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NATIONAL
MOST VALUABLE PLAYER |
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April 4, 2008 |
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 BOSTON
(MA) -- Kevin Love, the Pac-10 Freshman and Player of
the Year, has been named the CollegeInsider.com
National Most Valuable Player.
“Kevin has had an outstanding season and has exceeded
my expectations, which were high,” says UCLA head
coach Ben Howland. “He is a great player and a great
teammate and is certainly deserving of the accolades
he has earned.
The 6-foot-10 Love has already turned a phenomenal
rookie season. One of just twenty-one players
nationally to average a double-double with nearly 18
points and close to 11 rebounds per game, Love is one
of only two freshmen (with Michael Beasley, Kansas
State) to achieve this mark.
Eight freshmen rank among the top 100 in the nation in
scoring, but only Love has scored in double figures in
every game (38).
“He is without question the best post player in
college basketball,” says CollegeInsider.com’s Matt
Drake. “He has tremendous footwork, which enables him
to be in position to catch and score. He’s also an
outstanding passer and he has a great feel for the
game. He’s the best player in college basketball.”
Love became the first UCLA player in over thirty years
to grab twenty or more rebounds when he hauled in 21
in the win at Oregon State (Jan. 26). The last player
to grab 20 or more rebounds was David Greenwood, in
1978.
His 406 rebounds are a UCLA freshman record (Luc
Richard Mbah a Moute, 318 in 39 games in 2006). He is
also seventh on the singe-season list and is just the
fourth Bruin to grab 400 or more rebounds in a season
(Kareem Abdul-Jabbar did it three times, Bill Walton
did it twice and Willie Naulls did it once).
Love’s 17.6 scoring average is the second highest ever
by a Bruin freshman (Don MacLean, 577, 18.6 ppg in
1989).
Kevin Love’s 669 points rank No. 11 on UCLA’s single
season list and are the most since 1995, when Ed
O’Bannon scored 673.
Love, who was also named to the CollegeInsider.com
All-America team and was one of 16 players named to
the Freshmen All-America squad, is only the second
freshman in league history to be named Pac-10 Player
of the Year. |
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