A Hot Hand Helps UCLA

Anybody in these parts recall seeing a Morrison light a fire this fast since Jim?

UCLA might have found a new man to lead the band in an 84-70 victory over UC Riverside on Wednesday night at Pauley Pavilion.

Brian Morrison, a transfer guard from North Carolina, scored 28 points, making 11 of 15 shots, and had nine rebounds. Even more impressive than the numbers was the way he compiled them.

He burst open off screens, stopped on a dime and buried three-pointers, six in eight tries.

When overplayed by his defender, he exploded along the baseline or through the lane for layups.

And he got better as the game progressed, making all three of his shots in the first half, scoring 13 points in a five-minute stretch midway through the second half when UCLA pulled away, and adding seven points in the last five minutes.

It remains to be seen whether Morrison will be a consistent performer or merely streaky. Two years ago at North Carolina, he led the team with 42 three-pointers and averaged 7.1 points as a reserve, enjoying one night similar to this one when he made six threes and scored 21 against Georgia Tech.

He did not seem to have awed himself, probably a good sign this early.

“I’m satisfied, but it’s a temporary satisfied,” Morrison said. “It’s a very, very long season.”

True enough. UCLA has cut its teeth on two Gummy Bear opponents -- Vermont and Riverside both are 0-4. No. 9 Kentucky is next, Saturday at the Wooden Classic.

“Now we are looking forward to Saturday,” Morrison said. “That’s the game we really want to get.”

It will take better interior defense than the Bruins showed against Riverside. Smallish Highlander post players Vili Morton (10 of 13 shooting) and Nate Carter (16 points) combined for 38 points.

But for a UCLA team coming off a 10-19 season, that’s nitpicking. The crowd of 7,331 wasn’t overly concerned with the lapses that allowed Riverside to stay within one point at halftime, cheering the Bruins and chanting Morrison’s name.

UCLA shot 65.5% in the second half and outrebounded Riverside, 39-24, in the game. Ryan Hollins, a 7-footer starting at forward for the first time, had seven rebounds; 7-foot center Michael Fey and point guard Cedric Bozeman each had six.

Forward Dijon Thompson’s 18 points on seven-of-11 shooting was nearly lost in Morrison’s scoring flurry, and Bozeman had seven assists and 17 points, making four of five shots in the second half after beginning the game cold.

Morrison’s heat, it seemed, was contagious.

“His teammates were setting good screens and getting him the ball when he came off the picks,” Coach Ben Howland said. “He’s a good shooter and he had it going. He took a couple of crazy shots. Sometimes he gets a little haywire.”

Did Morrison ever feel his play was out of control?

“Never,” he said.

Certainly, he was good enough to blow the doors off Riverside. After leaving North Carolina, Morrison almost transferred to Washington -- near his hometown of Redmond, Wash. -- and came to UCLA at the urging of former coach Steve Lavin. He struggled to fit in and nearly left before school started a year ago. Now he looks as comfortable as Ray Manzarek sitting at a keyboard.

“It’s exciting to score a lot of points,” he said. “For the most part I played good defense too.”

The return of T.J. Cummings and Trevor Ariza could relegate Morrison to a reserve role, although Howland might need to rethink that move. Cummings, a senior forward, is expected to regain his eligibility after Saturday’s game, and Ariza, a freshman forward out with a collapsed lung, could return as soon as Dec. 17. Thompson could then move from small forward to guard.

“I haven’t even thought about that,” Morrison said. “I’ll just do what the coach asks me to do.”

That appears to be to score.

Morrison’s first three-pointer put UCLA ahead, 10-7, a lead the Bruins would not relinquish.

Three times in the first half the Highlanders pulled within one. The first time, Bruin guard Janou Rubin went for a coast-to-coast layup and three-point play after a steal to stretch the lead to 30-26. The next, Hollins made a 15-foot jump shot--probably his longest field goal as a Bruin--and on the third Carter missed an open three-pointer with one second left to leave the halftime score, 36-35.

UCLA began to pound the ball inside to Fey in the second half, when he scored eight of his 10 points. His layup five minutes into the half made the score 50-43 and the lead continued to grow.

Consecutive layups by Morrison had the Bruins up by 14 with nine minutes left.

“Our offense was executing quite well” in the second half, Howland said. “We also defended better.”

And the Bruins discovered a scorer, a player who for at least one night made an unmistakable impact.