With each devastating injury comes an opportunity. With each
vacated roster position comes the need for a replacement. And with
each replacement comes mixed feelings. “It’s not good
for our team,” freshman guard Mike Roll said. “I
obviously want everybody back. But since it did happen, I want to
step up and try to do my best.” Roll is the latest Bruin who
has been called upon to fill a void, and in his only two starts of
the season, he has proven himself quite capable. Roll was the
team’s leading scorer in Saturday’s loss to Washington,
scoring a career-high 17 points on five 3-pointers and two free
throws. He scored 10 points in the Bruins’ victory over
Washington State last Thursday. For most of the season,
Roll’s minutes have been quite limited. But with the shoulder
injury suffered by Cedric Bozeman coupled with the hip injury that
will keep Josh Shipp sidelined for the remainder of the season,
Roll has suddenly become a very important part of UCLA’s
limited roster. “I didn’t really expect to start this
season, but after what happened, I came in and expected a starting
role,” Roll said. On Saturday, the freshman from Aliso Niguel
appeared incredibly comfortable offensively against a very athletic
Huskies squad, hitting four first half 3-pointers to propel the
Bruins to a 40-28 halftime lead. “Mike Roll did his job
tonight,” teammate Arron Afflalo said. “He shot very
well.” A deadly 3-point shooter in high school, Roll’s
weekend against the Washington schools gave Bruin fans a glimpse of
his offensive potential. “I always think I can blow up
anytime like that, but I just felt it coming,” Roll said.
“I just felt comfortable.” Despite his 17 points in a
team-high 34 minutes, Roll admitted that he was far from perfect
against the Huskies. He still has to become a better defender, and
he had a very difficult time keeping Washington forward Bobby Jones
off the offensive boards. Jones finished with six offensive
rebounds. Roll also had a quiet second half, connecting on the only
shot he took. “We need to get him more shots,” coach
Ben Howland said. “He couldn’t really get loose.”
Whether that was the result of Roll becoming passive in the second
half or a more concerted effort on the part of the Huskies to stop
him is difficult to say. Ultimately, however, Roll is symbolic of a
trend that has come to characterize the Bruins this season.
“Obviously, since we’ve been hurt other guys have had
to step up, and we’ve been doing a good job so far,” he
said.
SENIOR MOMENT: Saturday marked the first time
in nearly a month that either of UCLA’s senior centers, Ryan
Hollins and Michael Fey, stepped foot on the court for the Bruins.
Hollins, who strained his groin in warm-ups before UCLA played
Sacramento State on Dec. 23, was held scoreless in 17 minutes
against the Huskies. He grabbed four rebounds and committed three
personal fouls. “I adjusted pretty quick, but I’m still
a little rusty,” Hollins said. Hollins hadn’t
participated in a full-contact practice since the injury. Fey, who
hadn’t played since Dec. 23 because of an ankle injury,
looked very inept in his one minute of action Saturday. Howland
said both senior centers need to get back to practice and work on
their conditioning.