Patterson Ready and Waiting

His baseball cap was askew, but Andre Patterson said his grades are in order.

The sophomore forward watched in street clothes as UCLA defeated Long Beach on Sunday, and in the locker room afterward said he is excited about the prospect of rejoining the team in time to play Northern Arizona on Dec. 17.

Patterson said he earned two A’s and one C at Santa Monica City College this fall, which exceeds the B-average he needed for reinstatement at UCLA. The term at Santa Monica ended Friday and he officially receives the grades today.

However, his academic hearing to be reinstated is not until Dec. 16 because the UCLA quarter extends through this week.

“I feel good about it,” he said. “I want to play basketball.”

Patterson, a 6-foot-7 power forward, could add much-needed rebounding and interior defense. He averaged 2.3 points and 2.1 rebounds in nine minutes a game last season but academically had difficulty. He regained ground during the summer, getting B-minuses in four classes at UCLA.

“Andre has worked extremely hard,” Coach Steve Lavin said. “He could make a big difference for us.”

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Jon Crispin came to UCLA with a reputation for being an accurate long-range shooter. Although he sat out last season under transfer rules, the former Penn State guard showed as much during practices. Sunday, he finally got to display his touch in a game, making three of six from three-point range and scoring 11 points in 13 minutes against Long Beach State.

“I’ve really tried getting beyond being passive, without forcing shots,” he said. “It’s a tough thing to balance when you’re playing limited minutes.”

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UCLA is 9-0 against Long Beach State, but having a game at Pauley Pavilion was a new experience for first-year 49er Coach Larry Reynolds.

“I grew up in L.A. and was a big Bruin fan,” he said. “It was special to me to come out of the locker room and see Coach [John] Wooden sitting in the stands.”

However, he wasn’t especially pleased with how his team played in the 81-58 loss. “I thought we could have hung in there longer,” he said. “In the second half, one mistake just got piled on top of another.”

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The 23-point margin of victory was the Bruins’ largest since a 93-65 victory over Villanova on Jan. 13, 2001.

*UP NEXT

UCLA vs. Portland, Saturday, 5 p.m. -- Portland Coach Michael Holton is a former Bruin player and longtime Bruin assistant. The Pilots are 3-2 after losing to Oregon State on Saturday.