The third season in the Ben Howland era at UCLA will have a
distinctly different start from the previous two. After kicking off
the past few years against smaller, non-conference schools, UCLA
will open the 2005-2006 season by playing in the famed Preseason
National Invitation Tournament. The high-profile tournament will
set the stage for a schedule that also includes non-conference
games against 2004 NCAA Tournament teams Nevada in the Wooden
Classic and West Virginia later in January. “We came up with
a real nice one,” Howland said. Notably absent from this
year’s non-conference schedule are games against local
schools and a road trip in the middle of the Pac-10 season. During
his first year with the Bruins, Howland frequently complained about
traveling to New York for a January game against Saint
John’s, saying he would rather use the time for the team to
rest up and practice. Additionally, much of the Bruins’ early
season games have been filled by smaller East Coast schools rather
than Big West or West Coast Conference teams. UCLA’s first
game will be against New Mexico State in the preseason NIT. Should
UCLA win and advance past a potential second-round game against
Temple, it would go to New York for the semifinals. “The
Preseason NIT is always one of the nation’s top early season
tournaments, with the chance to play in historic Madison Square
Garden,” Howland said.
OFF-SEASON WORKOUTS: UCLA has been going through spring season
workouts since the beginning of the quarter. Howland has been
particularly impressed with the increased size and strength of
Jordan Farmar and Josh Shipp. He also noted that Shipp has improved
his jump shot by shortening his stroke. Matt McKinney, still
recovering from a shoulder injury, is the only Bruin who
hasn’t been able to participate in the workouts.