The Pac-10 pits two of its hated rivals against each other on
2010’s day of love.
The UCLA Bruins will travel the short distance to the Galen
Center to visit their rival USC Trojans on Valentine’s Day
evening. The Bruins (11-12, 6-5) are winners of four of their last
six games in what has been a disappointing campaign overall. UCLA,
who had dropped five non-conference games in a row earlier this
season, have continued their inconsistent performances in Pac-10
play. Last week they hosted the Bay Area schools and defeated a
determined Stanford team on Thursday, before losing to the
conference leading Golden Bears by 14 on Saturday.
The Bruins have five players averaging double figures in
points, with two of their three seniors among them. Nikola
Dragovic, a role player on prior UCLA Final Four teams, adds almost
five rebounds a game to his 11.5 points per game. Michael Roll has
led the team in points from his guard position, and has been
especially productive from behind the arc; shooting 44.5% from
three point range this season.
USC (14-9, 6-5) will hope to complete the season sweep over
the Bruins following their emotional 67-46 victory at Pauley
Pavilion on January 16th. The Trojans have not been eligible for
NCAA or Pac-10 tournament play since they enforced such a
punishment upon themselves on January 3rd, 2010. Head coach Kevin
O’Neill has kept his team grounded over this past month
though, and has coached them to a 5-5 record since the
announcement.
Despite their off-court problems, USC has proved itself a
tough match for every team in the Pac-10. Behind their senior
leadership of Dwight Lewis, Mike Gerrity, and Marcus Johnson, the
Trojans will look to sweep the Bruins for the first time since they
completed the feat in 2004.
Join us on Sunday at 10:00pm ET on FCS Pacific to see who
will earn Los Angeles’ bragging rights.
