The UCLA men’s basketball team just can’t seem to catch a break. Even as its troubling 2009 preseason comes to a close with tonight’s final exhibition against Humboldt State, more unwelcome news appeared on the Bruins’ doorstep over the weekend.
Freshman forward Tyler Honeycutt was diagnosed with a stress reaction in his right tibia during Saturday’s practice, as an MRI confirmed later that night. The injury is a precursor to the more common stress fracture and will need rest to heal.
Coach Ben Howland expects Honeycutt to miss three to four weeks, becoming the eighth member of the Bruins’ roster to miss time already this season, which started less than a month ago.
“It’s unfortunate for him because we need him to get out here and start growing, getting experience,” Howland said.
Honeycutt, a starter in UCLA’s first exhibition, also missed most of the summer training cycle due to a back injury.
“I just feel bad for Tyler,” Howland said. “He had such a tough time this summer not being able to do anything because his back and now to have this happen I just feel terrible for the young man. He’s done everything we’ve asked him to do.”
Howland added that senior forward Nikola Dragovic will now move to play more at small forward, the position he saw most as an underclassman.
Despite the recent addition to the injured list, tonight’s game at Pauley Pavilion will see the debut of starting guards sophomore Jerime Anderson and senior Michael Roll. Both Anderson and Roll were held out of the exhibition opener as a precaution against aggravating lingering injuries, but they have continued to practice with the team during that time.
Anderson is expected to run the offense this season and his absence was noticeable Wednesday when UCLA’s backcourt struggled against NAIA opponent Concordia, barely eking out the 62-61 victory.
The Bruins’ starting guards in that game, sophomore Malcolm Lee and redshirt junior Mustafa Abdul-Hamid, committed a total of 10 turnovers on the night and failed to set up a consistent offense. In fact, the now-sidelined Honeycutt was the best passer statistically, dishing out three assists with no turnovers.
Traditionally, UCLA has used its two exhibition games of the year to ease into the official start of the season. But the near-loss last week set off enough alarms in the Bruin camp to call for a more determined effort the next time around.
“We want to show improvement,” Howland said. “We were lucky to win our last game.”
Lane Out Again
Freshman Brendan Lane, who had just made it back to practice after three weeks out with an ankle sprain, missed Monday’s practice with sickness. The 6-foot-9-inch forward called in on Monday morning to say he had been vomiting.
“That poor kid has had his fair share of adversity,” Howland said.
Food poisoning forced Dragovic to leave practice last week with similar symptoms, but there was no word on the cause of Lane’s sickness.