2008–09 UCLA Bruins men's basketball team

2008–09 UCLA Bruins men's basketball
NCAA Championships 2nd Round, L 89–69
Conference Pacific-10 Conference
Ranking
Coaches #18
AP #18
2008–09 record 26–9 (13–5 Pac-10)
Head coach Ben Howland
Assistant coach Donny Daniels
Assistant coach Scott Duncan
Assistant coach Scott Garson
Home arena Pauley Pavilion
2008–09 Pacific-10 Conference men's basketball standings
Conf     Overall
Team W   L   PCT     W   L   PCT
#15 Washington 14 4   .778     26 9   .743
#18 UCLA 13 5   .722     26 9   .743
#19 Arizona State 11 7   .611     25 10   .714
California 11 7   .611     22 11   .667
USC 9 9   .500     22 13   .629
Arizona 9 9   .500     21 14   .600
Washington State 8 10   .444     17 16   .515
Oregon State 7 11   .389     18 18   .500
Stanford 6 12   .333     20 14   .588
Oregon 2 16   .111     8 23   .258
2009 Pacific-10 Tournament winner
Rankings from AP Poll
Darren Collison at the DePaul game
Pauley Pavilion, UCLA vs. FIU

The 2008–09 UCLA Bruins men's basketball team opened the season on November 3 when it took on Cal Baptist in an exhibition game in Pauley Pavilion. The Bruins participated in the 2K Sports Classic, Big 12/Pac-10 Hardwood Series, and the John R. Wooden Classic in the Honda Center.

The team opened the season with the following starters: Alfred Aboya (Center), James Keefe (Power forward), Josh Shipp (Small forward), Jrue Holiday (Shooting guard) and Darren Collison (Point guard).

The team opted not to have an October 17, 2008 Midnight Madness celebration this year.[1] Practices began on Saturday, October 18, as they prepared for the first exhibition game on Monday, November 3. The team has been picked to finish first in the Pac-10 conference again, over Arizona State, USC and Arizona.

Freshman Tyler Trapani (#4), great-grandson of former head coach John Wooden, had joined the team.

Three players from last season's team, Russell Westbrook, Kevin Love[2] and Luc Richard Mbah a Moute were chosen to play in the NBA. Westbrook was picked by the Seattle Sonics, now Oklahoma City Thunder, as the fourth overall pick, Love was the fifth pick by the Memphis Grizzlies, and Mbah a Moute was picked by the Milwaukee Bucks, the 37th pick in the NBA draft.

The team finished the season by losing to Villanova 89–69 in the second round of the NCAA National Championship Tournament. The senior class of Alfred Aboya, Darren Collison and Josh Shipp finished their careers with the most wins in school history with 123 [3][4][5] The distinction was relative, as John Wooden's legendary teams played shorter seasons and freshmen were ineligible.[4]

Highlights

During half-time of the January 31 game against Stanford, the Bruins' 1963–64 and 1964–65 National Championship teams were honored, along with their 98-year-old former coach John R. Wooden, who told the crowd that he can still remember those years. The game also marked the Coaches vs. Cancer Suits and Sneakers Awareness Weekend with both teams wore white sneakers with their suits and ties.

A week later at the Notre Dame game, Troy Aikman was honored for his induction into the College Football Hall of Fame and for having recently completed his courses for a degree in sociology during half-time. A plaque was presented to Aikman to be permanently displayed at UCLA's Hall of Fame.

Seniors Alfred Aboya and Darren Collison played more games for UCLA than any other player in history, passing Mitchell Butler's 130 games from 1990–93.

The 72–54 DePaul victory in the December 13, 2008 John R. Wooden Classic game was coach Ben Howland's 300th career victory.

Sidney Wicks and his 1968–69 championship team were honored during halftime of the final home game against Oregon on Saturday, March 7, 2009.

These former players are now playing on a NBA team: Jason Kapono, Arron Afflalo, Dan Gadzuric, Luc Mbah a Moute, Ryan Hollins, Baron Davis, Trevor Ariza, Jordan Farmar, Matt Barnes, Kevin Love, Earl Watson, and Russell Westbrook.

UCLA's three-year reign came to an end when Washington defeated Washington State, 67–60 to win the regular season Pac-10 title.

