Bruins Sparkle in Preseason Win, Collison Hurts Knee

By KS Wong
Bruin Basketball Report

Box Score

Freshman Kevin Love recorded a double-double in his first game as a collegiate to lead the Bruins to a 111-61 trouncing of the Azusa Pacific Cougars in front of 8,211 at Pauley Pavilion. Love finished with 15 points on 6 of 10 shooting and a game-high 12 rebounds. 

However the victory celebration was short-lived when it was revealed after the game that junior point-guard Darren Collison injured his left knee.  He left the locker room with his knee wrapped and walking on crutches. 

Collison felt something in his knee pop after the second possession of the game but decided to continue.  After the game he reported that the left knee was sore.

"It was bothering him after the game," UCLA Coach Ben Howland said. "There's no swelling. Normally with a torn meniscus there's some swelling."

He will have an MRI performed on the left knee on Saturday.

Collison scored 12 points in the winning effort including a game-high 7 assists in 26 minutes of play.

He set the tone in the first possession of the game when he stole the ball at the top of the circle and scooted down for a rousing slam to electrify the home crowd.  The Bruins raced out to a 10-0 lead capped by a three-point shot by Love.

Howland, who had been non-committal about naming his five starters, perhaps surprised some by starting sophomore Russell Westbrook at shooting guard alongside Love, Collison, Josh Shipp, and Luc Richard Mbah a Moute.  The sophomore guard finished with 14 points including 6 of 7 from the line.

Westbrook brings a level of intensity, especially on the defensive end, however one of the concerns with starting Westbrook is the potential for foul trouble since he is the primary back-up at point to Collison. 

The problem became evident in this game when Westbrook picked up quick two fouls in the first eight minutes of the game and had to sit down.  Although he returned in the half of this exhibition, in a real game he may have been forced to sit out the entire half thereby forcing Collison to play without a back-up.  It will be interesting to watch how this evolves over the next week.

Josh Shipp lead all scorers with 20 points on 8 of 11 shooting including a couple of monstrous slams in transition. 

Michael Roll came off the bench to hit 3 of 5 three-pointers to finish with 16.  Roll is a different offensive player this season.  In prior years, Roll would settle for outside jumpers, but now a junior, he has filled out physically and is much stronger. He attacked the basket on a few occasions, in one instance he received the ball off a cut and made a tough lay-up while being fouled hard by the defender.

Nikola Dragovic has never been shy about shooting and took advantage of the numerous open looks he had in the game finishing with 11 points on 3 of 5 shooting from beyond the arc.

The Bruins shot 54.5% (12-22) on three-pointers for the game.  Shipp was also 3 of 6 from beyond the arc.

With Love leading the way, the Bruins dominated the boards 49-29.  Mbah a Moute grabbed 6 caroms an Lorenzo Mata snagged 6 rebounds coming off the bench.

UCLA went into halftime with a 48-26 lead and extended the lead to as great as 55 points in the second half.

The Bruins next face Chico State in their last preseason match-up on Monday, November 5th at 7:30PM at Pauley Pavilion. 

In the meantime, they'll be nervously waiting to hear about the condition of their star point-guard.

BBR Notes: J'Mison Morgan. a high school center recruited by UCLA, decided to commit to LSU today. Morgan's AAU coach has a strong relationship at the LSU program, and Morgan was impressed by his visits to the school as well by visits by former LSU alumni Tyrus Thomas and Shaquille O'Neal.

The Bruins came out with their commemorative gold "C" on their uniforms, however, the gold "C" is now outlined by Bruin blue to help the letter itself stand out better against the home white uniforms.

(photo credit: AP)