pieces of hardware. Derrick Williams, Freshman of the Year in 2010, won Player of the Year, while coach Sean Miller was named Coach of the Year.

The complete list of honors, as voted on by the conference’s coaches:

All-Pac-10 First Team:
Matthew Bryan-Amaning (Washington, senior forward)
Jeremy Green (Stanford, junior guard)
Jorge Gutierrez (California, junior guard)
Tyler Honeycutt (UCLA, sophomore forward)
Malcolm Lee (UCLA, junior guard)
Reeves Nelson (UCLA, sophomore forward)
Isaiah Thomas (Washington, junior guard)
Klay Thompson (Washington State, junior guard)
Nikola Vucevic (USC, junior forward)
Derrick Williams (Arizona, sophomore forward)

Wazzu's Thompson out for Saturday's game against UCLA

Tuesday night’s loss in Seattle eliminated UCLA’s chances at an outright Pac-10 title, but the Bruins’ chances of finishing the season on a high note seemingly got a little better with some news out of Washington today.

Washington State junior guard Klay Thompson has been suspended for Saturday’s game against UCLA after he was cited by police Thursday night in Pullman, Wash. Thompson was charged with marijuana posession hours after leading the Cougars to a 85-77 win over USC.

For UCLA, it means coach Ben Howland won’t have to account for the conference’s leading scorer in the Bruins’ and Cougars’ regular-season finale. Thompson, who averages 21.1 points per game, dropped 26 points in the UCLA’s 80-71 home win in December, and had just led Washington State to its biggest win of the year, a 80-69 win over rival Washington in Seattle.

“Obviously he’s a great player,” Howland said. “I know him, he’s a great kid. We wish him nothing but the best. He has a wonderful family, he’s a good kid. I’m dissappointed for him and his family that he won’t be able to play tomorrow.”