Young Becoming Threat on Offense

In last week’s 78-74 loss to Cal State Northridge, junior guard Ray Young led the Bruins with 15 points. When their leading scorer has 15 points, the Bruins (1-2) aren’t going to win very often.

But Young also scored 20 points against Kentucky and 10 against Kansas, showing signs of developing into an offensive threat that could force opponents to develop a defensive game plan that extends beyond containing Jason Kapono and Earl Watson.

“I can probably go to the hole a lot easier than anybody here,” Young said. “You have to look out for Jason and Earl, but I’m more aggressive on the offensive end this year. I definitely have unlimited potential in terms of scoring ability.”

Young scored a career-high 22 points at Oregon State on Jan. 27, then failed to score in double figures in any of the 16 subsequent games. He started 10 of 33 games last season, then replaced Billy Knight in the starting lineup after the first game this season.

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The Bruins dropped out of the Associated Press top 25 in the wake of the loss to Northridge.

The new rankings take a little luster off Saturday’s Wooden Classic in Anaheim because the UCLA-Georgia Tech opener now matches unranked teams.