The UCLA basketball team opens its season tonight with
confidence and high expectations for the year. The Bruins will have
a chance to show right away whether they can live up to the hype.
Brigham Young comes to Pauley Pavilion tonight with a sense of
confidence after a successful season last year and a fast-paced
style of play. “They’re a very talented team,”
UCLA coach Ben Howland said. “I have no doubt that this BYU
team will be in the NCAA Tournament come March.” The Cougars
were projected to finish last in the Mountain West Conference last
season. But with first-year coach Dave Rose and a group of freshman
and sophomore contributors the Cougars experienced a complete
turnaround, finishing 20-9 overall and going 12-4 in conference
play to finish second in the Mountain West. The Cougars also
received a bid to the National Invitation Tournament, where they
were ousted by Houston in the first round. The Cougars return four
starters from last year’s squad and have kept most of their
core players from a year ago. They are led by center Trent
Plaisted, who led the Cougars in scoring and rebounding last year
as a freshman. Last year, Plaisted broke former Utah center Andrew
Bogut’s conference record for points by a freshman and
garnered freshman of the year honors in the Mountain West.
“(Plaisted) could play anywhere in the country,”
Howland said. “He’s a future NBA player. He poses a lot
of problems.” Also working in BYU’s favor is the
team’s experience and depth. The Cougars have six seniors on
the team, and each plays significant minutes. “Their seniors
aren’t your normal seniors,” Howland said. “Many
of them have been on Mormon missions and are now 23, 24 years old,
married with kids. It’s a different team than you’d
normally face in that respect.” Post defense has been one of
the question marks for the Bruins in the early going, but the
Bruins will receive a boost tonight, as junior center Lorenzo Mata
is expected to return from an injury. Mata knows he is going to be
tested right away with Plaisted in the middle for the Cougars.
“Plaisted is a really good inside post player. We’re
going to have our hands full inside,” Mata said. “We
might double him and then have to cover the shooters real quick.
It’s going to be a hard game.” Mata missed the first
two preseason games while recovering from knee surgery but can be
counted on to play a large role right away for the Bruins. On
Tuesday, Mata went through his third full practice with the team
since the surgery. “He still gets winded a little bit because
of his conditioning factor, but his knee seemed to be fine (on
Monday) and it was fine (on Tuesday). How much he plays is just
dependent upon a lot of factors,” Howland said.
KEEFE HEALTHY: Freshman power forward James Keefe is at full
strength and will be available for the game tonight. Keefe missed
the Bruins’ last preseason game against Humboldt State on
Thursday after sustaining a strained neck in practice.
“Keefe’s fine,” Howland said. “He was in
this morning at 8 a.m. doing extra shooting with a bunch of other
players. He shot the ball well and seems to be OK.”