Darren Collison was named to the All-Pac-10 team; Josh Shipp was named to the second team; Alfred Aboya was honorable mention on the All-Pac-10 team; Jrue Holiday was named to the All-Freshman team; and Alfred Aboya and Darren Collison were named to the All-Defensive team.

Darren Collison was an honorable mention in the 2008–09 AP All-America basketball teams.[6][7] Additionally, he was named the 2009 recipient of the Frances Pomeroy Naismith Award by the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. The award goes to the "nation's outstanding senior male collegian 6'0" and under who has excelled both athletically and academically."[8]

In the NCAA National Championship tournament, Alfred Aboya scored two free-throw points with 48 seconds remaining in the game to help UCLA get by VCU in the first round at the East Regional in Philadelphia's Wachovia Center. Top scorers in the game were Eric Maynor (21) for VCU and Josh Shipp (16) for UCLA.

In the second round, with six Wildcats scoring double-digit points, Villanova ended UCLA's hope of going to the Final Four for the fourth time in a row. Dante Cunningham had 18 points; Reggie Redding and Corey Fisher had 13; Corey Stokes put up 12; eleven points came from Scottie Reynolds and ten points were put up by Dwayne Anderson for the winning team. Josh Shipp had 18 points and Alfred Aboya had 8 rebounds for UCLA.

On Friday, April 3, Alfred Aboya will play in the Hershey's all-star game, which is part of the kickoff celebration to Final Four weekend at Ford Field.

The team finished the season with an attendance of 392,980 in 35 games, averaging 11,228 fans per game.

Freshman guard Jrue Holiday announced on April 9 that he would make himself eligible for the NBA draft without signing with an agent.

Recruiting class

The incoming class of Jerime Anderson, Drew Gordon, Jrue Holiday, Malcolm Lee, and J'Mison Morgan was ranked No. 1 in the nation.[9]

Name Home town High school / college Height Weight Commit date
Jerime Anderson
PG
Anaheim, CA Canyon HS 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 183 lb (83 kg) Sep 6, 2006 
Scout:4/5 stars   Rivals:4/5 stars   247Sports: N/A    ESPN grade: 94
Drew Gordon
PF
San Jose, CA Archbishop Mitty HS 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 230 lb (100 kg) May 6, 2007 
Scout:4/5 stars   Rivals:4/5 stars   247Sports: N/A    ESPN grade: 96
Jrue Holiday
SG
North Hollywood, CA Campbell Hall HS 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 180 lb (82 kg) Jul 3, 2007 
Scout:5/5 stars   Rivals:5/5 stars   247Sports: N/A    ESPN grade: 98
Malcolm Lee
SG
Moreno Valley, CA John W. North HS 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 200 lb (91 kg) Nov 16, 2006 
Scout:4/5 stars   Rivals:4/5 stars   247Sports: N/A    ESPN grade: 96
J'mison Morgan
C
Dallas, TX South Oak Cliff, HS 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) 240 lb (110 kg) Jul 24, 2008 
Scout:5/5 stars   Rivals:5/5 stars   247Sports: N/A    ESPN grade: 96
Overall recruiting rankings: Scout: 1   Rivals: 1  ESPN: 1
  • Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, and ESPN may conflict in their listings of height and weight.
  • In these cases, the average was taken. ESPN grades are on a 100-point scale.

Sources:

Players

Alfred Aboya draws a charge from James Harden.
No. Name Position Ht. Wt. Class Hometown (High School)
0Drew Gordon F 6–8 235 Fr. San Jose, CA (Archbishop Mitty HS)
1 Malcolm Lee G 6–5 180 Fr. Riverside, CA (John W. North HS)
2 Darren Collison*** G 6–0 160 Sr. Rancho Cucamonga, CA (Etiwanda HS)
3 Josh Shipp*** G/F 6–5 220 Sr.1 Los Angeles, CA (Fairfax HS)
4Tyler Trapani G 6–0 185 FR Simi Valley, CA (Simi Valley)
5Jerime Anderson G 6–1 165 Fr. Anaheim, CA (Canyon HS)
10Mustafa Abdul-Hamid** G 6–2 195 Jr. St. Louis, MO (Country Day HS)
11 Spencer Soo G 5–8 160 So. Fresno, CA (Central HS)
12 Alfred Aboya*** F/C 6–9 245 Sr. Yaounde, Cameroon (Tilton (NH) School)
13James Keefe F 6–8 231 Jr. Rancho Santa Margarita,CA (Santa Marg. Cath. HS)
15 Blake Arnet G 6–0 185 FR Laguna Niguel, CA (Mater Dei)
20Michael Roll** G/F 6–5 200 Jr.2 Aliso Viejo, CA (Aliso Niguel HS)
21Jrue Holiday G 6–3 180 Fr. North Hollywood, CA (Campbell Hall HS)
22J’mison Morgan C 6–10 248 Fr. Dallas, TX (South Oak Cliff HS)
24 Matt DeMarcus G 6–3 190 FR Solvang, CA (Santa Ynez Valley Union)
30Kevin Schmidt F 6–8 220 Jr. San Jose, CA (Bellarmine Prep)
41Nikola Dragović** F 6–9 216 So. Belgrade, Serbia (2nd Secondary School of Economics)
44James Diefenbach F/C6–8 250 SRNewport Beach, CA (Newport Harbor)

