After a blowout 111-61 win in Friday’s exhibition game against Azusa Pacific, UCLA men’s basketball coach Ben Howland had one major concern: the health of junior point guard Darren Collison.
Just seconds into the game, Collison stole the ball and took it the length of the court for a dunk, but tweaked his knee in the process, requiring an MRI the following day to determine the seriousness of the injury.
But on Saturday, Howland received some good news ““ Collison hadn’t torn his meniscus, as he had initially feared after the game.
“It is an unbelievable relief,” Howland said. “As you can imagine, I was sick to my gut just thinking about all of the possibilities, but didn’t want to talk about them until I knew what the facts were.”
Collison will sit out the Bruins’ second exhibition game tonight against Chico State, and is listed as questionable for the regular season opener against Portland State on Friday, with a grade 1 medial collateral ligament (MCL) sprain.
But during Saturday’s practice, the UCLA lineup suffered another loss.
Junior guard Michael Roll ruptured the plantar fascia in his left foot, and will be forced to the sideline for three to five weeks.
“He just jumped up and then ““ boom ““ he fell into a pile,” Howland said. “It is terrible timing because he has been playing so well.”
Roll, who has been plagued by his foot for about a year and a half according to Howland, played 18 minutes the night before in the Bruins’ victory, while scoring 16 points on 3-of-5 shooting from beyond the 3-point line.
Only redshirt junior Josh Shipp tallied more points for UCLA on Friday night (20), and he, too, sustained an injury against the Cougars.
During the second half of the exhibition game, the guard/forward sprained his right thumb, and although X-rays returned negative, he was pulled from Saturday’s practice and is doubtful for tonight’s exhibition.
“He started to practice, but every time he caught the ball, it was painful, so I pulled him out,” Howland said after Saturday’s practice. “I expect him to play on Friday.”
With injuries to three key players in a matter of just two days, Howland will have to experiment with a variety of lineups, including a new starting lineup which, according to the UCLA coach, will be Russell Westbrook, Luc Richard Mbah a Moute, Alfred Aboya, Kevin Love and either Nikola Dragovic or Chace Stanback.
Westbrook, who plays at the point guard position everyday in practice, feels ready to fill the void tonight against Chico State and would be ready to go on Friday, if he is called upon.
“I think I’m ready, and my teammates have my back, so I think we’ll be all right,” he said.
Even though the injuries have attracted a great deal of attention and concern, Howland was pleased with several aspects of Friday night’s exhibition game, highlighted by the impressive play of freshman Kevin Love.
Although he was able to record a double-double with 15 points and 12 rebounds in just 21 minutes, Love was also quick to realize that there were some aspects of his game that require improvement.
“As the game went on, I realized some things I need to work on,” Love said. “I need to work a lot on defense. I would say I’m a little out of shape.”
Love, who had been waiting since he was a kid for the chance to play for UCLA, made sure to enjoy every moment of the experience, including during the pregame roll call, where it seemed he may have been unaware of the long-standing tradition.
“I was just trying to soak it up, see how long I could draw it out,” Love said with a smile.