Young Equal to New Tasks

The ball got up the court with reasonable regularity and the Bruins beat California, so meet the new point guard: Ray Young.

“He brought some great energy and hit some big shots,” Coach Steve Lavin said. “He performed admirably well under the conditions.”

Never mind that Young is a fifth-year senior who never played the position until Thursday. With Cedric Bozeman questionable because of a shoulder injury and Ryan Walcott struggling, Young again will run the offense.

He scored a career-high 18 points in 36 minutes against Cal. Young also had four assists, five rebounds and only three turnovers.

All in all, not bad for a guy who insists, “I’m still a shooting guard and always will be.”

Young should get help, and not only from Walcott. Lavin broke out a term he hadn’t used since Bozeman was injured early last season -- point guard by committee.

“We have interchangeable parts that allow us to do that,” he said. “Dijon [Thompson], Jason Kapono, Walcott, Ray, Bozeman, that’s five guys capable of bringing the ball up the floor.”

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T.J. Cummings also shook off a slump to make a strong contribution against the Bears. The junior forward came off the bench to make seven of eight shots and score 17 points in 30 minutes.

“Whether he comes off the bench or not, he gets the minutes of a starter,” Lavin said. “He’s been shooting before and after practice, really putting in a lot of work.”

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Nothing like a bit of illumination and a few basketballs to help practice go smoothly.

One day after Stanford had its shoot-around at the Sports Arena delayed because the lights were turned off and no one supplied basketballs, every detail was accounted for during practice at Pauley Pavilion on Friday.

UCLA’s home floor has been hospitable to Stanford on game day as well -- the Cardinal has won five in a row at Pauley.

The Sports Arena mix-up only served to inspire Stanford, which outscored USC by 11 points in the last seven minutes to win, 73-67, Thursday.

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TODAY

vs. No. 21 Stanford, 2 p.m., Fox Sports Net

Site -- Pauley Pavilion.

Radio -- XTRA (690, 1150).

Records -- UCLA 6-16 overall, 3-10 in Pacific 10; Stanford 20-6, 11-3.

Update -- The Cardinal reached 20 victories for the ninth consecutive season despite losing standouts Casey Jacobsen and Curtis Borchardt to the NBA. UCLA nearly won a slow-paced game at Maples Pavilion Jan. 23, but Stanford escaped, 52-51.