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GAMEDAY
No. 22 Washington (19-6, 10-3) vs. No. 20 UCLA (19-6, 8-4) | Pac-10 basketball

UW schedule
Date	Opponent	Time/result
11/15	at Portland	L, 80-74
11/18	vs. Cleveland State	W, 78-63
11/20	Florida International	W, 74-51
11/24	vs. Kansas (CBE)	L, 73-54
11/25	vs. Florida (CBE)	L, 86-84
11/29	vs. Pacific	W, 72-54
12/4	vs. Oklahoma State	W, 83-65
12/6	vs. Texas Southern	W, 88-52
12/14	vs. Portland State	W, 84-83
12/20	vs. Eastern Washington	W, 83-50
12/23	vs. Lehigh	PPD.
12/28	vs. Montana	W, 75-53
12/30	vs. Morgan State	W, 81-67
1/3	at Washington State*	W, 68-48
1/8	vs. Stanford*	W, 83-82
1/10	vs. California*	L, 88-85, 3OT
1/15	at Oregon*	W, 84-67
1/17	at Oregon State*	W, 85-59
1/22	vs. USC*	W, 78-73
1/24	vs. UCLA*	W, 86-75
1/29	at Arizona*	L, 106-97
1/31	at Arizona State*	W, 84-71
2/5	at California*	L, 86-71
2/8	at Stanford*	W, 75-68
2/12	vs. Oregon State*	W, 79-60
2/14	vs. Oregon*	W, 103-84
2/19	at UCLA*	8 p.m.
2/21	at USC*	4 p.m.
2/26	vs. Arizona State*	8 p.m.
2/28	vs. Arizona*	TBA
3/3	vs. Seattle U.	8 p.m.
3/7	vs. Washington State*	TBA
*Pac-10 game

UW statistics
Player	Pts.	Reb.	Ast.	Min.
Isaiah Thomas, G	16.5	2.8	2.7	28.1
Justin Dentmon, G	15.8	2.8	2.5	27.8
Jon Brockman, F	14.9	11.1	1.2	30.3
Quincy Pondexter, F	11.1	5.6	1.8	27.1
M. Bryan-Amaning, F	7.0	4.6	0.5	18.4
Venoy Overton, G	5.3	2.0	2.1	20.0
Elston Turner, G	3.6	2.3	1.0	13.6
Darnell Gant, F	3.2	3.5	0.5	18.2
Joe Wolfinger, C	2.4	1.0	0.3	6.6
Justin Holiday, F	2.2	3.0	1.3	16.4
Artem Wallace, C	1.4	1.4	0.0	4.6
Scott Suggs, G	1.2	0.4	0.1	4.8

Josh Shipp UCLA Bruins Washington Huskies Seattle Sports Online PHOTO BY DREW SELLERS / SEATTLESPORTSONLINE.COM

XFACTOR

JOSH SHIPP
The Bruins' second-leading scorer torched the Huskies in the first meeting, one of the few Bruins showing signs of life. Shipp hit six 3-pointers (by far a season-high), scored 25 points (a career-high), and even blocked two shots (tied for a season-high). Quincy Pondexter was the prime defender on Shipp. "It's a team effort trying to guard him," Pondexter said Tuesday. "You want to make sure he doesn't get any easy baskets." While those are standardized answers, the reality is there were not many "easy" baskets for Shipp. Of his eight made field goals, six were 3s. UCLA coach Ben Howland starting running double screens to get Shipp loose in the second half, sensing the hot hand. The question Thursday will be if Shipp gets the same space early on that he did in Seattle, the space that enabled him to get hot.

STARTINGMATCHUPS

UW's Isaiah Thomas vs. UCLA's Darren Collison
Breakdown: This is half a battle because Collison guarded Thomas the first game, but Thomas guarded Jrue Holiday, leaving Collison defended by Justin Dentmon. Regardless, Thomas attacked Collison, getting to the free-throw line 12 times on his way to 24 points. "Playing against a guard like Collison, knowing he's one of the best guards in the country, you just want to go at him and show him you can play. And I did that," Thomas said Tuesday. Collison mustered just 12 points in the game and committed five fouls. That's the only time this season Collison has committed more than three, evidence he has major problems with the Huskies freshman. It will be interesting to see if he adjusts.
Advantage: Thomas

UW's Justin Dentmon vs. UCLA's Jrue Holiday
Breakdown: Akin to Thomas, Dentmon put pressure on the UCLA defense with his drives, getting to the free-throw line 10 times. Dentmon had some trouble guarding Collison, getting into foul trouble early. But he carried things at the end, as has become standard operating procedure. Holiday should exploit his bigger frame against Thomas.
Advantage: Even

UW's Quincy Pondexter vs. UCLA's Josh Shipp
Breakdown: Pondexter has been playing better since the UCLA game, not that he was paying poorly then, and will surely be looking for redemption.
Advantage: Shipp

UW's Darnell Gant vs. UCLA's Nikola Dragovic
Breakdown: Dragovic is a 3-point shooter who was rather quiet in the first game. Gant has the mobility to move out to the perimeter and give a high-hand challenge to Dragovic's 3-point attempts. If picks were properly categorized as assists, Gant would be leading the team in that category.
Advantage: Even

UW's Jon Brockman vs. UCLA's Alfred Aboya
Breakdown: Brockman powered through Aboya and had a solid game with 18 points and eight rebounds. Aboya has been sick all week, and there was questions about whether he would play. Brockman thinks Aboya will be able to go. "I'm sure he'll be ready for game-time," Brockman said. "He's a warrior." According to the L.A. Daily News, that's just what will happen. Backups James Keefe and Drew Gordon combined for seven points and seven fouls in the prior matchup.
Advantage: Brockman

POLLPOSITION

3KEYS

Attack, attack, attack
The Bruins are 300-thread-count soft in the middle, and their guards had problems with their Washington counterparts. The Huskies had an enormous advantage at the free-throw line, outscoring UCLA 36-10 there. Washington went to the line 43 times, a staggering amount for a UCLA opponent. The Huskies can't expect an equal amount of trips in Pauley Pavilion, but will need to continue attacking the UCLA defense.

Get MBA some confidence
Bench play, a consistent strength for Washington, should be a bigger part of this game than it was in the first. Matthew Bryan-Amaning has continued to struggle, Washington coach Lorenzo Romar saying Bryan-Amaning is rushing, much like we saw him do in his freshman year, and much like we saw him not do at the beginning of this year.

Take better care of the ball
The Huskies won the first game despite 15 turnovers. That number needs to be reduced by three in order for Washington to be equally effective on the road.

THEPICK

This just looks like a bad matchup for the Bruins. Washington's guards dominated the first time around, and there is no evidence that won't happen again. Even if the guards are stifled, the Bruins' interior defense has no answer for Brockman. It will be closer and the points will be lower, but Washington wins. According to USA Today, UCLA is an eight-point favorite.
Washington 71, UCLA 67.

((())) Listen to coach Romar

The coach talks about UCLA's reputation as a defensive team, and if past success can be an advantage for this Bruins club:

Washington rundown
Team stats