UCLA hoops ready for exhibition game No. 2

The UCLA Bruins will face the NCAA Division II Humboldt State Lumberjacks Tuesday night at 7:30 in Pauley Pavilion. The Bruins are coming off their less than easy last second win over Concordia last week.

Humboldt State, which has won the California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) the last two years, will likely be a better team than Concordia. They are coached by Tom Wood who is entering his 28th season as the Lumberjack’s head coach. Wood’s teams play under control, have strong guard play and are sound defensively. That sounds very similar to Concordia.

The Lumberjacks run flex and motion offenses and according to Coach Ben Howland, they execute it very well. Wood is a fine coach who gets the most out of his players. They shoot the ball well and cause trouble for opposing defenses.

The Lumberjacks are ranked number eight in the Sporting News Division II preseason poll and return four starters from last years’ 20-12 team that made the postseason for the eighth time in nine years. Humboldt State’s best player is 6-1 senior guard Zac Tiedeman who is an outstanding long range shooter, making 62 three pointers last year.

The other guard is 5-11 Junior Ernie Spada, who is another excellent shooter, and was a high school teammate of Kevin Love.

The Lumberjack’s best returning big man is sophomore 6-9 Kyle Baxter who was the CCAA’s Freshman of the Year last year. Another returning starter is 6-6 forward Kevin Atkins. Atkins, from Long Beach Poly, averaged 11.1 points per game (ppg) last year.

For the Bruins, both Tyler Honeycutt and Brendan Lane will not be seeing action. We expect everyone else to receive some playing time. If the Bruins play the same type of game as they did against Concordia, they could be looking at a long evening.

UCLA will need to step up its perimeter defense to stop Tiedeman and Spada. The Bruins should again dominate the boards, even though the Lumberjacks have a little more height than Concordia. However, be certain that Humboldt State will play very hard and will be highly motivated for this game.

UCLA will be starting both Michael Roll and Jerime Anderson for the first time this season. Coach Howland said in his teleconference this afternoon that the Bruins will have to show improvement, although Tyler Honeycutt is out for a month with a stress reaction to his right tibia. Thus Nikola Dragovic will see some time at the three, where Honeycutt started against Concordia.

How well Anderson performs and how his groin strain holds up will determine how many minutes he gets against Humboldt State. Look for the Bruins to play much harder in their second pre-season game if they are to win this one. They are young and talented, so they should improve as the season progresses.