Kyle Anderson Leads Bruins to PAC-10 Title over Arizona; Five More Championships Up on Sunday

College Hoops Player of the Day for Saturday, March 15, 2014

Kyle Anderson, UCLA's sensational sophomore, has been putting up big numbers and double-doubles all season, but may have saved his best game for the PAC-12 championship, captured by the Bruins with a 75-71 victory over Arizona.

Anderson dropped in 21 points and swiped 15 rebounds to lead the Bruins, dishing five assists while committing just one turnover. It was his 14th double-double of the season and his first in the conference tournament. The Bruins knocked off Oregon and Stanford before gutting out the win over the #4 Wildcats.

While UCLA receives the automatic bid to the NCAA tournament, Arizona will also be going, as they have a 30-4 mark on the season.

Other big-name teams punched their ticket to the big dance on Saturday. Iowa State won the Big 12 championship, coming from behind to defeat Baylor, 74-65; Louisville took the American Athletic title with a 71-61 win over Connecticut.

Providence upset #14 Creighton, 65-58, to capture the Big East championship, and New Mexico knocked off San Diego State, 64-58, in the West Coast conference final, their third consecutive conference championship.

Just five more automatic bids need to be awarded on Sunday before the selection committee finalizes the seedings for the NCAA tournament brackets.

At 1:00 pm EDT, #7 Duke meets #6 Virginia to decide the ACC title, Saint Joseph's plays #23 Virginia Commonwealth in the Atlantic-10, and Louisiana-Lafayette faces Georgia State for the Sun Belt championship.

At 3:00 pm, Kentucky and #1 Florida meet to decide the SEC crown, and, at 3:30 pm, #8 Michigan and #22 Michigan State battle for Big Ten bragging rights.

Kyle Anderson Comes Up Big, But UCLA Comes Up Short at Utah, 73-69

College Hoops Player of the Day for Saturday, January 18, 2014

Kyle Anderson had another in a string of impressive games this season, but, despite his efforts, UCLA could not overcome a disparity at the free throw line, falling in Salt Lake City to the Utah Utes, 73-69.

Anderson led all scorers with 28 points, wile gobbling up seven rebounds and distributing seven assists. The sophomore All-American candidate was spectacular, hitting all five of his three-point attempts on 10-for-16 shooting, plus going 3-for-3 at the foul line in 36 minutes of action.

That was not enough for the Bruins to survive on the road, however, as the Bruins piled up fouls. While UCLA went to the line just eight times for the entire game and made six of their freebies, the Utes were sent to the stripe 17 times, where they scored 15 points.

Otherwise, the game was quite even, perhaps with a slight statistical slant toward UCLA. The Bruins hit 27 field goals, compared to 25 for the Utes, both teams hit nine threes, but the Bruins held the edge on the boards, 35-31, and both teams committed 17 turnovers.

The loss drops the #25 Bruins to 14-4 overall, with a 3-2 mark in the PAC-12. Utah is also 14-4, holding a 3-3 mark in conference play.

Led by Kyle Anderson, UCLA Routs USC, 107-73

College Hoops Player of the Day for Sunday, January 5, 2014

Opening their PAC-12 schedule at home against their cross-town rivals, USC, the UCLA Bruins sent a statement to the rest of the conference with a runaway, 107-73 home win over the Trojans.

The Bruins were led by prodigious, 6'9" sophomore, Kyle Anderson, who led the Bruins in points, assists and rebounds, registering a game-high 23 points and 12 rebounds. His five assists were matched by USC's Julian Jacobs.

Though he misfired on both attempts from three-point range, Anderson was 10-for-14 from the field, adding three points from the foul line. Anderson didn't start scoring until nearly five minutes into the game, but his jumper at 15:23 in the first half put the Bruins up 11-2, and they never looked back.

USC made a game of it for the first ten minutes of the first half, cutting the Bruins' lead to three points midway through, at 21-18, but UCLA went on a 18-5 run over the next five minutes, Anderson pitching in eight points. By half time, the Bruins led 56-34, and didn't let up, even though they emptied their bench in the second half, outscoring USC, 51-39, cruising to the win.

With their initial conference win tucked away, the Bruins expect a challenge when they next hold court at Pauley Pavilion, hosting top-ranked Arizona on Thursday, January 9 at 6:00 pm PT.

