ucla v. fullerton

So Fullerton is the next victim, right? What do we know about them? They were beaten by then No. 8 Utah, by 29 points, 59 - 87. They managed to get on the bandwagon with everyone else except Long Beach, and beat poor Norfolk State 83 - 57. Then they beat Lewis Clark St by 40 points, 86 - 46, beat the Loyola Marymount Tigers 98 - 94, and lost to Pepperdine 61 - 65. Last Saturday, they beat a fine San Diego team, 76 - 70. So they're 4-2, and Ike Harmon is their big scoring threat.

Harmon had 27 points and 10 rebounds for the Titans last Saturday, and Fullerton is 3-0 when scoring 80 or more points. The senior backcourt of Chris Dade and Chris St. Clair are averaging a combined 33 points, and Dade alone averages 20.2 ppg and shoots 49.4 percent from the field. St. Clair is at 49 percent (19-of-39) from three-point range, but has only made 2-of-14 from two-point range. So he likes the outside, and Dade likes the inside. Fullerton is averaging 77 points per game and hitting 42.9 percent from the field, and has made 40.5 percent of it's three point shots, mostly from St.Clair.

The two teams have met 7 times, and UCLA has won all seven games. They last met two years ago, when UCLA beat them 79-63.

Fullerton Titans

NO. PLAYER              POS    HT    WT    CLASS
--  ------              ---    --    --    -----
 3  Dane Plock           G     6-1   170     SO
 4  Geoff Meeks          G     5-11  165     FR
 5  Ike Harmon           F     6-7   190     SO
10  John Breazeal        G     6-0   165     JR
11  Wyki Tyson           F     6-8   225     SR
12  Chris Dade           G     6-2   205     SR
14  Kenroy Jarrett       G     5-11  160     SO
15  Corey Sanders        C     6-11  210     FR
21  Jason Cunningham     F     6-5   190     SR
22  Josh Leighton        F     6-5   185     SO
24  Chris St. Clair      G     6-0   170     SR
25  Craig Whitehead      F     6-6   190     SR
40  Jerome Archie        C     6-11  235     SR
42  Mark Richardson      F     6-7   215     JR
44  DeVaughn Wright      F     6-6   215     SR
50  Matt Caldwell        C     6-8   220     FR

UCLA Bruins

NO. PLAYER              POS    HT     WT    CLASS
--  ------              ---    --     --    -----
 3  Billy Knight        G-F    6-4    186     FR
 4  Kevin Daley          F     6-6    185     SO
 5  Baron Davis          G     6-1    205     FR
11  Todd Ramasar        G-F    6-4    195     FR
12  Toby Bailey          G     6-5    208     SR
13  Travis Reed          F     6-6    243     FR
20  Brandon Loyd         G     5-10   200     JR
21  Ryan Bailey          G     6-1    207     SO
22  Rico Hines           G     6-3    207     FR
25  Earl Watson          G     6-0    183     FR
30  Sean Farnham         F     6-6    210     SO
34  Jelani McCoy         C     6-10   237     JR *
52  J.R. Henderson       F     6-8    233     SR
54  Kris Johnson        G-F    6-4    239     SR

* - suspended

Kris Johnson will be returning, and he won't start, you can bet on that. But this probably will be Brandon Loyd's last game starting this season. If it's not, Lavin needs a shrink. In the first four games of the season, Loyd has only made something like 3 three pointers and he's probably not taken more than 10 shots all season. Hey Brandon: Yo. You're on the team because you were a three point shooter. Go practice. Then shoot it.

The Bruins (3-1) have won three straight games since their season-opening disaster against North Carolina in the Great Alaska Shootout, but took just a gigantic leap last Saturday beating New Mexico 69-58, which was formerly ranked
eighth. Henderson, who will play out of position until McCoy returns scored 24 points last week, and we'll see if he can do it again. Fullerton is a tall team, with two 6'-11 guys, but they're a lot like the Bruins with the inside and outside shooting from their guards.

It's going to be interesting to see which guard, Harmon or Baron looks better. Harmon is faster and quicker, and isn't as foul prone, but when Baron turns it on there's few who can stay with him.

The game is on Fox Sports West 2, and will be broadcast on AM 1150 Sports Radio. See you at the game.