Hazzard Juggles Starting Lineup for St. John’s : Sophomore Kevin Walker Replaces Junior Charles Rochelin at Forward

After losing three in a row, UCLA basketball Coach Walt Hazzard decided it was time for a change. So he made a switch in the starting lineup for today’s nationally televised game against St. John’s.

Junior Charles Rochelin, who had seemed to be breaking out of his scoring slump, is out as a starting forward, and sophomore Kevin Walker is in. The change adds a couple of points but makes the already young Bruin lineup a little younger, putting three sophomore in the front line.

There have been rumors during this week of final exams that Rochelin was in trouble in one of his classes, but Hazzard said that he had not heard anything about that.

“I just thought that I would make a lineup change to see if we can get something going,” he said. “When you lose three in a row, you need to make a change. We’ll see if this works.

“This will give Kevin Walker a chance to not be as anxious. Charles Rochelin will continue to help us, he’ll just be coming off the bench.”

Walker is 6-foot-10, weighs 220 pounds and averaged 28.1 points and 11.5 rebounds as a senior at Brea-Olinda High School. He played sparingly last season as a Bruin freshman, but he has been averaging 13.3 points and 5.5 rebounds while playing an average of 19 points this season as the first man off the bench.

Rochelin, a 6-7 1/2, 206-pound athlete from Toronto, was averaging just 10.5 points and 3 rebounds.

The Bruins also need a change in their series with St. John’s. The Bruins have lost three straight to the Redmen. And all three of those losses have been under Hazzard, who has yet to beat St. John’s. UCLA lost last season at St. John’s, 70-63.

This season’s St. John’s team won’t be easy to beat, either. Lou Carnesecca’s Redmen are 4-1. The only loss was at Kansas, where the Jayhawks ran their home winning streak to 50.

St. John’s has two starters back from last season, forwards Matt Burst and Shelton Jones. Jones, a 6-9 senior, leads the team with about 20 points and 11 rebounds a game. Hazzard considers Jones “one of the top athletes in the country.”

The San Jacinto College connection, which sent Walter Berry to St. John’s a couple of years ago, has been good for the Redmen once again. St. John’s starting guards were the starters at San Jac last season, 5-11 Greg (Boo) Harvey and 6-1 Michael Porter.

The only starter not averaging in double figures for St. John’s is 6-11 center Marco Baldi.

Today’s 11:30 a.m. game will be the third straight on the road for St. John’s, which lost at Kansas and then won at Fordham.

“I watched them against Kansas, and they’re a good team,” Hazzard said. “It’s another typical Lou Carnesecca team that plays together, controls the tempo, plays a 1-3-1 zone, uses the half-court trap. . . . They’re big in the middle and have another 6-9 guy (Jason Williams) coming off the bench.

“It’s not going to be easy.”

Brigham Young caused the Bruins trouble with a zone last Saturday, but Hazzard said that he works the team against zones in every practice session.

Hazzard thinks that UCLA is 1-3 at this point because this group has not yet come together.

“This year’s team has a different personality, a different chemistry that has not yet been identified,” Hazzard said. “When you get into a losing syndrome, you can sit back and point fingers.

“But I think this team will come around. I still have confidence that this will be a good team. We’re not happy, but we’re not discouraged.

“We’re going to roll up our sleeves and get better. I believe that what we are doing is right and sound. I believe in the talent of this team. But there is no substitute for experience.”

Bruin Notes

The last time UCLA started 1-3 was during the 1984-85 season, and the Bruins rallied to win 12 of their last 13 en route to the ’85 NIT title. . . . Kris Jason, who was hired as one of two full-time assistant coaches last week to replace Andre McCarter, has been the director of player personnel for the Las Vegas franchise of the International Basketball Assn., the 6-4 and under league, since he resigned as a part-time assistant with the Bruins last April. Jason left when an NCAA rule eliminated the part-time assistant from basketball staffs. That rule has since been changed. The other full-time assistant is Jack Hirsch. Ernie Carr is the Bruins’ part-time assistant and Sidney Wicks is a volunteer assistant. . . . Last season, St. John’s finished tied for fourth in the Big East with a record of 10-6. The Redmen were 21-9 overall and advanced to the second round of the National Collegiate Athletic Assn. tournament before losing to De Paul in overtime. Lou Carnesecca is in his 20th season as coach of the Redmen.