Asuza Pacific at UCLA: postgame

Bruin Coach Ben Howland after Friday night's 111-61 win over Asuza Pacific:

"The main thing about tonight that happened that I am really concerned with is Darren Collison tweaked his knee, his left knee, in the first two minutes of the game. He had the adrenaline going, so he said he’s fine, but it’s bothering him after the game right now so we have to order an MRI. Could be — worst -case scenario — maybe a meniscal tear.

"The good news is there’s no swelling, which is really positive. Normally, with a torn meniscus, you have some swelling. But until we have an MRI, we don’t know.

"He felt something pop in the first two minutes of the game is what he said; the first play?! I think it was just changing direction.

"It started to bother him, he said, in the second half a little more. But obviously, that’s a huge problem if it is hurt; so it’s all the what-ifs, what-ifs, what-ifs . . . I’m just hoping it’s nothing serious. If it’s a meniscal tear, it could be as early as four weeks, as long as six weeks.

"With a meniscal tear, if you repair it, it takes longer. If you cut it out, and it’s not repairable, it’s shorter. But for the long-term future of his career, we hope it can be repaired and take longer, but that’s better for the stability of the knee.

"I thought Kevin [Love] did a great job tonight. He was a powerful force on the glass. It’s a double-double in his first game, that’s a pretty good showing, playing half the game. He made some really nice passes. You could see he got a little winded and part of that is just the adrenaline.

"This wasn’t our normal crowd for the exhibition games that I remembered in the past. There was a little more excitement surrounding him and his first game at UCLA, this team being a very good team that returns.

"Starting Russell (Westbrook], that’s not a done deal [for the rest of the season]. When Alfred [Aboya] came in for Russell, that was a very good lineup as well. Roll did a lot of good things tonight in terms of making open shots. It was great to see Josh [Shipp] coming off the hip surgery; it’s like nothing ever happened. So you have to give him a lot of credit for the hard work he’s put in in rehabbing.

"Alfred took an elbow and I don’t think it needs a stitch, but he got cut. I think it was an elbow.

"Lorenzo [Mata-Real]’s biggest thing is he’s got to get his conditioning back. I think we’ve had now 17 practices, and he’s probably practiced in seven of them, full-contact. So his conditioning is a little low right now, so he’s got to get better conditioned.

"Nikola Dragovic did a good job making open shots. He definitely looks more comfortable with a year of experience under his belt. I felt Luc (Mbah A Moute) looked very sharp and make some tremendous passes.

"We force a lot of problems for people with our defense. They shot 38% and had 19 turnovers. So that’s good defense and that’s what we want."

Freshman center Kevin Love:

"I would say I’m a little out of shape. We need to start running more in practice. I thought I did well. It was a good first game.

"I was very hyped up for the game. That’s why I got tired early. I’ve been waiting for this moment since I was a little kid, coming out and putting on UCLA jersey. I just got really excited. But as the game went on, I realized some things I need to work on. I need to work a lot on defense."

Junior wing Josh Shipp:

"We were kind of anxious. We leaked out [in transition] a little bit. We didn’t rebound as well as we wanted to.

"We shot the ball really well. The team’s jelling really good; everybody was unselfish. Overall, we’re pretty happy for our first game. It was a good effort."

Sophomore guard Russell Westbrook:

Asked if he could shoulder the load if Collison is hurt, Westbrook said, "I played point every day in practice on the opposite team, so I think I’m ready and my teammates have my back. So I think it will be all right."