It wasn’t exactly a performance for the ages, but forward Luc Richard Mbah a Moute returned to game action on Thursday against Arizona State after missing two games due to a concussion suffered against USC on Jan. 19.
Mbah a Moute had just six points and five rebounds, and he amassed four personal fouls in just 17 minutes of play, but his return had coach Ben Howland breathing a sigh of relief.
“I think he just got in foul trouble,” Howland said. “He had a big offensive rebound early in the game. I’m not sure about his second foul. It was good to get him out there and get him minutes. I played him longer at the end just to get him some time because he had to sit out that first half.”
After the game, Mbah a Moute seemed vexed by the small amount of minutes his foul trouble had limited him to and repeatedly referred to his playing time as only “five minutes.”
“No, I (wasn’t rusty),” Mbah a Moute said. “No, (I didn’t get rusty). I mean, I played like five minutes. I mean, in five minutes I was good.”
Mbah a Moute went on to say that given the team won by such a large margin and the fact his teammates played well, the lack of minutes wasn’t all that frustrating.
However, with that good news comes some more bad injury news for the Bruins. Late in the second half, with the game already decided, center Lorenzo Mata-Real took a charge and fell on his wrist. He was taken for X-rays after the game, according to Howland.
Mata-Real was in just his second game back after also suffering a concussion of his own against the Trojans. In one sequence in the second half on Thursday, he had three offensive rebounds off of his own missed shots. He finished with six rebounds and three points in 16 minutes.
ARIZONA NEXT: It was an interesting scenario for the Bruins, having to take a game against usual bottom feeder Arizona State seriously. The Bruins passed that test and now can move on to what is usually the marquee game of the weekend against Arizona on Saturday.
The Wildcats beat USC 80-69 on Thursday and will likely be itching for redemption against UCLA, a team they have beaten since Howland’s second year in Westwood. They are led by the offensively talented Chase Budinger, and Wildcats interim coach Kevin O’Neill has attempted to establish more of a defensive mind-set with the team.
“Now we have to bounce back here and get ready for a very, very tough opponent in Arizona on Saturday who had a big road win today,” Howland said.
GAMEDAY: ESPN’s College GameDay will be broadcast from Pauley Pavilion at 8 a.m. on Saturday. It will be preceded by SportsCenter at 7 a.m. Gates to Pauley Pavilion will open at 6:30 a.m. for all students. Den members wearing their Den T-shirts will be allowed to sit in the lower section.
Priority seating numbers for those camping out will only be handed out after GameDay, at 9 a.m. The passes will be distributed in Pauley Pavilion.
GameDay will air again at 5 p.m., immediately prior to the 6 p.m. tip-off.