UC Davis-UCLA: Pre-Game

The fifth-ranked Bruins (11-1) face off against the UC Davis Aggies (5-6) this afternoon at Pauley Pavilion beginning at 4:30 p.m. Of note:

>> Asked about what he was expecting, UCLA coach Ben Howland said: "Princeton offense; they’ll come in here and be super-patient. Gary Stewart’s team beat Stanford two years ago, which was a huge one for them. We don’t want to be in that boat this year.

"They have a lot of alums down here. They’re going to have 500-600 people here I think, they got an extra allotment of tickets. So it’s nice for their program to be able to get down here. Gary’s a good friend and a good coach."

>> UCLA’s injuries continue to mount. Guard Darren Collison suffered a minor knee sprain in practice this week, but hopes to be able to go. Center Lorenzo Mata-Real suffered a groin strain and said yesterday "I’d like to play tomorrow, but I guess that’s not going to happen; it’s pretty doubtful. But I plan to be back when the Pac-10 starts." Guard Mike Roll has been sick, but expects to play.

>> Freshman center Kevin Love, asked about the differences he’s seen in transitioning from high school to college basketball said: "The physicality is a little bit different, but that’s something I’ve adjusted to well. I’ve just been having fun playing."

He reiterated that he’s like to be able to get more touches during the game to help the Bruins on offense: "Just facilitating the offense a little bit more, getting the ball in certain places, touching the ball so I can pass it to my open teammates, find them on cuts and off-side. I think that’s the biggest thing right now."

>> Sharpshooting wing Josh Shipp also emphasized that the UCLA offense needs more work: "I think our offense isn’t where our defense is right now. I think we’ve been playing pretty good D; the offense is a little stagnant. We definitely need to work on that, but I definitely think it is improving. Every day we need to come and practice hard, and hopefully we can get rolling and win these games in the Pac-10."

The Bruins aren’t expected to have much trouble with Davis. This is the first meeting between the schools and although the Aggies are a 33 1/2–point underdog, their total of five wins in 11 games is already as good as last season’s total in a 5-23 campaign.