Los Angeles, CA (Sports Network) - Shabazz Muhammad will make his home debut
on Sunday as the 11th ranked UCLA Bruins host the Cal Poly Mustangs for a
Golden State duel at New Pauley Pavilion.
The Bruins return home after splitting a pair of games versus Georgetown and
Georgia in the Progressive Legends Classic in Brooklyn. UCLA's loss to
Georgetown was the first for Ben Howland's team on the season despite the fact
he had Muhammad at his disposal for the first time since the NCAA determined
him eligible to participate. After scoring 15 off the bench in the loss to the
Hoyas, the heralded freshman led the team with 21 points in a four-point win
over Georgia. The Bruins recovered from a slow start in that contest and shot
50 percent from the floor in the second en route to the win.
Cal Poly dropped to 1-2 its last time out after being handed a 76-67 loss by
Fresno State at home. The Mustangs came up short at TCU (52-46) in the season
opener, which was their only road game as well. In between the losses lies
their lone win, a 64-53 decision over Northern Colorado. Fourth-year head
coach Joe Callero led the team to a win at USC last season, which makes him
1-3 versus Pac-12 opposition as the Mustangs' head coach.
UCLA and Cal Poly will take the floor in the sixth overall meeting between the
two programs. The Bruins earned a 72-61 win over Cal Poly when the two schools
last met on Dec. 11, 2010 to improve its series record versus the Mustangs to
5-0.
The Mustangs were overmatched their last time out versus Fresno State. The
Bulldogs had no problem finding the bottom of the basket as they hit 55.3
percent of their shots from the field, including 9-of-18 from beyond the arc.
Cal Poly made a decent 47.1 percent of its field goal attempts in the contest
and turned the ball over just six times. However, the team made only 14-of-22
attempts at the charity stripe and suffered a 31-22 loss in the rebounding
battle. Forward Chris Eversley paced the team with 14 points and guard Dylan
Royer added 12. Eversley is the only player on the team with a scoring average
in double figures (14.3 ppg), but he is converting only 41 percent of his
field goal tries in doing so.
Through five games, UCLA is producing 79.2 ppg on 45.4 percent shooting, while
allowing just 68.4 ppg. Freshman Jordan Adams from Oak Hill Academy has been
the most impressive player on the team this season. The rookie guard is
scoring 19.6 ppg in just 25.4 minutes per contest off the bench. Muhammad's
presence may take away some shots, but it will also open things up for Adams.
The Bruins have an NBA sized frontcourt with the Wear twins, David and Travis,
and the 6-10, 305-pound Joshua Smith. The trio should be able to dominate the
glass against Cal Poly's much smaller forwards. Kyle Anderson is another
highly touted freshman on Howland's squad, but his shouting accuracy (30.6
percent FG, 0-6 3PT, 9-19 FT) has been very poor in the early stages of his
career.
The Sports Network