Changing of the Guard

Without point guard Baron Davis’ explosive power and spirited play, UCLA isn’t the same team.

Losing the Pac-10 Conference freshman of the year to a season-ending knee injury in the midst of the NCAA tournament is the latest in a series of calamities to strike the Bruins this season.

Kris Johnson and Jelani McCoy were suspended for violating team and athletic department rules last fall. Both returned in December, but then McCoy resigned from the team Feb. 14.

Now Davis is gone, leaving the sixth-seeded Bruins (24-8) without their floor leader against No. 2 Kentucky (31-4) in Friday’s South Regional semifinal at St. Petersburg, Fla.

He tore the anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee when he landed awkwardly after a dunk nine minutes into UCLA’s victory over Michigan on Saturday. He will rehabilitate for three weeks, then undergo surgery.

Davis was cleared to return by team physician Gerald Finerman. He played five minutes, then watched the 85-82 win from the bench. Finerman said he wouldn’t have allowed Davis to play if he thought it was a serious injury.

Davis averaged 11.7 points and was the team’s assist and steals leader.

But the Bruins managed to beat Michigan with Davis playing 14 minutes. They also won when he fouled out of nine games during the regular season.

Without him, the load will fall on Davis’ backcourt mate, freshman Earl Watson, who’ll assume much of the ballhandling responsibilities. Watson had 10 points, four rebounds and one turnover in 34 minutes against Michigan.

One of two freshmen, Rico Hines and Travis Reed, will start and the other will see significant minutes. Reed scored 11 points against Michigan.

Seniors J.R. Henderson, Toby Bailey and Kris Johnson know how to win a big game without an injured point guard.

In 1995, Tyus Edney injured his wrist in UCLA’s national semifinal victory over Oklahoma State and played only two minutes in the championship game against Arkansas. Cameron Dollar stepped in for the final 38 minutes and the Bruins won their 11th NCAA title.