Thanks To The Two Tylers

by LVBruin on Feb 26, 2010 6:20 AM PST

So yesterday I made the trip from Vegas to L.A. to catch the game, hoping beyond hope that my experience this time around would be better than my last couple trips (the opening debacle against CSUF this year and the Pac-10 tourney loss to SUC last year). Thanks to the two Tylers, it was.

The first Tyler is, of course, TH without whom I may have cemented my jinx status in the eyes of my Vegas friends (every time I make the trip for a Bruins game, we seem to lose, even in '07-08 I managed to attend two UCLA losses). I knew throughout the game that TH was putting together a ridiculous stat line so when I finally got to a computer I decided to check his numbers against recent history. Here are the ten best statistical performances by a freshman (not named Kevin Love) in the Ben Howland era:

Date	Player	Opponent	Pts	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	FGA	FGM	FTM	FTA	TO	EFF
03/03/05	Jordan Farmar	Oregon St.	23	7	7	2	0	7	11	8	8	2	33
02/25/10	Tyler Honeycutt	Oregon St.	18	10	4	3	5	7	10	2	4	3	32
03/16/06	Luc Richard Mbah A Moute	Belmont	17	8	6	3	0	7	9	3	3	2	30
11/30/04	Aaron Afflalo	Long Beach	21	5	6	1	0	7	7	4	5	2	30
01/02/04	Trevor Ariza	Oregon St.	24	9	2	0	0	11	13	0	2	2	29
12/23/08	Drew Gordon	Wyoming	14	11	2	3	1	7	9	0	0	0	29
02/04/10	Tyler Honeycutt	Stanford	12	11	8	2	3	5	9	2	4	2	28
12/11/04	Jordan Farmar	Pepperdine	25	3	4	0	0	8	11	7	7	1	28
02/12/05	Jordan Farmar	Arizona	27	5	5	2	0	10	17	3	6	2	27
01/06/05	Jordan Farmar	Washington St.	19	4	6	4	0	8	14	1	1	0	27

So thanks TH for an impressive taste of things to come.

The other Tyler I'd like to thank for making my trip even better than I'd hoped is everybody's favorite little Bruin, Insomniac's son Tyler. About midway through the second half (IIRC) the scoreboard opperator switched to a shot of an energetic little guy in a white headband at which point I half-shouted to my girlfriend, "hey, that's Tyler." I then explained to her who Tyler was and how Insomniac's accounts and pics never fail to put a lump in my throat. It was at that point that I thought to myself, "Tyler is a Bruins Nation celebrity, add that to a list of pimp accomplishments."

Later as we were getting ready to head to the car, the band started playing "Rover," and sure enough as I scanned the courtside area from a distance I spotted that same little ball of energetic climbing up to the second row of bleachers, jumping down to the floor, doing a little dance then repeating the process. Both my girlfiend and I left Pauley smiling from ear to ear.

So thanks to both Tyler's for making it a great trip to L.A.

*Update*

For Bruin Dad and Grad - a complete list of the top single game performances by Howland-era freshmen. Once the KLove ban was lifted the statistics study predictably became a Love-fest:

Points		Rebounds		Assists		Steals		Blocks		Efficiency
Love	29	Love	21	Honeycutt	9	Holiday	6	Love	7	Love	41
Farmar	27	Love	18	Farmar	9	Holiday	5	Honeycutt	5	Love	40
Love	27	Love	16	Honeycutt	8	Love	5	Love	4	Love	37
Love	26	Love	16	Ariza	8	Love	5	Love	4	Love	35
Love	26	Love	15	Collison	8	Farmar	4	Love	4	Love	34
Farmar	25	Love	14	Farmar	7	Farmar	4	Love	4	Love	34
Ariza	24	Love	14	Holiday	7	Shipp	4	Mbah a Moute	4	Farmar	33
Ariza	24	Love	14	Farmar	7	Mbah a Moute	4	Mbah a Moute	3	Honeycutt	32
Love	24	Ariza	14	Holiday	7	Mbah a Moute	4	Mbah a Moute	3	Love	32
Farmar	23	Love	13	Farmar	7	Honeycutt	3	Honeycutt	3	Love	31
Afflalo	22	Mbah a Moute	13	Holiday	7	Holiday	3	Love	3	Mbah a Moute	30
Love	22	Honeycutt	13	Farmar	7	Mbah a Moute	3	Love	3	Afflalo	30
Love	22	Mbah a Moute	13	Farmar	7	Farmar	3	Lane	3	Love	29
Afflalo	21	Love	12	Farmar	7	Holiday	3	Nelson	3	Gordon	29
Ariza	21	Love	12	Mbah a Moute	6	Ariza	3	Holiday	3	Love	29
Love	21	Shipp	12	Afflalo	6	Holiday	3	Love	3	Ariza	29
Love	21	Nelson	12	Holiday	6	Farmar	3	Morgan	3	Honeycutt	28
Nelson	21	Love	12	Holiday	6	Holiday	3	Love	2	Farmar	28
Farmar	20	Mbah a Moute	12	Farmar	6	Collison	3	Holiday	2	Love	28
Holiday	20	Love	11	Farmar	6	Honeycutt	3	Honeycutt	2	Love	27

This is a FanPost and does not necessarily reflect the views of BruinsNation's (BN) editors. It does reflect the views of this particular fan though, which is as important as the views of BN's editors.

