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Collison has to press the pace

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Times Staff Writer

UCLA point guard Darren Collison’s four points against California on Thursday were his season low and ended his streak of 12 consecutive games in double figures, but that wasn’t of much concern to UCLA Coach Ben Howland a day after the Bruins’ 62-46 victory.

“I think he played pretty well against Arizona in our previous game. I don’t think there’s anything going on,” Howland said. “I mean he had 14 and seven [assists] with two turnovers in our previous game.”

More important to Howland is that Collison, who made two of five shots against Cal, continues to penetrate and push the ball upcourt -- something that might be a part of the Bruins’ game plan against Stanford on Sunday to try to counter a Cardinal defense that blocked 19 shots against USC on Thursday.

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“He needs to keep pushing it harder,” Howland said. “I told him that one time when he started to push it at the beginning of the second half, and he turned it over.

“I encouraged him, I said, ‘I don’t care if you turn it over.’ We need him to be aggressive pushing the ball.”

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With a Sunday game against Stanford instead of the usual Thursday-Saturday schedule, the Bruins took it easy Friday, shooting and holding a walk-through practice as they prepared for the Cardinal, whose shot-blocking highlights against USC many of the players saw on TV.

There were no plans to use the extra day to take in the sights of the Bay Area.

“It’s all business,” said Chris Carlson, UCLA’s director of basketball operations. “There aren’t any side trips to Alcatraz.”

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Forward Luc Richard Mbah a Moute is the Bruins’ leading rebounder, averaging 8.1 a game, but the coaching staff is trying to improve his shooting, considering he’s making only 34% in conference games.... Sophomore Ryan Wright hasn’t played in the last three games, but Howland said the 6-8 forward/center will probably return against Stanford, which starts 7-foot twins Brook and Robin Lopez. “We’re going to need his size,” Howland said.... Swingman Josh Shipp, whose recent hamstring injury might have been linked to low potassium and insufficient hydration, said he had been eating more bananas, even though he doesn’t like them. “I eat some of them,” he said with a laugh. “I’ll tell them to go buy some chocolate to put on it.”

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robyn.norwood@latimes.com

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