Game 13: Men at UCLA

The men's team heads west to face #2/1 UCLA (6-0) at Pauley Pavilion in Los Angeles, CA tonight. GW (2-1) is coming off of an 89-79 loss at Maryland-Baltimore County on Saturday. Maureece Rice did not play in that one as a result of disciplinary actions taken by coach Karl Hobbs. UMBC embarked on a 55-15 run in the middle of the contest, and the Colonials were never able to recover.

UCLA returns four starters from the team that went 30-6 and lost to eventual national champion Florida in the Final Four. The Bruins have reached the national semifinals in both of the last two seasons, and were the national runner-up to the Gators in 2006. Before the season, UCLA was picked to win the 10-team Pacific 10 Conference, and tabbed at #2 in both polls. After being tied with North Carolina for the top spot in last week's USA Today/ESPN Coaches' Poll, the Bruins moved up to the pole position this week.

The Bruins feature three players who were named to the preseason Naismith Trophy watch list: 6-1 junior guard Darren Collison, 6-8 junior forward Luc Richard Mbah a Moute (8.3 points, 4.2 rebounds per game this season), and 6-5 junior guard/forward Josh Shipp (15.5 points). Collison (12.7 points, 5.7 assists per game last season), the first Associated Press Preseason All-American in the program's history, hasn't played this season because of a knee sprain that he suffered in the team's 111-61 exhibition win over Azusa Pacific on November 2. He is doubtful for tonight's game.

UCLA's injury woes do not end with Collison. 6-5 junior guard/forward Michael Roll (4.9 points per game last season) is also yet to appear in a game this season with a left foot injury. 6-8 junior forward/center Alfred Aboya (3.3 points) suffered a fracture of the orbital floor in his right eye as a result of an accidental elbow to the face in the team's 81-47 win over Yale on Friday. Both Roll and Aboya are expected to play tonight. 6-10 freshman center Kevin Love (19.3 points, 10.5 rebounds), regarded by many as the top recruit coming out of high school this past year, rolled his ankle against Yale and left the game, but is expected to be fine. 6-8 sophomore forward James Keefe (one point per game last season) is still recovering from off-season shoulder surgery and hasn't appeared in a game this season.

Love, the team's leading scorer, Shipp, and 6-3 sophomore guard Russell Westbrook (12.3 points, six assists) have led the way for UCLA this season. Coach Ben Howland is 97-41 in his fifth season in Westwood; he is 265-140 in 14 years as a head coach.

The Bruins already have wins over #10 Michigan State and Maryland this season. UCLA's six wins have been by an average of 23 points per game. In the 81-47 win over Yale in Los Angeles on Friday, Love had 15 points and five rebounds. He was joined in double figures in scoring by Westbrook (15 points, six assists), Mbah a Moute (14 points, 10 rebounds), and Shipp (12 points, four assists).

This is the first-ever meeting between these programs. The Colonials are 2-3 all-time against Pac-10 schools. The most recent meeting came in the Wooden Classic in Anaheim, CA on December 9 of last year, as GW blew a 20-point second half lead and fell to USC 74-65. The Colonials were 1-3 in games played in the state of California last season.

GW is going to need to get lucky to hang around tonight. The injury bug has shortened UCLA's bench, so Hobbs and company are going to need to push the tempo. Maryland was able to do that in its November 19 matchup with the Bruins, forcing Howland's squad into 18 turnovers. However, UCLA's superior talent was too much for the Terrapins to overcome in the end. Can Hobbs bottle up some more magic? Money here is on the Bruins to win by at least 20.

Jordan Teller and I have the call for WRGW with Julian Gompertz and Greg Shapiro handling production duties. You can listen here starting at 10.10 p.m. Our own Paul Marmaro will join Byron Kerr for the 3WT broadcast. You can listen here starting at 10.20 p.m. Bill Macdonald and Don McLean have the call for FSN Prime Ticket LA. You can watch live starting at 10.30 p.m. on Comcast channel 264 in the D.C. area.

Game notes: Rice is six points shy of becoming the 40th player in program history with 1,000 career points...GW is 2-4 against teams who are ranked #1 in the Associated Press Poll...The two wins came against Massachusetts in 1995 and 1996...In the program's last road game against a #1 team, Kansas beat the Colonials 85-56 in 1996...GW is 1-5 in its last six games against BCS conference schools...Hobbs is 0-6 when playing at ranked teams...GW is 3-11 in regular season games against ranked teams under Hobbs...All of those wins have come at the Verizon Center in the BB&T Classic...GW's last game in California was a 77-44 loss to Vanderbilt in the first round of March's NCAA Tournament in Sacramento...UCLA has more national championships (11) than GW has NCAA Tournament wins (four) and NCAA Tournament appearances (10)...The Colonials are 31-28 under Hobbs following a loss...They are 13-4 in such games over the past three years...GW is 11-9 in its last 20 games away from the Smith Center...The Bruins haven't lost at home since January 2006, a streak that spans 24 games and is tied for the fifth-longest in the country.

