With the end of the regular season just over the next hill, here’s our second-to-last edition of this season’s weekly honors.
Team of the Week – UCLA
If it wasn’t for California and its seven-game winning streak, the Bruins would be the clear choice for the hottest team in the Pac-12. And, if it wasn’t for Oregon and their nine-point mid-January win at Pauley Pavilion, the Bruins would be alone atop the conference standings. And if ifs and buts were candies and nuts… As it is, however, UCLA had a big week, wrapping up their home schedule with a pair of good wins over the Arizona schools, completing a season sweep of the hated Wildcats and earning their way back into the AP Top 25. With Kyle Anderson and Shabazz Muhammad coming on strong, this Bruins team that has confused everyone this season with a home loss to Cal Poly, back-to-back losses against Arizona State and USC and a stink bomb at Cal, finally seems to be rounding into shape just in time for the games that matter most.
Playing His Best Basketball Of The Season Just In Time For March, Kyle Anderson and UCLA Have Plenty To Smile About (Jayne Kamin-Oncea, USA Today)
Player and Newcomer of the Week – Kyle Anderson, Freshman, UCLA
Anderson takes down the award this week after turning in his best pair of performances of his college career. In a pair of very important games, Anderson averaged 19 points, 11 boards, three assists, 2.5 blocks and a steal per contest, all while turning it over just three times for the week, something that has been a bugaboo at times this year for him. Just looking at that line you can see the insane versatility that the youngster possesses and head coach Ben Howland seems to vary exactly what role he expects Anderson to play game-by-game. Against an Arizona State team that dominated the Bruins inside in their first meeting, and with the Bruins’ frontcourt shorthanded, Anderson was called upon at times to match-up against 7’2” center Jordan Bachynski – and he handled himself well, collecting season highs in points, boards and blocks while creating mismatch problems on the offensive end. Against Arizona, Anderson turned in what Howland called his best half of the season, tallying 15 points before halftime and seemingly leaving Sean Miller unsure about who to have guard him. As we head into March, Anderson gives his squad a scoring presence, a long (and rapidly improving) defender, a limber rebounder and, again per Howland, a second point guard out on the court.