Bruins battle Cardinal in pivotal Pac-10 clash

NCAA Basketball Betting Lines

01/28/2007 - Stanford, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Sitting all alone atop the Pac-10 standings, the third-ranked UCLA Bruins close out the first half of conference play with a showdown with the Stanford Cardinal this evening from Maples Pavilion.

Ben Howland's team has lost just once this year, a 68-66 setback at nationally-ranked Oregon. Since then however, the team has strung together four consecutive victories, including Thursday's 62-46 win at California.

The Cardinal are just two games back in the league standings (5-3) and come into this contest with some momentum as well. Stanford has won two straight games and five of its last six overall, including a 65-50 victory over 25th-ranked USC on Thursday.

This is the 215th all-time meeting in this longstanding rivalry. Last season, the Bruins swept the season series for the first time since 1995. Prior to that, Stanford had won six straight over UCLA.

Arron Afflalo scored 20 of his 25 points in the second half, leading the Bruins to a rather easy win at California on Thursday. Afflalo was 7-of-13 from the floor and a perfect 9-of-9 from the charity stripe. Joining Afflalo in double figures was Josh Shipp, who chipped in 12 points. Luc Richard Mbah a Moute finished with just four points, but made his presence felt on the boards, with a game-high 11 rebounds. UCLA is a solid defensive team, that is limiting foes to a mere 59.6 ppg. In addition, the team holds a +4.1 rebounding edge and is forcing 16.7 turnovers per game. Offensively, the team is netting a decent 74.3 ppg, while shooting an efficient .490 from the field. Afflalo is the team's top offensive threat, shooting .481 from the floor, resulting in nearly 17 points per game (16.8). Shipp is next in line in terms of scoring (14.1 ppg), followed by point guard Darren Collison, who is both a scorer (12.8 ppg) and deft distributor (5.8 apg). Mbah a Moute is closing in on double digits (8.8 ppg) and leads the team in rebounding (8.1 rpg).

Freshman Brook Lopez was outstanding against USC on Thursday, recording a rare triple-double (first in school-history), as he scored 18 points, grabbed 11 rebounds and blocked a school-record 12 shots, in a 15-point win over the Trojans. In all, Stanford held USC to a meager .284 shooting performance and blocked a school-record 19 shots in all. Lawrence Hill had fun inside as well, as he just missed a double-double with 18 points and nine rebounds, while also swatting four shots. Guard Anthony Goods also finished in double digits with 10 points. The Cardinal are not an offensive force in the Pac-10 this year, averaging just under 70 points per game (69.1). However, strong defense has been a key to Stanford's success, limiting foes to just 64.6 ppg, on .409 shooting. Hill has been the top weapon offensively, hitting 53.8 percent of his shots, including 40 percent from behind the arc, en route to 15.6 ppg. Goods is next in line at 13.1 ppg, followed by Robin Lopez, who nets 10.1 ppg, while leading the team in both rebounding (6.4 rpg) and blocked shots (44).

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