Finally, a Laugher for UCLA

UCLA’s T.J. Cummings wasn’t quite perfect.

Then again, the way California played, he didn’t really have to be.

Cummings made his first seven shots and didn’t miss until the second half of UCLA’s 66-49 victory Thursday, making eight of nine shots in the game to finish with 19 points, 10 rebounds and a display of physical defense too.

Cummings led the way in a rare laugher for the Bruins, who held Cal to 14 points in the first half of a blowout that gave Coach Ben Howland a rare opportunity to empty the bench as a crowd of 9,166 applauded at Pauley Pavilion

At the end of the game, John Hoffart, Quinn Hawking, Gene Barnes and Ike Williams were on the court -- the first time all season Hawking, Barnes and Williams have played.

The Bruins (11-11, 7-7) beat a Cal team that oddly didn’t put up much resistance, and you could almost hear that NCAA tournament bubble they were supposedly on burst.

But it was only UCLA’s second victory in the last 10 games and it felt plenty good to them.

For Cummings, it was a bit of payback after Cal freshman Leon Powe outworked him on the boards in a loss last month.

“All I’ll say about that is I’m a very competitive person,” Cummings said. “I don’t like to lose. I never think of myself as a pushover, and I felt like I didn’t play well the first time.”

This time it was very hard to find fault with his game.

He made all seven shots he took in the first half, and they were hardly gimmes. Instead, they were mostly mid-range jumpers. His only miss came early in the second half.

“Oh, I remember it,” Cummings said. “Dijon [Thompson] gave me a pass on the baseline and I should have squared up and knocked it down, but I leaned off-balance and missed it.”

Howland was at least as impressed with Cummings’ defense on Powe, who had a double-double against UCLA in Berkeley but this time was held scoreless in the first half and finished with 10 points and six rebounds.

“He played a great game, not only offensively but defensively,” Howland said. “He did a good job [on Powe] with his body, holding his ground, and we did double-team him when he got it down low.”

Howland also was impressed that the thrill of a hot hand didn’t carry Cummings away.

“He was very, very patient,” Howland said. “I’m really proud of him. He’s really grown up this year.”

Cummings said “the biggest thing” was to get the victory.

“I had a couple of open looks, three-pointers, in the second half, but my thing was for us to get good, easy shots, look for layups. It carried over. There was nobody ‘shot-hunting.’ We were looking for everybody else.”

The team-first attitude was also displayed by the support the bench showed for Jon Crispin, who was seldom-used until recently. He contributed six points off the bench and Howland said he would start the senior in his final Pac-10 game Saturday against Stanford as well as his final game in Pauley against Notre Dame.

Brian Morrison, still hampered by a sore ankle, didn’t play and is doubtful for Saturday, but the Bruins have new life after finally winning an easy one.

UCLA led at halftime, 30-14, partly because of good defense and partly because of Cal’s ineptitude. The Bears shot 25% in the first half and 39.6% overall, compared to 50% by UCLA.

The Bears (11-11, 7-6) made only one basket over the last 10 1/2 minutes of the first half, and UCLA ran off 11 points in a row at one point.

It was the fewest points UCLA had held an opponent to in a half this season, and it was also Cal’s lowest halftime score of the season.

Howland called it the second-best win of the season after one over Michigan State, but the way things had been going lately, it couldn’t have felt any better to the Bruins.

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UP NEXT FOR UCLA

Saturday vs. Stanford at Pauley Pavilion, 1 p.m., Channel 2 -- Top-ranked Stanford is undefeated at 22-0 and has beaten UCLA in Pauley Pavilion six consecutive times, something no other team has accomplished. The Cardinal defeated UCLA in Palo Alto last month, 67-52.