Men’s Basketball Notebook

Can’t miss

In an 89-77 victory over defenseless South Carolina in the
third-place game of the Maui Invitational last Wednesday, the UCLA
basketball team shot 72.9 percent from the field (no, this
isn’t a misprint), partly because it shot well and partly
because the Gamecocks were too lazy to contest its shots. Only once
in school history ““ on Jan. 24 against Southern Cal — had
the Bruins shot at a higher percentage.

Sophomore reserve forward/center T.J. Cummings was 11 of 12 from
the field, recording career highs in both points (25) and rebounds
(9). Cummings, who said he shot 400 jumpers a day during the
offseason, received extended playing time against the Gamecocks
because starting center Dan Gadzuric tweaked his ankle early in the
game.

Naturally, during the post-game press conference, Bruin head
coach Steve Lavin was asked if Cummings would get more minutes in
the future at Gadzuric’s expense.

Lavin tactfully avoided answering the question, jokingly saying
he’d play the versatile Cummings at all positions, including
point guard.

In the rankings

Last Tuesday’s loss to Ball State dropped UCLA from fourth
to 11th in the ESPN/USA Today Coaches Poll. Maui Invitational
champion Duke, which received all 31 first-place votes, tops the
poll and is followed by Illinois, Arizona, Maryland and Missouri,
in that order. Kansas, the other Ball State victim in Maui, fell
from third to seventh. Ball State entered the rankings at No.
25.

In the Associated Press poll, UCLA went from third to 10th.
Duke, Illinois, Missouri, Arizona and Maryland are the
nation’s top teams, according to those rankings. Ball State
is No. 16.

Kapono honored

Junior forward Jason Kapono was named to the Maui
Invitational’s all-tournament team after averaging 20.3
points and 4.3 rebounds in three games. Kapono hit 10 of his 15
three-point field goal attempts.

Others making the all-tournament team were Mike Dunleavy (the
tournament MVP) and Jason Williams of Duke, Patrick Jackson of Ball
State and Drew Gooden of Kansas.

Fey re-signs

According to UCLA recruiting coordinator Michael Sondheimer,
Michael Fey, an original member of the 2001-02 recruiting class,
has re-signed a national letter of intent with UCLA. This means
that no other school can recruit him.

Fey, who was regarded as one of the top high-school centers on
the West Coast in 2000-01, failed to meet initial NCAA requirements
and was unable to attend UCLA this year.

Other bits

The Bruins are averaging 19.3 turnovers per contest. They had 22
against Ball State and 21 against South Carolina. Senior forward
Matt Barnes is currently UCLA’s top rebounder, averaging 7.7
boards per game… Highly-touted freshman point guard Cedric
Bozeman’s collegiate debut in Maui answered few questions
while raising plenty. Bozeman looked fluid and did a good job of
finding open men at times, but struggled to hit any shots that
weren’t layups and turned the ball over 11 times.
Bozeman’s classmates, forward Andre Patterson and
guard/forward Dijon Thompson, look like legitimate prospects.
Patterson, a gifted finisher from close range, was 7-of-11 shooting
in Maui (5.0 ppg), while Thompson hit 9 of 16 shots (7.0 ppg)…
Senior forward Rico Hines played nearly an hour of basketball in
Maui (55 minutes) but failed to score a single point.

Compiled by Dylan Hernandez and Christina Teller, Daily Bruin
Senior Staff.