Lazeric Jones Leads Bruins into Seattle to Face Huskies

The UCLA Bruins (12-9, 5-4) come into Seattle after defeating both Utah and a surprisingly strong Colorado team last weekend at home. The Bruins are led by Ben Howland, who has run the Bruins to a strong 201-92 (.686) record during his tenure as head coach. He has sent legitimate NBA stars through his program. This would include both Kevin Love and Russell Westbrook. However, Howland does not have that top draft pick talent this year. His team has played itself into a middling position within the Pac, yet are a team that could knock off anybody in the conference on any given night.

This is a team that could potentially match up well against the Huskies, or could very well fold in Hec Ed. They have the size inside to bang with our bigs, and an experienced point who should be able to at least limit the turnovers against Husky ball pressure.

This aforementioned point guard is the Senior Lazeric Jones. He leads this team in points, assists, steals, and turnovers. The turnovers are not a surprise as he is the primary ball-handler for his team and oftentimes that means getting stuck in impossible situations, and also leaves more opportunities for mistakes. He also shoots a very respectable 75% from the foul line and nearly forty percent from deep. He gets this team going and will most likely be guarded by either Abdul Gaddy --more likely-- Tony Wroten.

UCLA starts two other guards, Sophomore Tyler Lamb and Senior Jerime Andersen. Anderson has become something of a sharpshooter from deep. If the Dawgs sleep on his range it could be six quick points for the Senior guard. Tyler Lamb, conversely, is not particularly a shooter, and is averaging a shade over nine points per game. I do not know where to find out whether he is a strong defender or not, but my gut feeling is that Lamb will be the guy matched up on Terrence Ross throughout this contest.

The two forwards that fill out the starting lineup are the twin towers Travis Wear and David Wear. Their length (6-10) matches up well with N'Diaye and Simmons. It will be interesting to see the battle of length versus bulk and speed between whom is matched up against Austin Seferian-Jenkins when he gets his minutes. Travis and David average 6.2 and 5.0 rebounds per game, respectively. The only other player in the rotation who sniffs those numbers is Joshua Smith. Smith has size and skill down on the low block, and it will be an intriguing matchup when he attempts to post up on Seferian-Jenkins. Smith averages 5.0 boards per game, and barely misses out on double digit scoring and 9.7 per game.

The last member of the UCLA rotation is Norman Powell. Powell is a freshman guard who has the ability to hit from outside, and is 20-50 (.400) on the year from deep. He is averaging close to 18 minutes per game and could become a major contributor down the road for these Bruins.

All stats via www.statsheet.com

Projected Starting Lineups: