Morrison Has Higher Hopes

UCLA guard Brian Morrison has left painful days behind him but has challenging times ahead.

Morrison, a 6-foot-2 senior, spent much of last season suffering from a hamstring injury that was more severe than originally thought. The torn tendon limited him to 13 games and deprived the Bruins of their best outside shooter.

Now, healed and ready, Morrison faces another test. The Bruins’ first freshman class under second-year Coach Ben Howland is guard-heavy, with Arron Afflalo, Jordan Farmar and Josh Shipp all craving playing time.

Afflalo and Shipp, both shooting guards, are in direct competition with Morrison, who transferred from North Carolina after the 2001-02 season.

“You are going to have to play well and produce to get playing time,” Morrison said. “There are more good guards on this team. I definitely feel like I can contribute. If I do what I’m capable of doing, I don’t think I’ll have anything to worry about, as far as playing time is concerned.”

Morrison seemed on his way to proving that last season, giving the Bruins what they desperately needed -- consistent scoring from the outside. He had a career-high 28 points, making six of eight three-point shots, against UC Riverside in the second game of the season.

Four games later, while fighting through a screen, Morrison tore his left hamstring. He was the team’s third-leading scorer, averaging 12 points, when he was injured but limped through the season, playing in only seven more games.

“It did take longer than we expected to heal,” Morrison said. “I didn’t really start feeling good until May or June.”

The Bruins, a poor shooting team, were hampered by Morrison’s absence. He made 43% of his three-point shots. As a team, the Bruinsmade 33%.

“I was just watching the video of the Michigan State game the other day, and [Brian] played so well in that game,” Howland said. “It’s too bad he got hurt, because we could have used him.”

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The infusion of backcourt talent has Howland wanting the Bruins to push the tempo more, something that could help him in games and on the recruiting trail.

“It is always brought up [by recruits],” Howland said. “Kids want to play that way, and I understand that. They want to get up and down.”

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Howland is in favor of reducing the number of conference games from 18 to 16, which he said would improve the chances of more conference teams being selected to the NCAA tournament.

“I have been a proponent of 16 league games and maybe have a couple more nonconference games,” Howland said. “There is a mathematical formula that goes into who makes the tournament, and it doesn’t help to beat up on each other.”

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The Bruins will ease their way into the season. They do not have a game outside Southern California until Dec. 18, when they play at Michigan State. None of their first four opponents -- Chicago State, Western Illinois, UC Irvine and Long Beach State -- won more than 12 games last season.