Mbah a Moute practices, expects to play Thursday

Starting forward Luc Richard Mbah a Moute, who sat out Pacific 10 Conference games last week against Oregon and Oregon State because of a concussion, returned to practice Tuesday and was expected to play Thursday night when the No. 5 Bruins play Arizona State at Pauley Pavilion.

Mbah a Moute, averaging 9.5 points and 5.2 rebounds, was cleared after a CT scan came back negative, Coach Ben Howland said.

The 6-foot-8 junior was injured Jan. 19 against USC and hadn’t practiced until a light workout Monday.

“He worked out for about an hour and felt fine afterward so hopefully he’ll have a good result again,” Howland said before practice.

“I definitely feel better,” Mbah a Moute said. “There isn’t anything you can do about a concussion. You just go out there and play.”

It was suggested he could wear a helmet.

“Maybe,” he said. “If the NCAA allowed me to do that, I would.”

Howland was ready to put to rest the poor treatment Kevin Love received from Oregon fans last Thursday, especially after Oregon Athletic Director Pat Kilkenny called to apologize about the rowdiness.

“He called Monday,” Howland said. “He called for me and I wasn’t in, but it was nice of him to do that.”

Howland added that he doesn’t hold a grudge against the school because of the behavior of fans, who taunted Love mainly because the Oregon native chose UCLA instead of remaining in state to play for the Ducks.

“They have a first-class university,” Howland said. “They’ve already handled it in the next game after ours. I guess in the next game after ours, [Oregon Coach] Ernie [Kent] addressed the crowd, so they’re on it.”

Love, who had nearly 400 messages on his cellphone after fans held up a sign with his number, said he was tempted to gesture to fans after recording 26 points and 18 rebounds in the UCLA victory but held himself in check.

“I can’t tell you if I’ve had a better feeling in my basketball career than walking off that court and taking the high road and feeling good about that game,” said Love, named Pacific 10 Conference player of the week. “It was one of my favorite games ever to win.”

He added that nobody from Oregon called him or his father, Stan, to apologize, though Kilkenny, Oregon’s athletic director, said Tuesday he had left a message for Stan.

UCLA went 2-0 in Oregon last week, which helped guard Josh Shipp breathe a sigh of relief.

Shipp shot only 27.8% (five of 18), including only two of 12 (16.7%) from three-point range, in the games.

“It was probably my worst shooting weekend in a long time,” said Shipp, who is shooting 47.2% for the season and 38.1% on three-pointers. “They felt good, they just weren’t dropping. They say all shooters go through a slump. It was just one of those weekends for me.”

Shipp and Love are among 30 mid-season candidates for the Naismith Trophy as college player of the year.

Love is among six freshmen in the top 30, a list that also includes O.J. Mayo of USC.

peter.yoon@latimes.com