Howland Shakes It Up by Rewarding Effort

Fed up with underachieving starters, Coach Ben Howland is digging deep into his bench for answers.

The likes of John Hoffart and Jon Crispin might not end the team’s recent woes, but at least they seem to give maximum effort.

Hoffart, a senior center, unexpectedly played five minutes in the overtime loss to USC on Wednesday, his season high, finishing with one rebound and one point. Besides one minute against California last week, Hoffart had not played since a Dec. 27 nonconference game and had logged only eight minutes all season.

“Coach said I’d play, but I didn’t know I’d get in during the first half,” he said.

Hoffart replaced Michael Fey, the 7-foot sophomore whose production has steadily dropped.

Fey finished with six points and two rebounds -- which to Howland’s chagrin have become his typical output. After taking at least five rebounds in each of the first five games, Fey hasn’t had more than four since. In the last 16 games, he has 21 rebounds.

Ryan Hollins, the 7-foot sophomore center who took Fey’s starting spot 10 games ago, shows signs of developing into a solid player. However, he also has trouble rebounding consistently, averaging 4.4 a game.

USC forward Jeff McMillan had 18 rebounds against the Bruins, which is three weeks’ work for Hollins, who has only 16 in the last six games. That’s still better than Fey, who has 17 in the last 11 games.

Crispin, a senior guard, did not play against USC, because he did not match up well against the quick Trojan backcourt. However, he played 45 minutes in the previous two games after playing only 30 minutes in the first 20.

“I want to do the right thing with our seniors,” Howland said. “They’ll continue to play.”

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The slide from 9-3 to 11-13 has folks flipping the record book back to the 1940s for the second season in a row.

Last season’s 10-19 record was the worst since 1945-46. But losing twice to USC in the same season for the second season in a row harks back to 1940-42, the last time the Bruins were swept by their cross-town rival two seasons in a row.

When Howland remarked before the season that he wanted to restore Bruin tradition, this isn’t what he had in mind.

“That was a very, very disappointing loss,” he said.

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Trevor Ariza’s standout performance against USC was marred by a turnover with 5.2 seconds left in regulation and the score tied. He tried to hit Hollins with a pass underneath the basket, but as with so many UCLA interior passes, it flew out of bounds.

“He threw it too hard,” Howland said.

The 18-year-old Ariza, who had 24 points and eight rebounds, displayed maturity beyond his years after the game, answering repeated questions about the play.

“I saw something that wasn’t there,” he said. “I just got overanxious. If I could take it back, I would. But I can’t, so we have to learn from it and move on.”