Love has apology for media

Kevin Love said he had to “step up and be a man.” He apologized and took full blame.

But not for missing a defensive hedge or a layup. Love was forestalling a mini-media crisis Tuesday.

Love missed UCLA’s weekly news conference.

Josh Shipp, Russell Westbrook, Luc Richard Mbah a Moute, Lorenzo Mata-Real, James Keefe and Chace Stanback made an appearance. Darren Collison, who suffered a severe bout of food poisoning and spent some time in an emergency room Sunday, was excused from practice and from the news conference.

But Love was a no-show and his absence was noteworthy because earlier Tuesday, Coach Ben Howland had told reporters on a Pacific 10 Conference call that Love would be in the media room Tuesday afternoon.

Last month it was announced that Love would be doing no extra interviews outside of Tuesdays and postgame appearances. The fifth-ranked Bruins, 14-1 overall and 2-0 in the Pac-10, play host to Washington (9-5, 0-1) on Thursday. A Seattle-area reporter asked Howland if this was because Love spoke his mind. Love hasn’t been shy about mentioning if he thought he touched the ball enough.

“Not at all,” Howland said. “He’s not limited. He still sees everybody. For example, he’ll be at the media thing today.”

And then Love didn’t show. Instead there was a hastily arranged post-practice conference call for Love. “I’m sorry about missing the press conference today,” Love said. “It was my fault.” Love said he was thrown off by new class schedules and oh, by the way, that he had made the honor roll last quarter.

Howland said earlier that Love had been inundated with media requests this season. “I’m talking hours at a time,” Howland said.

“It took away from focus on what he’s supposed to do -- go to school No. 1 and work hard to get better as a player.

“Some places don’t allow freshmen to talk. I’d never do something like that.”

Love said media attention isn’t a problem.

“It doesn’t wear on me,” Love said.

“With UCLA’s tradition and being a big man here, it comes with the territory. What happened today was a total mistake and I take all the blame myself.”

Howland said he has no plans to redshirt junior Michael Roll. Roll ruptured a tendon in his foot last week and is out three to four weeks. It was the second time Roll hurt the foot. He missed the first seven games of the season and would be eligible to redshirt if he doesn’t play again.

Roll is still wearing a walking boot and was away from the team this week to attend the funeral of his grandfather, James Beaumont.

Beaumont, who was 86, flew Hellcat fighter-bombers off the USS Essex in the South Pacific in World War II and had one brother killed in that war.

Collison, who missed the first six games while recovering from a sprained left knee, earned praise from Howland for his play against California.

“He played very well Saturday,” Howland said. “His best half of the year. All those little pull up jumpers he hit, those are great shots.

“One thing to never lose sight of is his defensive intensity on the ball. His ball pressure is as difficult to deal with as anybody in the country. I’ve had point guards who can’t apply ball pressure. Without that, opposing offenses are so much easier to run. With Darren on you, it’s a hard deal.”

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diane.pucin@latimes.com