Mata is feeling much better now

It was a tough night for UCLA junior center Lorenzo Mata. After eating what he said was his usual pregame snack of two peanut butter sandwiches, Mata began feeling awful. He went to the bench, sat with his head in a towel, was about to re-enter the game and then sat down again.

“I never felt so sick,” Mata said. “And then I threw up and then I was fine.”

After missing about four minutes, Mata came back and finished the game.

It wasn’t easy. He took a pass from teammate Arron Afflalo off his face and had to take off his No. 14 jersey because it became bloodied early in the second half. For the final 18 minutes or so Mata wore a nameless No. 21 jersey, a spare. Cedric Bozeman was No. 21 last year.

“Maybe it made me play defense like Ced,” Mata said after the game. He finished with six points, seven rebounds and three blocked shots.

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Weber State Coach Randy Rahe isn’t thrilled with his scheduling to start next season. The Wildcats are supposed to open the season at Pauley Pavilion against UCLA in the first round of the CBE Classic, an event that ends with semifinals and a final in Kansas City, Mo. Maryland, Michigan State and Missouri are the other top teams in the draw.

“I requested to play UCLA in the first round because I thought it would be good for our kids to go down there and play them on their court,” Rahe said. “After watching them today, I’m not very bright.”

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Of UCLA’s five starters, only two (Afflalo and Darren Collison) played more than 25 minutes and they played only 32.

UCLA Coach Ben Howland was particularly pleased with freshman James Keefe, who played nine productive minutes, and Michael Roll. Howland said he saw Keefe set two screens that resulted in Afflalo jump shots as well as a rebound and put-back and another rebound that ended up as an assist to a Mata dunk. Howland was happy to see Roll make consecutive three-point shots when the game was in doubt.

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Former UCLA players Baron Davis and Matt Barnes, both members of the Golden State Warriors, congratulated the Bruins in the locker room.

diane.pucin@latimes.com