Basketball Preview: Men's Basketball: Proving ground for UCLA hype

The UCLA basketball team opens its season tonight with confidence and high expectations for the year. The Bruins will have a chance to show right away whether they can live up to the hype. Brigham Young comes to Pauley Pavilion tonight with a sense of confidence after a successful season last year and a fast-paced style of play. “They’re a very talented team,” UCLA coach Ben Howland said. “I have no doubt that this BYU team will be in the NCAA Tournament come March.” The Cougars were projected to finish last in the Mountain West Conference last season. But with first-year coach Dave Rose and a group of freshman and sophomore contributors the Cougars experienced a complete turnaround, finishing 20-9 overall and going 12-4 in conference play to finish second in the Mountain West. The Cougars also received a bid to the National Invitation Tournament, where they were ousted by Houston in the first round. The Cougars return four starters from last year’s squad and have kept most of their core players from a year ago. They are led by center Trent Plaisted, who led the Cougars in scoring and rebounding last year as a freshman. Last year, Plaisted broke former Utah center Andrew Bogut’s conference record for points by a freshman and garnered freshman of the year honors in the Mountain West. “(Plaisted) could play anywhere in the country,” Howland said. “He’s a future NBA player. He poses a lot of problems.” Also working in BYU’s favor is the team’s experience and depth. The Cougars have six seniors on the team, and each plays significant minutes. “Their seniors aren’t your normal seniors,” Howland said. “Many of them have been on Mormon missions and are now 23, 24 years old, married with kids. It’s a different team than you’d normally face in that respect.” Post defense has been one of the question marks for the Bruins in the early going, but the Bruins will receive a boost tonight, as junior center Lorenzo Mata is expected to return from an injury. Mata knows he is going to be tested right away with Plaisted in the middle for the Cougars. “Plaisted is a really good inside post player. We’re going to have our hands full inside,” Mata said. “We might double him and then have to cover the shooters real quick. It’s going to be a hard game.” Mata missed the first two preseason games while recovering from knee surgery but can be counted on to play a large role right away for the Bruins. On Tuesday, Mata went through his third full practice with the team since the surgery. “He still gets winded a little bit because of his conditioning factor, but his knee seemed to be fine (on Monday) and it was fine (on Tuesday). How much he plays is just dependent upon a lot of factors,” Howland said.

KEEFE HEALTHY: Freshman power forward James Keefe is at full strength and will be available for the game tonight. Keefe missed the Bruins’ last preseason game against Humboldt State on Thursday after sustaining a strained neck in practice. “Keefe’s fine,” Howland said. “He was in this morning at 8 a.m. doing extra shooting with a bunch of other players. He shot the ball well and seems to be OK.”