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AT A GLANCE

By Steve Henson
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Last season: 10-19, 6-12 and sixth in the Pacific 10.

Postseason: Advanced to the second round of the Pac-10 tournament. Missed the NCAA tournament, ending a streak of 14 consecutive appearances.

Coach: Ben Howland, first year, 168-99 in nine seasons, five at Northern Arizona and four at Pittsburgh.

Who’s gone: Coach Steve Lavin (145-78 record); forward Jason Kapono, the third-leading scorer in Bruin history (16.8 ppg, 5.2 rpg); guard Ray Young (10.1 ppg); forward Andre Patterson (5.5 rpg, 60.8% shooting); forward Marcedes Lewis (1.3 ppg).

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Who’s new: Howland; forward Trevor Ariza, a freshman from Westchester High; guard Brian Morrison, a transfer who sat out last season.

Projected starters: Forward Dijon Thompson (14.0 ppg, 4.7 rpg); forward Ariza; Center Michael Fey (2.3 ppg, 1.6 rpg) or Ryan Hollins (4.3 ppg, 3.5 rpg); guard Cedric Bozeman (7.3 ppg, 3.3 apg); guard Morrison.

Keys to season: The Bruins must learn Howland’s system quickly and develop a semblance of the toughness and unselfishness displayed by his Pittsburgh teams. A consistent scorer besides Thompson must emerge. The Bruins must appreciate the importance of playing consistent defense.

Outlook: Improving on last season’s record is the first task. Becoming better than a .500 team is next. Making the NCAA tournament? That might be a year away.

-- Steve Henson

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Steve Henson

Steve Henson is a reporter with the Fast Break sports team at the Los Angeles Times. He previously served as an assistant editor and reporter in the Sports department. Henson was a leader in digital-only newsrooms from 2007-19 as a senior editor and columnist at Yahoo Sports and as senior editor at the USA Today Sports Media Group. This is his second stint at The Times, having covered the Dodgers and UCLA as well as doing enterprise, investigative and features writing from 1985-2007. Henson was awarded first place in sports features in 2021 by the L.A. Press Club and has been honored several times by the Associated Press Sports Editors (APSE) and also by the California News Publishers Assn., the Football Writers Assn. of America and U.S. Basketball Writers Assn.

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