Injuries Sideline Rubin for Season

Less than 48 hours after playing a season-high 16 minutes against Oregon, senior guard Janou Rubin was lost for the season Tuesday when an MRI exam revealed a defect in his left thigh bone and bone chips in his left knee.

Rubin felt some discomfort last week in practice and sat out the Bruins’ 85-80 loss to Oregon State on Friday before the swelling subsided enough to allow the reserve to play during UCLA’s 70-62 victory over Oregon on Sunday.

“He gave us 16 very good minutes of defense and helped us win that game at Oregon,” Coach Ben Howland said. “It’s tough because I felt like we really figured out what we were going to do now, playing those five perimeter players and giving [Rubin] 13, 15 minutes a game to come in and play hard, play smart.”

Rubin, a former walk-on, is scheduled to undergo surgery Thursday afternoon at UCLA Medical Center. The Bruins, who lost starting point guard Cedric Bozeman before the season when he tore a knee ligament, are left with three of their five seniors.

“It’s another tough loss for us,” freshman guard Arron Afflalo said. “We need that leadership, and we need that experience.”

Howland said he planned to offset the loss of Rubin by giving Matt McKinney, Ryan Hollins and Josiah Johnson increased playing time at power forward and playing forward Dijon Thompson on the perimeter for at least 10 minutes a game.

“It will be good, playing the 3, because it gives other players a chance to get in the game,” said the 6-foot-7 Thompson.

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Hollins, the erstwhile starter who played a total of two minutes in the Bruins’ last two games, recently met with Howland about his diminished playing time and acknowledged Tuesday that he was frustrated.

Howland’s response? Improve your rebounding and defense.

Hollins said he intended to display progress in practice this week to earn playing time. He is averaging 5.2 points and 2.7 rebounds in 21.2 minutes.

“It’s easy to be frustrated to [have] to sit and watch your team play and kind of be like a cheerleader,” said Hollins, who started UCLA’s first six games. “Of course, I’m determined to get back on the court.”