Hines Will Sit Out This Week

The solitary shooter with “Hines” on the back of his jersey hit jump shot after jump shot Tuesday at Pauley Pavilion, oblivious to the throng of reporters converging on his Bruin teammates and coach.

But it wasn’t senior guard Rico Hines honing his shooting touch for the Sweet 16 game against Missouri on Thursday.

It was redshirt Ray Young, and he wore the jersey as a tribute to his injured teammate.

An MRI on Hines’ left knee revealed a cartilage tear that will sideline him this weekend. He injured the knee Sunday in the first half of UCLA’s double-overtime victory over Cincinnati.

Hines, an outstanding defensive player who averages 16.2 minutes a game, said he might be able to play in the Final Four next week if UCLA advances. In his absence, he expects freshman Dijon Thompson to pick up extra playing time.

“He’s coming into his own,” Hines said. “He’s not a freshman anymore, that’s what I told him. He’s playing like a sophomore.”

Thompson scored 16 points in UCLA’s first-round victory over Mississippi and 10 against Cincinnati.

“I’m ready for whatever comes,” Thompson said. “I’ve been playing better since I stopped thinking so much and second-guessing myself. I’m just playing confident.”

As for Hines, he will be on the UCLA bench exhorting his teammates the same way he did on the floor.

“He’s always wanted to coach, so I told him this is an early start to his coaching career,” Coach Steve Lavin said.

Steve Henson

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Matt Barnes, who was born in San Jose and grew up in Sacramento, said he has been inundated with more than 30 ticket requests from family and friends.

He also said he hopes this trip to the Bay Area works out better for him than the Bruins’ last journey north.

“The last time I went home I got kicked out of the game,” Barnes said. “So hopefully that doesn’t happen again.”

Barnes was referring to his being booted after giving California guard Shantay Legans a forearm shiver to the head.

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Lavin said he was worried about freshman point guard Cedric Bozeman becoming so frustrated and disenchanted with his status that he would check out mentally.

So he had former Bruin Earl Watson, now playing for the Seattle SuperSonics, call Bozeman and freshman Ryan Walcott on Friday in an effort to pump them up.

“The three of them share a commonality of being point guards at UCLA,” Lavin said, “of trying to shoulder the burdens of high expectations of UCLA basketball.

“Earl told them that at UCLA, your highs are higher and your lows are lower. When Earl went through what they’re going through, he was a junior. [Bozeman and Walcott] are freshmen.”

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With UCLA and Missouri meeting in a West Regional semifinal, attention has been focused on Tyus Edney’s mad, full-court dash that ended with him flipping in a game-winning basket at the buzzer against the Tigers in the 1995 NCAA tournament. Story lines also have turned to Missouri forward Kareem Rush and his older brother JaRon, a former Bruin.

Lost in the shuffle is how close Jason Kapono was to going to Missouri out of Artesia High in 1999.

“I wanted to play for [former Missouri coach] Norm Stewart and, at the time, I wanted to play out of state,” said Kapono, who also strongly considered Nevada Las Vegas. “But growing up, I always wanted to be a Bruin.” Paul Gutierrez