Collison takes new approach

UCLA point guard Darren Collison scored only 10 points Saturday in UCLA’s 75-61 win over Stanford at Pauley Pavilion, three under his average. And Collison, the Pacific 10 Conference’s leading three-point shooter, didn’t make one for the second game in a row.

That’s fine with Coach Ben Howland. He accepted Collison’s four-of-13 shooting against Stanford because the 6-foot-1 guard aggressively drove to the basket even though he was sure to find one of Stanford’s two 7-foot freshmen twins, Brook and Robin Lopez, waiting to try to block his shot.

“He was trying to challenge those 7-footers a little too much on drives,” Howland said. “But he did a good job of leading us. He had five steals and when he pressures the ball on defense ... you don’t want to have Darren Collison pressuring you all day long. He’s a great defender on the ball, as good as anybody I’ve ever coached.”

Collison said he didn’t fear the Lopez twins or even notice them. “Nah,” he said. “I just missed some shots.”

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Since sitting out the second half of UCLA’s 70-65 loss at West Virginia two weeks ago because of a sore hip that Howland didn’t learn of until halftime, center Lorenzo Mata has played with renewed passion. Howland refused Mata’s plea to re-enter that West Virginia game after the junior had told the staff of the soreness.

“It hurt to watch my teammates need me in the second half,” Mata said. “Coach told me that too, that they need me for my inside presence so I’m giving it to them.”

Since that loss, Mata has posted these numbers: 10 points and four rebounds against Arizona State; 10 points and seven rebounds against Arizona; a career-high 14 points and five rebounds against California; and eight points, four rebounds and three blocked shots in a career-high 33 minutes on Saturday.

“If Lorenzo plays like this,” Collison said, “we feel like we can get the ball inside any time we need to.”

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Stanford always plays physical and many of the Bruins left Saturday’s win with aches and pains. Mata got poked in the eye. Arron Afflalo said he felt “bumped and bruised all over.” Collison got knocked on the head and felt dizzy for a moment. No one plans to sit out Thursday’s game at Washington State.

diane.pucin@latimes.com