Starting lineups and other notes to follow from the WRGW studios and Pauley Pavilion once we get closer to tip-off. Julian Gompertz, Greg Shapiro, and I will be live blogging all night, so please check back later.

Update, 10:25 p.m. - We are here ready to bring you live-action from Pauley Pavilion, starting lineups are on the way as Darren Collison, UCLA's starting point-guard will be a game-time decision per sources close to the UCLA program. Keep it here for the starting line-ups.

Update, 10:31 p.m. - Here are the starting lineups:

GW
G - Maureece Rice (6-1 senior from Philadelphia, PA)
G - Xavier Alexander (6-6 freshman from Forest Park, OK)
F - Wynton Witherspoon (6-7 junior from Duluth, GA)
F - Rob Diggs (6-8 junior from Brandywine, MD)
C - Joseph Katuka (6-10 freshman from Zaria, Nigeria)

UCLA
G - Russell Westbrook (6-3 sophomore from Hawthorne, CA)
G - Josh Shipp (6-5 junior from Los Angeles, CA)
F - Luc Richard Mbah a Moute (6-8 junior from Yaounde, Cameroon)
F - Alfred Aboya (6-9 juior from Yaounde, Cameroon)
C - Kevin Love (6-10 freshman from Lake Oswego, OR)

Update, 10.45 p.m. - This is about as bad as it could be to start. UCLA is up eight, our most potent scorer Rob Diggs has two fouls and GW cannot get anything going against a team that only gives up 51 points per game. This GW team must wake up and get going.

Update, 10.50 p.m. - And there it is, Collison is making his debut as he has come into the game for UCLA, this is going to get worse before it gets better for GW.

Update, 10.59 p.m. - Well GW is hanging tough, but will need to now go deep into their bench with five combined fouls between Diggs and Hollis. Cheyenne Moore, who started the game with two turnovers, was able to hit a big three-point basket to keep this game within single digits with 11 minutes to go.

Update, 11.04 p.m. - Wow, back-to-back three-point goals for Moore and Rice make this a four point game and has the Colonials looking more and more like a team that wants to challenge UCLA. It does not hurt that the Bruins have made a couple gaffes to begin this game.

Update, 11.21 p.m. - We are doing what just about every inferior team does against the Bruins, which is hang tight in the first half and than slowly slip in the second-half. We are also being saved by UCLA's (0-6) from 3 point-land which has kept this in single-digits.

Update, 11.41 p.m. - Well, down nine ain't bad when you consider we have three players with three fouls (Hollis, Alexander, and Witherspoon) and we have a UCLA team that cannot miss from the charity stripe. More anaysis coming from Pauley Pavilion in the second half.

Update, 11.51 p.m. - UCLA has opened the scoring in the second half with a dunk by Mbah a Moute. Aboya picked up his third foul, the first UCLA player to pick up this many.

Update, 11.55 p.m. - Wynton Witherspoon, who has been held to two points in this game, has just picked up his fourth foul and has been taken out of the game. He and Hollis both have four. Diggs and Alexander each have 3 fouls. UCLA has been attacking this Colonials defense in foul trouble outscoring the Colonials 10-2 this half, taking their largest lead of the game at 54-37.

Update, 12.03 a.m. - Wynton Witherspoon has just checked back into the game and within 30 seconds, he picked up two points and his fifth foul, fouling out of the game on a questionable foul call. He has been replaced in the line-up by Joseph Katuka.

Update, 12.05 a.m. - Xavier Alexander has gotten back-to-back fouls on one possession and has fouled out out of the game. With 13 minutes to play the Colonials trail by 21, have two players that have fouled out, and Damian Hollis is playing with four fouls.

Update, 12.10 a.m. - And the Bruins have ran away with this one with 11:59 remaining in the second half. They have outscored GW 18-4 in the second half led by Shipp and Westbrook who have 15 points each and Collison with 14.

Update, 12.16 a.m. - The Colonials are once again in foul trouble as Johnny Lee's first foul gives the team 8 team fouls with 10 minutes to play. UCLA is 18 for 22 at the free throw line tonight. UCLA's improvement on shooting percentage has also increased the gap between them and their opponents this evening shooting 55 percent from the field. They have shot 20-27 for 2-point field goals in the game and now have a 70-45 lead over the Colonials.

Update, 12.31 a.m. - Back-ups for both teams on the floor now as this one is all but over. The Bruins lead 77-52 with 3:32 remaining. A combination of the Colonials dropping off shooting in the second half and the Bruins unrelenting offense led to the Colonials dropping two in a row on the road. Neither Rice nor Moore, the leading scorers for GW in the first half, scored in the second half. Rice shot a miserly 0-6 in the second half leading a Colonials team that shot only 37% from the field in this game. Despite the Bruins' woes shooting from 3-point territory (5-20), they were running on all cylinders defensively and shot efficiently from the interior. This loss will mark a continuation in the Colonials ability to win on the road, dropping two straight. They are 8-13 when combined with last season.

Update, 4.43 p.m. - Hobbs didn't hold a postgame, but we'll try to get Howland's up here at some point.