Hounded by a pair of Oregon defenders midway through the first
half, Michael Fey heaved up a desperate shot, his lower body
falling away from the basket as his eyes glanced up belatedly
toward it. The circus layup bounced high off the glass and dropped
in. It was that kind of game for the UCLA center. Coming off a
disappointing performance against Oregon State, Fey was nearly
flawless on Saturday, posting the second double-double of his
career and first in a game the Bruins won. “I think he felt
bad about his performance on Thursday and wanted to come out and
bounce back,” UCLA coach Ben Howland said. Against the
Beavers, Fey tallied two points on 1-for-6 shooting and corralled
just two rebounds. On Saturday against the Ducks, he had matched
those numbers within the first couple minutes. At halftime, he was
the Bruins’ leading scorer and rebounder. “They had two
freshmen at the four and five spots and I outweigh them by a
lot,” said Fey, who finished with 15 points and 11 rebounds.
“I just wanted to go at them.” Perfect from the field
in the first half, Fey drew increased attention from the
Ducks’ defense. After scoring four consecutive points for the
Bruins to give UCLA a 32-28 lead, he caught the ball in the post on
the next possession and found an open Thompson down low. The assist
helped spark an 8-0 run to close the half for the Bruins.
“You can tell he wants the ball more, the way he posts up,
the way he finishes,” point guard Jordan Farmar said.
“He was a dominating inside presence.” Fey also picked
up a game-high five offensive rebounds, giving the Bruins numerous
second-chance opportunities and the performance UCLA fans expected
of the junior when he first came to Westwood. “Like all us
little people, we expect those 7-footers to be supermen and I think
he gets maligned,” Howland said. “He’s really
improved from where he started a year ago to where he is right
now.”
THRIVING DESPITE PAIN: Like Fey, Josh Shipp also rebounded from
an off-night against the Beavers. Hampered by an injured ankle, the
freshman wing admitted to feeling rusty on Thursday after missing
practice the week before. On Saturday, however, there were no signs
of the injury as Shipp scored a game-high 20 points. “I was
kind of tentative and hadn’t practiced in a while,”
said Shipp of Thursday’s game. “Today I managed to
fight through the pain and stay aggressive.” Since the
Bruins’ win over USC, Shipp has been limited to walk-throughs
in practice. The Bruins will take the next two days off, giving
Shipp some time to recuperate as the team prepares for the Pac-10
Tournament.
DRIBBLERS: The Bruins played in their throwback uniforms at the
request of senior Dijon Thompson for his last home game. Thompson
also wore vintage UCLA socks with blue and yellow stripes to match
the retro jerseys. … Josiah Johnson and Brian Morrison both
started as part of senior day. Quinn Hawking, who will also be
graduating this year, entered the game with less than a minute to
play.