UAAP: UP vs UST round one preview and live-scoring

Game starts at 2pm. Page auto-refreshes every 30 seconds.


The UP Fighting Maroons, still on the hunt for their first win of season 76, will turn their attentions to the University of Santo Tomas Growling Tigers, when these two squads do battle at the Smart-Araneta Coliseum on Wednesday.

State U's (0-5) margin of defeat at the hands of their Katipunan rivals Ateneo was under double-figures, the first time that happened this season, but it happened just barely. The Blue Eagles boasted of a 68-51 advantage with 4:24 left, and only a belated 8-0 spurt by Joseph Marata got it down to a more manageable figure. However, the Eagles closed with a flourish, an alley-oop dunk by Chris Newsome, and Kyles Lao's put-back with four seconds left was too little, too late.

Both teams turned the ball over nine times each, but only the defending champions took advantage, scoring 14 turnover points while holding UP to none. Their transition defense was made to look even more suspect courtesy of a 12-4 margin in fast break points. With Ateneo lacking back-to-the-basket big men, played their run-and-gun game beautifully, and so the Maroons must do the same against last season's runners-up.

UST (3-2) is also coming off a loss, theirs at the hands of the league-leading FEU Tamaraws. The two sides were actually deadlocked at 46-all, less than four minutes into the third, and trailed by just six, 62-56, with a quarter left. However, in the final canto, the Tigers shot a poor 2-of-15 from the field, including 1-of-9 from inside the arc, to limp to the finish line and keep the Tams' record spotless.

The Tigers were also clobbered in transition, losing 2-12 in fast break points. They also had a miserable outing from the three-point line, with just a pair of triples, both from Clark Bautista, despite 16 attempts. If their outside shooting fails to click, UP will be able to pack the paint against Karim Abdul, and so the likes of Kevin Ferrer, Aljon Mariano and Ed Daquioag will need to be online in order to punish their foes.

Game starts at 2pm.


Previous assignments -

UP Fighting Maroons -  Ateneo wins Battle of Katipunan, Maroons still winless

UST Growling Tigers -  FEU stays unbeaten with 77-67 win over UST


Season 75 history lesson:

Round one -  UST outlasts still winless Maroons

Round two - Tigers tame Maroons late, now a half-game out of first place