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San Antonio, TX (SportsNetwork.com) - A couple of nationally-ranked teams trying to bounce back from defeat in their last outings get together in the Alamo Bowl, as the 11th-ranked Kansas State Wildcats battle the 14th-ranked UCLA Bruins on Friday. The Bruins opened the 2014 campaign with four straight wins before hosting Utah and Oregon in early October and bowing to both Pac-12 Conference foes. However, UCLA rebounded by stringing together five consecutive victories in league play, but ended up falling to Stanford in the regular-season finale, 31-10. UCLA wound up in a three-way tie for second place in the South Division of the Pac-12 at 6-3. It is an honor to be a participant in the Valero Alamo Bowl, said UCLA head football coach Jim Mora. Our players know that when you play in a bowl of this magnitude, the nation is watching. When you consider that the Valero Alamo Bowl has produced a number of the most-watched Non-BCS Bowl Games in its broadcast partners history, we cant wait to get on the field at the Alamodome, compete every down against a tremendous Kansas State team and fight for our second consecutive 10-win season. As for the Wildcats, they too had a strong start to the campaign with seven wins in the first eight outings, the lone setback being a 20-14 decision against Auburn in the middle of September. However, there were a couple of stumbling blocks down the stretch as the program bowed to both TCU (41-20) and Baylor (38-27), although both opponents were nationally-ranked at the time. With the two defeats in the last four games, KSU was left with a 7-2 mark against the rest of the Big 12 Conference. Kansas State does not have an extensive history in the postseason as the team enters its 18th bowl contest. The squad is 7-10 in such efforts dating back to a 14-3 loss to Wisconsin in the 1982 Independence Bowl. Last season, the program managed to halt a five-game slide with a 31-14 triumph over Michigan in the Buffalo Wild Wings Bowl. The bowl history for the Bruins reaches back to a 9-0 loss to Georgia in the 1943 Rose Bowl. Since winning eight straight bowls between 1983-1991, UCLA has been unable to register back-to-back bowl victories in the last 15 appearances, although the team will have a chance to make it happen this time around after having defeated Virginia Tech, 42-12, in last years Sun Bowl. Overall, the Bruins have a record of 15-17-1 in bowl games. The teams have split two previous meetings, the most recent coming in 2010 when Kansas State opened the campaign with a 31-22 home victory over the Bruins. Kansas State leaned quite a bit on quarterback Jake Waters this season, as he completed 66.2 percent of his passes for 3,163 yards and 20 touchdowns against only six interceptions. His efficiency rating was 157.8 and thanks to the contributions of Joe Hubener in his six limited appearances, the Wildcats rank eighth in the nation in pass efficiency (158.67). Tyler Lockett blazed a trail through opposing defenses with his 93 catches for 1,351 yards and nine touchdowns. Lockett, the first player in school history to earn All-America recognition in all four years, is also a two-time winner of the Big 12 Special Teams Player of the Year award as he averaged 19.0 per punt return and 21.2 yards per kickoff return this season. Lockett ended up as one of the nations leaders in all-purpose yards in 2014 with 2,047 (170.6 ypg). Other credible offensive threats for Kansas State are running backs Charles Jones and Waters, who combined to produce just under 1,000 yards and a total of 21 TDs on the ground. From a defensive standpoint, the Wildcats ranked 26th in the country in points allowed (21.8 ppg), and the red zone defense was 28th as it limited opponents to only 77.1 percent success. Jonathan Truman topped the tackles list with an impressive 114 stops, his 74 solo tackles alone being enough to pace the program. However, Truman was short on impact plays as he failed to record a single stop behind the line of scrimmage and had only one fumble recovery. Among the top eight tacklers on the roster, there were just two sacks, far short of the 5.5 sacks logged by Ryan Mueller who had just 33 total stops to his credit. Then again, Dante Barnett (73 tackles) and Randall Evans (61) did handle the pass defense rather well with a combined seven interceptions and 24 passes defended. Going up against the KSU defense will be the highly-touted Brett Hundley for the Bruins. Listed as probable for the contest with a finger injury, there is little doubt that Hundley will have a say in the outcome of this meeting after completing a sizzling 70.4 percent of his pass attempts for 3,019 yards and 21 touchdowns, against only five interceptions. His efficiency alone (155.4) compared favorably to the Wildcats as a whole. More than just a passer Hundley, who was named a finalist for the Manning Award, also made himself into a threat with his legs as he finished second on the team with 548 yards on 148 attempts, culminating in a team-best eight touchdowns. Paul Perkins, a starter in 10 games at running back, took most of the beating on the ground with his 1,381 yards, averaging 6.0 ypc as he reached the end zone seven times. As for options down the field, Hundleys favorite targets are Jordan Payton and Devin Fuller, the former catching 63 balls for 896 yards and seven