Cummings Doesn’t Miss His Big Shot

T.J. Cummings, like Lana Turner, was discovered on Sunset Boulevard, although Turner did not make her screen debut in a hip-hop video.

Cummings, a 6-foot-10 UCLA center, was filling his gas tank last spring when a casting director handed him a business card.

“I didn’t know she was for real,” Cummings said.

Turns out the offer was solid, and so was Cummings in a convincing performance as a suave suitor in the Missy Elliott hit, “Work It,” filmed last summer.

“Almost every scene took only one take,” Cummings said. “I thought I didn’t do well the first time they said, ‘Cut.’ But they said it was tight.”

Cummings checked with the UCLA compliance officer before filming and did not accept pay because that would have been an NCAA violation. The casting director has asked him to appear in other videos, but Cummings is waiting until after the season.

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Cummings, a junior, has been getting less favorable reviews on the court lately.

He did not play down the stretch in regulation or overtime in the 96-91 loss to Oregon on Thursday and had eight points and four rebounds in 21 minutes.

Freshmen post players Ryan Hollins and Michael Fey ate into Cummings’ minutes, and each turned in his best performance of the season. Hollins had seven blocked shots, 11 points and 11 rebounds in 34 minutes, and Fey made four of five shots for 11 points and had four rebounds in 12 minutes.

Cummings is a good mid- range shooter, averaging 11.8 points, but often he does not see open teammates. He has only 13 assists, an average of one for every 30 minutes of playing time.

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Forward Andre Patterson practiced lightly Friday and is questionable for tonight’s game against Oregon State. The 6-7 sophomore has missed two games since spraining his left ankle in the first two minutes against Stanford on Jan. 23.

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TONIGHT

vs. Oregon State, 7:30

Fox Sports Net 2

Site -- Pauley Pavilion.

Radio -- XTRA (690, 1150).

Records -- UCLA 4-12 overall, 2-6 in Pacific 10; Oregon State 10-7, 3-5.

Update -- The Beavers’ 83-74 victory over USC on Thursday was their third in succession and their first Pacific 10 Conference road win outside Washington in five seasons. Oregon State center Philip Ricci, who had a string of four consecutive double-doubles snapped against the Trojans, presents a matchup problem. Burly centers have given UCLA fits all season. The latest to do so was Oregon freshman Ian Crosswhite, who scored eight of his 22 points in overtime, helping the Ducks to a 96-91 victory. UCLA has lost seven in a row and will need two or three more victories to qualify for the Pac-10 tournament.