Love gets ice instead of media questions

PHOENIX -- Usually a career high of 29 points and a game-high 14 rebounds earns a player a spot on the postgame podium to face the media, but Kevin Love was a no-show Thursday after UCLA’s 88-78 victory over Western Kentucky.

At the request of Coach Ben Howland, who pulled Love back toward the Bruins locker room as he started to make his way toward the interview room, the freshman center skipped facing the masses and spoke only in the locker room.

That was because Howland wanted Love to get ice on his right shoulder before he did anything else.

The coach was being cautious after Love complained of some soreness after falling on his side after a hard foul early in the first half.

It certainly didn’t waylay him during the game. His scoring output is second-most by a UCLA freshman, behind only Don MacLean’s 41 points in the 1988-89 season.

Love, though, was pretty much an afterthought in the main media session until Howland brought him up after glancing at the stat sheet.

“I’m sitting here . . . and we take it for granted,” Howland said. “Kevin Love had 29 and 14. That sounds like a pretty good line for me.”

Love has averaged 22.7 points, 11.3 rebounds and 5.0 blocks in three tournament games. He has 22 double-doubles this season, including 15 in the last 21 games.

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The game started with Love and Darren Collison scoring UCLA’s first six points.

Shades of last week?

The two first-team All-Pacific 10 Conference performers combined for 40 of UCLA’s 51 points in the Bruins’ second-round victory over Texas A&M.;

But what started as more of the same certainly didn’t end up that way. Collison finished with only four points, making one shot -- a three-pointer in the second half -- after hitting a free throw in the opening minutes.

He fouled out with 5:39 seconds to play.

Into the void stepped James Keefe, who gave the Bruins a huge boost off the bench with career highs of 18 points and 12 rebounds, and also Josh Shipp, who shook off a shooting slump to make five of nine shots and score 14 points.

“I thought Shipp did a great job today,” Howland said. “. . . His 14 points were huge. I thought he made a lot of nice plays helping us against their pressure.”

Russell Westbrook also had 14 points, albeit on three-for-15 shooting, and he tied a career high with 11 rebounds, giving UCLA three players with double-doubles for the first time this season.

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Tyrone Brazelton scored 25 of his game-high 31 points for Western Kentucky in the second half. He averaged 26.3 points in the Hilltoppers’ three tournament games.

Courtney Lee had 18 points for Western Kentucky, but took 29 shots, making only seven. Howland credited Luc Richard Mbah a Moute’s defense for some of Lee’s troubles.

Beside Lee and Brazelton, the rest of the Hilltoppers made eight of 32 shots.

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Western Kentucky’s second-half surge should have come as no surprise to UCLA. Before Thursday, the Hilltoppers’ only loss by more than six points was a 10-point loss to Southern Illinois in November.

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mike.hiserman@latimes.com