Dijon Thompson, UCLA’s leading scorer and rebounder, will
be out at least one week after re-injuring the webbing between the
middle and index fingers on his shooting hand late in
Sunday’s loss to Boston College. Freshman Josh Shipp will
replace Thompson in the starting lineup, UCLA coach Ben Howland
said, meaning that three freshmen will start in the Bruin back
court against Pepperdine on Saturday at Pauley Pavilion. Thompson,
who originally cut his hand during a preseason practice, needed 13
stitches to repair the damage this time. The earliest the senior
wing can return to practice is late next week, meaning there is a
chance he could be available for the Dec. 18 game against Michigan.
“That may be wishful thinking on our part,” Howland
said. “It’s a worse injury than it was the first time,
and he was out for a week then.” Once Thompson does return,
he still may be limited by the injury. Thompson, who is averaging
15.8 points and 8.2 rebounds per game, likely will have the two
fingers taped together for the rest of the season. The injury does
create an opportunity for Shipp and senior Janou Rubin, who Howland
said could also have increased playing time during Saturday’s
home game against Pepperdine. Shipp, who will be making his first
start, had his best game of the season against Boston College,
scoring 13 points on 5-for-8 shooting in 18 minutes of play. He
will start alongside fellow freshmen Arron Afflalo and Jordan
Farmar, who said he did not envision the heralded trio starting
together one month into their collegiate careers. “We hoped
it would be our future,” Farmar said. “If not this
season, then next season, or the one after that. I didn’t
think it would be this early, but we know how to play with one
another, so hopefully it will be an advantage.”
CROSSTOWN SHAKE-UP: Howland would not speculate on the two
coaches with whom he has close ties who have been mentioned as
candidates for the USC coaching job. The position has been vacated
because of the firing of Henry Bibby earlier this week. Former Utah
coach Rick Majerus, a close friend of Howland’s, and Jamie
Dixon, the top assistant at Pittsburgh under Howland, are each
expected to be in the running for the job. “I like Henry, and
I feel for him, but that’s about all my comments on
that,” Howland said. “I wish him the very best.
I’m sure he’ll have other opportunities in our
profession.” USC’s decision to promote Jim Saia, a
former UCLA assistant coach under Steve Lavin, caught junior
Michael Fey off guard. “When I heard that he was going to be
an assistant at USC, that was surprising,” said Fey, who was
recruited to UCLA by Saia. “Now to hear that he’s going
to be head coach, that’s funny. … He doesn’t have any
head coaching experience, so he’s going to have to learn on
the job.”
SHOOTING WOES: Though Howland has repeatedly called Brian
Morrison UCLA’s best shooter, the senior guard hasn’t
shown it recently. Morrison, who was 1 of 7 from the field Sunday
against Boston College, is shooting 31.6 percent this season. Part
of the reason for Morrison’s struggles, Howland said, is his
poor shot selection. “He put up four NBA 3-pointers in
(Sunday’s) game,” Howland said. “We knew having
that (NBA 3-point) line down there wouldn’t be a good thing
for him psychologically, and, sure enough, it came true.”
McKINNEY UPDATE: Forward Matt McKinney underwent more tests to
determine why he has been unable to play more than a few minutes at
a time, but the results did not shed any light on his mysterious
ailment. “He’s not in danger of anything that’s
going to be life threatening,” Howland said.
“That’s always my first question. But there’s
definitely a physiological issue.” “What the doctors
told me was that his heart rate maxed out at 168. He can’t
get his heart to beat fast enough and pump enough blood, (so) his
muscles aren’t getting enough oxygenated blood when
he’s exercising. That’s the bottom line.”