Howland Finds Hope in Reserves

Coach Ben Howland said he hopes that by relying more on his reserves, the Bruins will have a better chance of surviving the toughest part of their Pacific 10 Conference schedule.

Howland limited the minutes of his starters and went deeper to his bench Saturday night in an 80-75 victory over Washington, and he intends to follow the formula with UCLA playing five of its next seven Pac-10 games on the road, starting Thursday night at Arizona State.

No UCLA starter played more than 32 minutes against Washington, and the Bruins got big contributions from four reserves -- center Michael Fey and guards Ryan Walcott, Janou Rubin and Jon Crispin.

“Normally, in years past, I’ve played seven or eight guys,” Howland said.

He decided to make a change after Thursday’s 55-48 loss to Washington State, acknowledging that he probably played his starters too many minutes.

“I think they’ll be more productive [playing a shorter] amount of time than they would be playing 37 or 38 minutes,” Howland said. “Because all of a sudden you’re always running a little bit on empty. To me, it’s just having the confidence in my bench to come out and produce the way they did. It makes me feel good about our chances going down the road.”

Fey, Walcott and Rubin combined for all of UCLA’s points off the bench, but Howland also singled out the play of Crispin. The senior transfer from Penn State gave the Bruins a lift with his defense in the first half against Washington guard Nate Robinson, who finished with nine points, three below his average.

“I thought that Jon Crispin, even though he didn’t score, came in and gave us a great energy,” Howland said.

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There isn’t much doubt what statistical category is most important for the Bruins. When they outrebound an opponent, as they did against Washington, they are 9-1. When UCLA is outrebounded, it is 0-6.

The Bruins outrebounded Washington, 40-30, including 13 offensive rebounds, on the way to ending a six-game losing streak.

“It was an effort right here,” said Howland, pointing to his head. “These guys were tired of losing. We talked about it, and we finally did it. It will serve us a good lesson in that when we outboard our opponent, [we know] we’re going to have a great chance to win.”

Senior forward T.J. Cummings, who led UCLA with 11 rebounds, said it was simply a matter of the Bruins applying what they’ve worked on in practice.

“That’s something that we’ve been talking about for a long time,” he said.