Bruins Can Try Out Their Garden Tools

UCLA Coach Ben Howland should have been overjoyed with a 54-47 victory over Temple on Thursday night at Pauley Pavilion. But his smile was forced, his joy subdued.

“It’s a little tempered by the injuries,” Howland said.

Guard Jordan Farmar, a John Wooden Award candidate, sprained his right ankle, and center Michael Fey sprained his left shoulder, but the Bruins still advanced to the semifinals of the NIT Season Tip-Off tournament.

UCLA will face Memphis on Wednesday at New York’s Madison Square Garden, with the championship game Friday.

It would have been understandable if the Bruins had been intimidated by Temple.

Big-time school.

Big-name coach: John Chaney.

And, most important of all, big players. In the starting lineup alone, the Owls had a 6-foot-6 guard (Mardy Collins), two who stood 6-5 (Mark Tyndale and Dustin Salisbery) and a center who would cause even the most confident of defenders to do a double take, Anthony Ivory, who stands 6-10 and weighs at least 300 pounds.

After letting Ivory muscle his way under the basket to grab a rebound and score the first two points of the game, the Bruins kicked their fastbreak offense into high gear, held off a furious second-half charge by the Owls, who cut a 33-18 halftime deficit to three, and hung on.

Farmar sprained his ankle in the closing minutes of the game. He limped off the court but returned less than a minute later. Farmar, who sat out the team’s first exhibition game because of a groin strain, was taken for X-rays after the game. Fey left in the second half because of the shoulder injury.

Thursday night’s victory was all the more impressive because the two projected Bruin starters in the front court -- Josh Shipp and Alfred Aboya -- remain out with injuries.

Size, of course, doesn’t matter if a team can’t shoot. This is basketball, not football. And the Owls struggled to put the ball in the basket, shooting a dismal 21.4% in the first half and 31.5% in the game.

Collins, the Owls’ offensive leader, was held to 15 points, making only four of 15 from the field.

“We played outstanding defense,” Howland said.

“We focused on defense all week,” said swingman Cedric Bozeman. “We wanted to control them.”

Arron Afflalo led the Bruins in scoring with 18 points, Bozeman adding 11.

Despite the height disadvantage, UCLA outrebounded Temple, 41-29 with Luc Richard Mbah a Moute leading with 10 rebounds.

UCLA might have figured it would have the edge in the second half, considering it was the Owls who had to fly cross-country for Thursday night’s game after beating Army on its home court in the first round.

Instead it was the Bruins who appeared to be suffering from jet lag as the second half wore on. As a result, the momentum changed alarmingly fast for the Bruins.

A finger roll by 7-foot center Sergio Olmos, a three-pointer by Collins and a Tyndale layup cut the UCLA margin to 33-25.

A 17-5 run by Temple left UCLA ahead, 47-44. A pair of free throws and a dunk by Ryan Hollins gave UCLA some breathing room.

But the Bruins won’t really breathe easily until they find out the severity of the injuries to Farmar and Fey.