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UCLA basketball: Joshua Smith cleared to play against Arizona

Los Angeles Times staff writer Ben Bolch
By Ben Bolch
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UCLA freshman center Joshua Smith has been cleared to play against Arizona on Thursday after completing a full practice Wednesday.

Smith sat out the Bruins’ victory over Stanford on Saturday after falling and injuring his head and neck in the first half against California two days earlier.

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Sophomore forward Reeves Nelson, UCLA’s leading scorer and rebounder, was limited in practice Wednesday, and his availability Thursday will be a game-time decision.

--Ben Bolch

Sports Now
Ben Bolch

Ben Bolch has been a Los Angeles Times staff writer since 1999. He is serving his second stint as the UCLA beat writer, which seems fitting since he has covered almost every sports beat except hockey and horse racing. Bolch is also the author of the recently released book “100 Things UCLA Fans Should Know & Do Before They Die.” He previously covered UCLA basketball from 2010-11 before going on to cover the NBA and the Clippers for five years. He happily traded in gobs of hotel points and airline miles to return to cover UCLA basketball and football in the summer of 2016. Bolch was once selected by NBA TV’s “The Starters” as the “Worst of the Week” after questioning their celebrity journalism-style questions at an NBA All-Star game and considers it one of his finer moments.

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