(1) 2005–06 medical hardship waiver — (2) 2004–05 redshirt — (*) denotes number of varsity letters [10]

Schedule

Date
Time, TV
Rank# Opponent# Result Record Site
City, State
Nov 3*
7:30 pm, uclabruins.com
#4 Cal Baptist
Exhibition
W 86–58 
Pauley Pavilion
Los Angeles, CA
Nov 7*
7:30 pm, uclabruins.com
#4 Biola
Exhibition
W 76–42 
Pauley Pavilion
Los Angeles, CA
Nov 12*
7:00 pm, ESPNU
#4 Prairie View A&M
2K Sports Classic First Round
W 82–58  1–0 (0–0)
Pauley Pavilion
Los Angeles, CA
Nov 13*
8:00 pm, ESPNU
#4 Miami (Ohio)
2K Sports Classic Second Round
W 64–59  2–0 (0–0)
Pauley Pavilion
Los Angeles, CA
Nov 20*
6:30 pm, ESPN2
#4 vs. Michigan
2K Sports Classic Semifinals
L 55–52  2–1 (0–0)
Madison Square Garden
NY, NY
Nov 21*
2:00 pm, ESPN2
#4 vs. Southern Illinois
2K Sports Classic Consolation
W 77–60  3–1 (0–0)
Madison Square Garden
NY, NY
Nov.29*
4:30 pm, FSN Prime Ticket
#11 Florida International W 89–54  4–1 (0–0)
Pauley Pavilion
Los Angeles, CA
Dec 4*
7:00 pm, ESPN
#9 vs. #8 Texas
Pac-10/Big 12 Series
L 68–64  4–2 (0–0)
Frank Erwin Center
Austin, TX
Dec 7*
7:30 pm, FSN Prime Ticket
#9 Cal State Northridge W 85–67  5–2 (0–0)
Pauley Pavilion
Los Angeles, CA
Dec 13*
4:00 pm, KCAL-TV
#14 vs. DePaul
John R. Wooden Classic
W 72–54  6–2 (0–0)
Honda Center
Anaheim, CA
Dec 17*
8:00 pm, FSN Prime Ticket
#12 Loyola Marymount W 75–44  7–2 (0–0)
Pauley Pavilion
Los Angeles, CA
Dec 20*
7:30 pm, FSNW
#12 Mercer W 76–59  8–2 (0–0)
Pauley Pavilion
Los Angeles, CA
Dec 23*
7:30 pm, FSN Prime Ticket
#10 Wyoming W 113–62  9–2 (0–0)
Pauley Pavilion
Los Angeles, CA
Dec 28*
Noon, FSN Prime Ticket
#10 Louisiana Tech W 78–55  10–2 (0–0)
Pauley Pavilion
Los Angeles, CA
Jan 2
7:30 pm, FSN/FSNPT
#9 at Oregon State W 69–46  11–2 (1–0)
Gill Coliseum
Corvallis, OR
Jan 4
12:30 pm, FSN/FSNPT
#9 at Oregon W 83–74  12–2 (2–0)
McArthur Court
Eugene, OR
Jan 11
7:30 pm, FSN/FSNPT
#7 at USC W 64–60  13–2 (3–0)
Galen Center
Los Angeles, CA
Thu., Jan 15
8:00 pm, FSN/FSNPT
#7 Arizona W 83–60  14–2 (4–0)
Pauley Pavilion
Los Angeles, CA
Sat., Jan 17
12:45 pm, CBS
#7 #15 Arizona State L 61–58 OT 14–3 (4–1)
Pauley Pavilion
Los Angeles, CA
Jan 22
6:00 pm, FSN/FSNPT
#11 at Washington State W 61–59  15–3 (5–1)
Friel Court
Pullman, WA
Jan 24
1:00 pm, FSN/FSNPT
#11 at Washington L 86–75  15–4 (5–2)
Bank of America Arena
Seattle, WA
Thu., Jan 29
7:30 pm, FSN/FSNW
#16 California W 81–66  16–4 (6–2)
Pauley Pavilion
Los Angeles, CA
Sat., Jan 31
12:30 pm, ABC
#16 Stanford W 97–63  17–4 (7–2)
Pauley Pavilion
Los Angeles, CA
Wed., Feb 4
7:30 pm, FSN Prime Ticket
#12 USC W 76–60  18–4 (8–2)
Pauley Pavilion
