WOODEN CLASSIC : McCoy Is Only 18, but He Shows He’s Been Around Block : Bruins: Freshman’s big game doesn’t surprise teammates, who have seen him practice.

A week ago, Jelani McCoy wasn’t eligible to vote, fight in a war or hang out in a bowling alley after midnight.

Then, almost overnight, McCoy became a man.

It happened first off the court, on Wednesday, when the 6-foot-10 freshman center turned 18.

Waking to his fourth sunrise of adulthood Saturday, McCoy grew up on the court against Maryland, which wasn’t checking birth certificates after McCoy blocked a school-record 11 shots in leading UCLA to a 73-63 victory in the John R. Wooden Classic at The Pond of Anaheim.

“To me, freshman or senior, makes no difference,” Terrapin forward Rodney Elliott said. “That age thing is just a number.”

McCoy had a few numbers. He recorded UCLA’s first triple-double for points (15), rebounds (10) and blocks (11) and, with eight turnovers, he missed by two the chance at a quadruple-double.

The blocked shots record is impressive if not dubious, given that the Bruins didn’t keep track of the stat before the 1978-79 season, which is a bit like the Yankees not keeping track of home run records before 1935.

In fact, Bill Walton and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar might be rummaging through old game film today to set the record straight.

But 11 blocks is a lot of swat, in 1968, 1972 or 1995.

“He blocked 11, but he probably changed 10 or 15 more,” teammate Charles O’Bannon said.

With a quicker start--eight of his 11 blocks came in the second half--McCoy might have challenged David Robinson’s NCAA record of 14, set in 1986 while at Navy.

He had to be content (and he was) with breaking the Pacific 10 Conference record of eight, shared by David Greenwood and Rodney Zimmerman--both former Bruins--and Mario Bennett.

McCoy remembers blocking 19 or 20 shots in a high school game while at San Diego’s St. Augustine.

But no one was comparing that team with Maryland.

Nothing McCoy did to the Terrapins surprised his teammates.

“That’s what he does to us in practice,” guard Toby Bailey said.

Remarkably, Maryland never grew tired of challenging McCoy inside. The Terrapins kept shooting, and McCoy kept rejecting.

Elliott explained: “If somebody blocks your shot the first time, you’ve got to go after him the second time harder.”

Even McCoy thinks Maryland took the right approach.

“That’s what you have to do with shot-blockers,” he said. “Go in and challenge them.”

Sure, if you don’t mind making only 19 of 77 shots.

McCoy said it was nothing personal.

“I love playing basketball,” he said. “I like to have fun. I’m not trying to embarrass anyone.”

McCoy said shot-blocking, like shooting, is all about rhythm.

“After a while, my timing gets down,” McCoy said.

Trying to bait McCoy into “freshman” fouls didn’t work. He did all that damage and finished with only two personals.

McCoy kept his feet planted firmly until he felt poised to strike. Once he gets in a groove, he said, he doesn’t worry about much.

“I’m going to go after every shot I think I can get and let the refs make the call,” he said.

And the altered shots?

“It’s just as important to change a guy’s shot,” he explained. “If you block it, or change it, all that’s good.”

With the Bruins struggling without a healthy point guard, McCoy’s performance could not have been more perfectly timed.

Bruin Coach Jim Harrick hopes his team has reached a crossroad similar to last year’s Wooden Classic, when freshman J.R. Henderson had a coming-of-age party as he sank two free throws to beat Kentucky in the last second.

Harrick considered it a turning point in a championship season.

Saturday, it was McCoy’s turn to step up.

In a December filled with concerns, McCoy’s block-fest gave Harrick one less thing to worry about.

The Terrapins, on the other hand, won’t soon shake the image of hands, McCoy, and balls flying back in their faces.

“They knew the young man was around,” Harrick said.