UCLA Remains Perfect at 7-0, as Kyle Anderson Leads Win in Las Vegas Invitational

College Hoops Player of the Day for Friday, November 29, 2013

19th-ranked UCLA remained undefeated (7-0) with a 95-79 romp over Northwestern in the final round of the Las Vegas Invitational, hitting 13 of 17 three-pointers.

Jordan Adams, Zach LaVine and Bryce Alford each scored 18 points, helping the Bruins take a share of the round-robin tournament with Missouri, winning all four games during the tourney. The Bruins beat Morehead State and Chattanooga last weekend at home in the opening rounds, then came to Vegas and overwhelmed host Nevada, 105-84, Thursday, prior to taking down the Wildcats.

Kyle Anderson dropped in 16 points, hauled in nine rebounds and dished nine assists, earning the tournament MVP award. The 6'9" sophomore had a triple double (13 points, 12 rebounds, 11 assists) in the Morehead State win, and double-doubles in the two subsequent games. In the final, he was 6-for-9 from the floor, making two of three three-pointers and a pair of free throws, along with four steals.

UCLA was absolutely sizzling in the final, shooting 63.6% from the field (35-for-55). The Bruins are the nation's second-best shooting team, hitting at 55.6%, fourth in assists (20.2), and are the sixth-highest scoring team, at 90.9 points per game.

NOTABLE: A number of ranked teams didn't fare so well in their holiday tournament outings on Friday. #2 Kansas lost to Villanova, 63-59, on a late three-pointer in the Battle 4 Atlantis; #6 Duke was outflanked by #4 Arizona, 72-66, at the NIT Tip-Off at Madison Square Garden, and #20 Creighton, despite 30 points by Doug McDermott, fell to San Diego State, 86-80, in the Wooden Legagy Tournament in Fullerton California.

Kyle Anderson's Triple-Double Propels UCLA to 4-0

College Hoops Player of the Day for Friday, November 22, 2013

At 6'9", UCLA sophomore Kyle Anderson is a match-up nightmare. When he is dishing the ball to teammates - in addition to his own scoring and rebounding - the Bruins become a dynamic offensive force, as was evidenced in their 81-70 win over Morehead State, their fourth win without a loss.

Anderson scored 13 points, to go with 12 boards and 11 assists, many of his passes finding fellow sophomore, Jordan Adams, who lit up the Eagles for a career-high 30 points.

As a freshman, Anderson had eight double-double performances, always with scoring and rebounding; this was the first triple-double of his career. He's always been on the lookout for open shooters, as he had 3.5 assists per game last season as a freshman. This season he's leading the Bruins wirh eight assists per game. Other career highlights include a 21-point, 17-rebound and 7-assist night in a win over Fresno State last December.

UCLA's next game is Sunday, against the Chattanooga Mocs. More definitive tests come later: November 29, against Northwestern, December 7, at Missouri, and December 19, when they meet the Duke Blue Devils at Madison Square Garden in the Carquest Auto Parts Classic.

Kyle Anderson Provides Lift as Bruins Open PAC-12 Play with a Win over Cal

College Hoops Player of the Day for Thursday, January 3, 2013

Continuing their quest for respectability, the UCLA Bruins took another step forward, defeating the Cal Golden Bears, 79-65, opening their PAC-12 schedule with a solid win, their sixth in a row.

The Bruins were led by freshman Kyle Anderson, who, at 6'9", s listed as a guard but plays more like a forward, operating in the post and on the wings. Anderson recorded his fourth double-double of the season with 19 points and 12 boards, adding a pair of assists, two steals and two blocked shots, and is becoming an integral part of the UCLA scheme. Anderson was 5-for-8 from the field and a perfect 8-for-9 from the foul line, where his improvement has been notable.

In his first seven games, Anderson was 13-for-26 from the stripe (50%), but, in his last seven has hit 30 of 35 freebies, an 86% rate.

Anderson was just a point off his career high, set just two games past, when he displayed his huge potential with 20 points and 17 rebounds in the Bruins' 91-78 win over Fresno State. Averaging close to a double-double, with 9.5 points and 8.7 rebounds, Anderson is one of the keys to UCLA challenging for the conference title, their main opposition being the unbeaten Arizona Wildcats (13-0), who struggled to a 92-83 overtime win against Colorado.

The 11-3 Bruins meet up with the Wildcats in three weeks, on January 24, at Arizona.

NOTABLE: #2 Michigan stormed into Northwestern to open their Big Ten schedule and ripped up the place with a 94-66 victory. Trey Burke led the way with 23 points for the 14-0 Wolverines.