Los Angeles, CA
Sat., Feb 7*
10:00 am, CBS
#12 Notre Dame W 89–63  19–4 (8–2)
Pauley Pavilion
Los Angeles, CA
Feb 12
6:00 pm, ESPN
#6 at #18 Arizona State L 74–67  19–5 (8–3)
Wells Fargo Arena
Tempe, AZ
Feb 14
10:00 am, CBS
#6 at Arizona L 84–72  19–6 (8–4)
McKale Center
Tucson, AZ
Feb. 19
8:00 pm, FSN/FSNW
#15 #19 Washington W 85–74  20–6 (9–4)
Pauley Pavilion
Los Angeles, CA
Feb 21
Noon, FSN/FSNPT
#15 Washington State L 82–81  20–7 (9–5)
Pauley Pavilion
Los Angeles, CA
Feb 26
7:00 pm, FSN Prime Ticket
#19 at Stanford W 76–71  21–7 (10–5)
Maples Pavilion
Stanford, CA
Feb 28
6:00 pm, ESPN
#19 at California W 72–68  22–7 (11–5)
Haas Pavilion
Berkeley, CA
Mar 5
7:30 pm, FSN Prime Ticket
#17 Oregon State W 79–54  23–7 (12–5)
Pauley Pavilion
Los Angeles, CA
Mar 7
12:30 p.m, ABC
#17 Oregon W 94–68  24–7 (13–5)
Pauley Pavilion
Los Angeles, CA
Pac-10 Tournament
Mar 12
8:30 pm (Approx.), FSN
#14 vs. Washington State W 64–53  25–7 (13–5)
Staples Center
Los Angeles, CA
Mar 13
8:30 pm (Approx.), FSN
#14 vs. USC L 65–55  25–8 (13–5)
Staples Center
Los Angeles, CA
NCAA Tournament
Mar 19
6:45 pm, CBS
#17 vs. VCU W 65–64  26–8 (13–5)
Wachovia Center
Philadelphia, PA
Mar 21
10:05 am, CBS
#17 vs. Villanova L 89–69  26–9 (13–5)
Wachovia Center
Philadelphia, PA
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from Coaches' Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses.
All times are in Pacific Time[11].

Notes

See also

References

  1. Pucin, Diane (October 17, 2008). "No 'Midnight Madness' for UCLA, USC basketball teams". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2008-12-01.
  2. Plaschke, Bill (April 20, 2008). "Love can't have a legacy without joining fraternity". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on March 12, 2011.
  3. "Pac-10 Conference". USA Today. April 6, 2009. Archived from the original on February 7, 2013.
  4. 1 2 Wharton, David (March 8, 2009). "Seniors honored after winning careers". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on February 7, 2013.
  5. "No. 20 UCLA 94, Oregon 68". CBSSports.com. March 7, 2009. Archived from the original on February 7, 2013.
  6. 2008–09 AP All-America Basketball Teams
  7. "2009 AP All-America teams". CBS Interactive. Retrieved 2009-04-01.
  8. Darren Collison Receives The Frances Pomeroy Naismith Award
  9. Pucin, Diane (June 2, 2008). "Howland signs new deal with the Bruins". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on May 22, 2015.
  10. Bruins homepage
  11. "uclabruins.com Retrieved on October 1, 2008.

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