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Comments

Both Tylers rule

although I root harder for the shorter one.

greg in denver - UCLA guy for life

by gbruin on Feb 26, 2010 8:09 AM PST reply actions

beautiful.

And you are right, Tyler is a celebrity here. Hope to spot the little guy at the spring game.

The best thing you can do for your children is to love their mother. John Wooden

by MexiBruin on Feb 26, 2010 8:32 AM PST reply actions

Great list

Interesting to see that Jordan Farmar is on there quite a bit, and it’s already TH’s second appearance.

Also interesting is that 3 of the performances on that list came against Oregon State…

Why leave off Kevin Love? Would he basically hog this list?

But hey, what do I know. I’m just the 800 lbs bruin in the room.

by tasser10 on Feb 26, 2010 11:31 AM PST reply actions

The list looks sort of ridiculous with KLove on it

He was responsible for 8 of the top 10 performances and something like 22 of the top 29. It was outrageous. His performances against Western Kentucky, Washington State and Oregon were all in the 40s in terms of EFF (ovreall positive productivity). Also IIRC, KLove had the top 7 performances. So yeah, you could say he sort of dominated the list, lol.

by LVBruin on Feb 26, 2010 4:32 PM PST up reply actions

Maybe you could post the list on another thread

Reminds some of us about what we had with K-Love

by Bruin Dad and Grad on Mar 1, 2010 3:59 PM PST up reply actions

Check out the update

Like I said, such lists (statistically comparing Howland era freshmen) are understandably Love-centric.

by LVBruin on Mar 2, 2010 4:01 AM PST up reply actions

I saw Tyler down on the floor too!

I’m pretty sure the 8 clap I did while he was holding up the sign was louder than the rest I did all night.

For everything UCLA baseball, visit my UCLA baseball twitter.

by Ryan Rosenblatt on Feb 26, 2010 11:52 AM PST reply actions

How about a first varsity game?

I don’t remember exactly, but our skinny center named Alcindor had a pretty good opening game on the Bruin varsity. I think he scored 50 plus points, or something incredible like that. Geezers – any more specific recollection?

by Fox 71 on Feb 26, 2010 3:19 PM PST reply actions

Sorry that I'm late to respond to this

Tho I’m kinda glad that I am, as it gives me a chance to relive the joy from Thursday’s game rather than the frustration of Saturday’s.

Tyler was really given the celebrity treatment Thursday. He was recognized by countless people in the stands, put up on the jumbotron, hung out w/ the spirit squad pre-game, was given a very thoughtful gift from the Den, led an 8-clap, and briefly chatted with Coach Howland and a few of the assistants after the game. Oh, and the team even got a victory, too!

While the on-court action this season was frustrating to say the least, I’m still personally saddened to have seen the home schedule come to an end; because off of the court, all of the Bruin family really made this a memorable, heartwarming season for my family. For that, I thank all of you.

by insomniacslounge on Feb 28, 2010 11:00 PM PST reply actions

We were thrilled to meet Tyler Saturday...

and you as well, of course! What a wonderful, bright, insightful son you have. It was a pleasure to talk to him and get his take on the season and the team. My daughter, fan11 commented about meeting the two of you on another BN post. Even though we lost the game, we left Pauley with a smile on our faces after chatting with Tyler!

by Westwooden1 on Mar 1, 2010 2:05 PM PST up reply actions

I very much enjoyed meeting your family, too!

And I think getting to chat w/ other Bruins after the game definitely helped Tyler take some of the sting out of the loss. Well that, plus going to the student store to pick up some new gear allowed him to take this defeat much better than others. :)

by insomniacslounge on Mar 1, 2010 10:23 PM PST up reply actions

Thought I saw Tyler 2 too

Pointed him out to my wife.

Was he also tanting the opposition free throws shooters once or twice with Mark as well? Thought I saw him there too!

by Bruin Dad and Grad on Mar 1, 2010 4:00 PM PST reply actions

Yeah- Thursday we were sitting right next to Mark

And Tyler followed his lead during the OSU free throws. A couple of times, I thought he was going to charge all the way up to the baseline. Fortunately, the security guy in our section thought it was amusing and didn’t seem to mind.

by insomniacslounge on Mar 1, 2010 4:14 PM PST up reply actions

I knew it

Told my wife. And I was in the cheap seats behind you so could not see his face!

I really like it when the kids get up there with Mark.

by Bruin Dad and Grad on Mar 2, 2010 5:14 PM PST up reply actions

what stands out to me

is how TH has some of the best performances in all categories; and that he has done this despite only getting starters minutes in the Pac-10 slate (rather than, say, JF getting huge minutes throughout his freshman season)

by britishbruin on Mar 2, 2010 11:20 AM PST reply actions

Yup

If TH can pull off a 21 point performance before the season’s out, he’ll be the only one on the list to have a top 20 performance in each category. Not too shabby.

by LVBruin on Mar 2, 2010 11:46 AM PST reply actions