touchdowns, while the latter turned his 57 grabs into a modest 428 yards and a single score. Thomas Duarte was a significant contributor with 27 receptions for 521 yards and four touchdowns. On the defensive side of the ball, the Bruins were rather mediocre from a statistical standpoint. The unit was 68th in the nation in yards allowed (401.0 ypg) and 74th in points surrendered (27.5 ppg), and yet Eric Kendricks still played the game with reckless abandon. The 2014 Butkus Award winner and the recipient of the Lott IMPACT Trophy, Kendricks averaged close to 12 tackles per game, notched 8.5 TFL, two sacks and three interceptions on his way to being named an All-American. Also having an impact for the UCLA defense were Owa Odighizuwa with 9.5 TFL and five sacks, as well as Deon Hollins who needed just 27 total takedowns to reach seven TFL and a team-best six sacks. Their defense is very good - the safeties and the corners, KSUs Lockett said of his competition. They are physical and they are really good at high pointing the ball as well. We have to work on high pointing the ball and not waiting for the ball to come to us. We just have to be able to beat them in and out of our routes. Cheap NHL Jerseys .A. remained bitter for Henrik Lundqvist and the Rangers on the long flight back home to New York. Cheap Jerseys . - The Cleveland Indians will place centerfielder Michael Bourn on the disabled list before their opener at Oakland on March 31. http://www.nflwholesalechinajerseyscheap.com/. 1 status and was unable to prevent a late season collapse, James Reimer said he wants to put the past behind him and is looking forward to spending the next two years in a Maple Leaf uniform. Wholesale NFL Jerseys .Derrick Rose scored 23 points, and the Bulls pulled away from the Nets for a 105-80 victory on Wednesday night. Chicago held Brooklyn to 29 points on 26. Wholesale Jerseys . The Braves optioned outfielder Jose Constanza to Triple-A Gwinnett. As expected, the Braves also called up right-hander Julio Teheran from Gwinnett to start Sundays game and optioned backup catcher J.LOS ANGELES -- Turnovers and other miscues doomed Southern Californias chances of repeating its recent success against Arizona when the Wildcats are ranked. Brandon Ashley and T.J. McConnell each scored a season-high 19 points and the No. 1 Wildcats beat Southern Cal 73-53 Sunday night to improve to 17-0 for the best start in school history. The Trojans had won four of the last six meetings with Arizona when it was ranked. That success didnt mean much when USC (9-7, 0-3 Pac-12) was held to a season-low in points, got to the free throw line only eight times and committed 18 turnovers. "We definitely turned the ball over too many times and had too many possessions where we didnt score," Trojans coach Andy Enfield said. "Against a good team like Arizona, you have to convert." Byron Wesley scored 18 points and reserve Strahinja Gavrilovic added a career-high 10 points to lead USC, which has lost three straight and four of its last six. The Trojans stayed close most of the game and trailed 48-43 with nine minutes remaining, but Arizona outscored the USC 25-10 the rest of the way to turn the close game into a rout and improve to 4-0 in conference play. "We had chances to make plays and we didnt in transition," USC guard PeShon Howard said. "We have to put together a 40-minute game. Tonight we probably did 30 minutes. There are a lot of positives to take from this. We battled the No. 1 team in the country." Arizona never trailed in the second half to secure win number 17, breaking the previous school record for best start of 16-0 set by the 1931-32 Wildcats. "Were really excited about it, we really are," Arizona coach Sean Miller said. &"We talked about it and its something I think all of us will really cherish.dddddddddddd. Any school record you break at Arizona in the basketball program is a real record because of the great tradition that we have." Nick Johnson chipped in 15 points and Aaron Gordon had 12 for the Wildcats in the second straight game theyve had four players reach double figures in scoring. Arizona didnt outrebound its opponent for the first time this season, with each team getting 30 boards apiece. But the Wildcats shot 46.6 per cent (27 of 58) from the field, including 50 per cent in the second half, to pick up the victory. Ashley shot 7 of 10 from the field and McConnell was 7 of 12, including 5 of 7 from 3-point range, to pace the Wildcats. "Usually I try to set up the offence and get other people the ball, but tonight they were playing off me and I just hit shots," said McConnell, who also had six assists. "If they dont think I can shoot Im going to try and prove them wrong, and if they close out Ill go around them and get other people the ball." Arizona completed its first road sweep of the conferences Los Angeles schools since 2004-05, having beaten UCLA 79-75 Thursday night. USC was playing its first game against a No. 1 ranked team since February 2004, when they fell to Stanford 76-67. The Trojans last victory over a top-ranked team came nearly 44 years ago when they beat UCLA 87-86 on March 6, 1970. Lakers guard Nick Young, a USC alum, and forward Jordan Hill, an Arizona alum, were in attendance together at the Galen Center. They were joined by former Lakers forward Luke Walton (Arizona alum) and former USC and NFL quarterback Matt Leinart. ' ' '