Stokes Gets Last Laugh

Wesley Stokes, the player UCLA didn’t want, was hearing all about it from Matt Barnes.

Stokes, a Missouri guard, was about to throw the ball inbounds and Barnes was in his face, fronting the Bruin full-court press and talking trash to Stokes.

But instead of replying, the Tiger sophomore smiled at Barnes and pointed to the scoreboard: Missouri 77, UCLA 69. The clock read 1:35.

Stokes, a guard from Long Beach, had six points and three assists in 13 minutes off the bench.

Although he didn’t prove he is somebody UCLA missed on, he did make things sticky for the Bruins.

When UCLA was in the locker room before the game, he took gum from his mouth and tossed it near the UCLA bench.

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John Wooden was going to address the UCLA team early in the week and attend the game Thursday, but he injured a knee in a fall and canceled.

The 91-year-old former UCLA coach spoke to the team early in the season.

Steve Henson

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UCLA senior Rico Hines, sidelined because of a knee injury, sat in a corner of the UCLA locker room clutching a basketball, bent over looking at the ground.

“This feels like the lowest part of my life so far,” he said. “You never think your career is going to end like that, sitting on the sideline, helpless. But that’s life. Got to grow up and be a man now. Life goes on.

“The frustrating thing is you come to UCLA to win a championship. In my five years, we never had a chance to accomplish that.”

UCLA freshman point guard Cedric Bozeman was surprised that his former Mater Dei High teammate Jamal Sampson, a freshman center at California, applied for the NBA draft Thursday.

“I didn’t expect him to do it, but I’m behind him 100%,” Bozeman said. “Hopefully he’ll have a great future.”

Paul Gutierrez