Tendinitis Limits Freshman Gadzuric

The promising start to the UCLA career of freshman center Dan Gadzuric has been tempered by concern over tendinitis in his left knee, which limited him to 17 minutes in all and only six in the second half Thursday against Santa Clara.

Gadzuric scored the Bruins’ first eight points in the season-opening 89-76 victory but managed only two more shots. It didn’t help that he also slammed the knee on a chair at the Santa Clara bench while chasing a loose ball, worsening a condition that is common among players but more prevalent among those working the joint harder than in the past.

“I’m not really concerned,” he said after getting nine points, five rebounds and four blocks. “I know it’s going to get better. We have a good training room and I go there all the time. I just have to be patient and wait for it to get to 100%.”

Gadzuric gets a few days to rest. But once the Bruins face San Francisco on Thursday in the first round of the Puerto Rico Shootout, they play three games in as many days.

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Reserve swingman Billy Knight is expected to be sidelined two weeks because of a groin injury he has been battling since summer. . . . Rico Hines, who sat out the two exhibition games because of a sprained knee, played 18 minutes against Santa Clara. Travis Reed was the only reserve to play more.