Reed Resurfaces as Big-Man Reserve

Freshman forward Travis Reed, UCLA’s only backup big man, could not hang onto the first two passes sent his way in Duke’s 120-84 rout of the Bruins on Sunday.

But 6-foot-6 Reed steadied himself and put in a creditable eight-point, four-rebound performance in 22 minutes, which was four minutes more than foul-plagued J.R. Henderson played.

Against USC on Wednesday--UCLA’s first game since the resignation of center Jelani McCoy--Reed banged a knee and played only five minutes.

But at Duke, Reed displayed canniness around the basket and the ability to finish plays that made his disappearance from Coach Steve Lavin’s playing rotation at midseason such a mystery.

Reed, who didn’t play against Stanford or California in mid-February, hadn’t played more than 20 minutes in any game since his 14-point performance against New Mexico on Dec. 6.

“He played well,” Bruin senior forward Kris Johnson said of Reed’s game against Duke. “He played with energy and aggressiveness. He showed he can come into a game like this and have a lot of confidence to do things.”