UP seeks third straight victory

c/o UAAP

UAAP Season 87 Basketball Standings

Collegiate Men's

DLSU 3 0

UP 2 0

AdU 2 1

UST 2 1

NU 1 1

FEU 0 2

UE 0 2

Ateneo 0 3

Collegiate Women's

UST 3 0

NU 2 0

AdU 2 1

Ateneo 2 1

UP 1 1

UE 0 2

FEU 0 2

DLSU 0 3

Junior High School Boys'

UE 2-0

FEU-D 2-0

DLSZ 2-1

UST 2-1

Ateneo 2-1

NUNS 0-2

UPIS 0-2

AdU 0-3

Games today at the SMART-Araneta Coliseum

8 a.m. – FEU vs UE (JHS)

9:45 a.m. – NUNS vs UPIS (JHS)

11:30 a.m. – FEU vs UE (Women)

1:30 p.m. – NU vs UP (Women)

4:30 p.m. – FEU vs UE (Men)

6:30 p.m. – NU vs UP (Men)

UNIVERSITY of the Philippines shoots for its third straight victory and a share of first place as it clashes with National University today (Wednesday) in the UAAP Season 87 collegiate men's basketball tournament at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.

The Fighting Maroons are wary of what the Bulldogs could offer in their 6:30 p.m. match up.

NU, which placed third in the last two seasons, gave defending champion De La Salle everything to handle in a 75-78 season-opening defeat before entering the win column with a 62-60 squeaker over Far Eastern University.

The Bulldogs were able to earn a split despite losing Malian big man Mo Diassana to a season-ending knee injury, as coach Jeff Napa simply pushed his troops to work harder even without their foreign student-athlete.

After an impressive 77-61 opening night win over Ateneo, UP fended off a University of the East fourth quarter charge, 81-71, for a 2-0 record.

The Green Archers opened their title-retention campaign with a 3-0 slate, living up to the billing as this season's heavy favorites.

Ranged against a Fighting Maroons crew racing for strong starts, Napa needs his troops to match their intensity right from the go-get and avoid playing catch-up as what happened against the Tamaraws. FEU led by as much as 17 points before NU fought back and prevailed.

"We started flat and hopefully coming into the next game, kasi mabigat ang kalaban namin against UP, hindi kami puwedeng flat ng ganito," said Napa.

"Hopefully masulusyunan namin itong naging, actually hindi naman problema, naging mas masamang approach namin coming into our first quarter so para hindi na maulit para sa mga remaining games namin," he added.

The Fighting Maroons, indeed, have high respect for the Bulldogs.

"Si Coach Jeff naman, yung history niya as a coach from high school hanggang dito sa seniors, alam naman nating palaban lagi ang team niya. So whether he has a FSA or not, obviously proven na in the last two games na even almost leading against La Salle and winning via come-from-behind pa (against FEU)," said Christian Luanzon, one of Goldwin Monteverde's trusted assistants.

"I think we just have to match their intensity. We have to match that or surpass that and hopefully, we could give them a good fight."

The Red Warriors and the Tamaraws collide for a breakthrough win at 4:30 p.m. Both teams are at the near bottom at 0-2.

In the women's division, NU braces for a tough showdown with UP as it eyes to join holders UST on top of the standings at 1:30 p.m.

FEU and UE tangle in a duel of winless teams at 11:30 a.m.