Wooden memories are classic

Seventh-ranked UCLA will play Davidson after undefeated St. Mary’s plays San Diego State today in the 14th annual John R. Wooden Classic at Anaheim’s Honda Center, and it was the man in the middle of the dais, the sprightly 97-year-old whose “classic” this is, who was the star attraction Friday.

While UCLA has plenty on its do-list for its game -- handle the Wildcats’ 1-3-1 zone; contain Davidson guard Stephen Curry, who UCLA Coach Ben Howland says has the quickest shot release in the country; allow Bruins freshman center Kevin Love to touch the ball more than 11 times and shoot more than six times as he did in last Sunday’s loss to Texas; avoid a two-game losing streak -- Friday wasn’t a day to talk about a zone press or a three-point shooter.

St. Mary’s Coach Randy Bennett, San Diego State’s Steve Fisher and Davidson’s Bob McKillop got to shake hands with the nation’s most respected former college basketball coach, and Howland got to hear Wooden talk about Love.

“From what I’ve heard and seen, both by tape and in person,” Wooden said about Love, “nothing surprises me about him. He needs maturity and he needs to get stronger physically, but I’ve been most impressed with his passing ability.

“He does see the floor and he hustles on the offensive and defensive ends. I haven’t seen since Bill Walton a player who can turn and throw a pass with the defense around him like Kevin. He’s a real team player. For a youngster who’s had so much publicity in high school, to come out as the No. 1 player in the country and the way he’s accepted it, taken to it and not let it go to his head as a player and a person, that’s great.”

Fisher spoke up first when the visiting coaches were asked about any previous meetings with Wooden. Fisher’s came when he was Michigan’s head coach. “It was 1993,” Fisher said. “We had just come off, a week earlier, losing to North Carolina in the national finals and part of it was Chris Webber calling the timeout we didn’t have.

“The next week was the Wooden Awards. Webber was one of the five finalists and after the Carolina game he said he was not going. His dad and I convinced him he had to. Chris wouldn’t speak to me on the plane ride out, but coach Wooden, unsolicited and with no fanfare said, ‘Steve, I’d like to have a few moments privately with Chris.’ They spoke and afterwards Chris came to me and said, ‘Thanks for making me go. It’s the greatest experience I’ve had so far in my athletic career.’ ”

Bennett said his came when he was an assistant at Pepperdine working under Lorenzo Romar.

“Lorenzo had a relationship with him, and coach Wooden was nice enough to let us come to his house,” Bennett said. “We sat around for two hours listening to coach Wooden. As a young guy it was awesome. Funny thing is, after we left, Coach called and said, ‘One of you guys lost about 78 cents in the couch, come out and get it.’ ”

It is the Davidson game against UCLA that is featured.

McKillop purposely toughened up the off-season schedule for his Southern Conference team after it lost to Maryland, 82-70, in the first round of last year’s NCAA tournament. “We felt,” McKillop said, “that although the experience was terrific, it was the first we’d had like that during the year.”

Howland says the Bruins will be well-tested by Curry, who averages 26 points and whom Howland compared to former Arizona star Salim Stoudamire.

He expects sophomore Russell Westbrook to be the main defender on Curry, but Howland also said Darren Collison, Josh Shipp and Michael Roll would help out. Howland also said he expected to see a 1-3-1 zone from Davidson and that UCLA’s evolving zone offense will be on display.

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TODAY’S WOODEN CLASSIC

Site -- Honda Center.

Game 1 -- St. Mary’s (6-0) vs. San Diego State (8-1), noon.

TV -- Channel 9, WGN.

Radio -- 570.

Update -- St. Mary’s is led by Patrick Mills, a 6-foot freshman from Australia, who averages 16.3 points and 4.8 assists and who had 37 points in the Gaels’ upset of Oregon. Coach Randy Bennett’s team also has a 6-11 center, Omar Samhan, a sophomore who averages 13.6 points and 8.5 rebounds. San Diego State has four starters averaging in double figures, led by junior forward Lorenzo Wade at 14.3 points. The Aztecs, averaging 10 steals a game, are off to their best start since the 1931-32 team opened 8-0-1. Their only loss was at California, 77-69.

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Game 2 -- UCLA (7-1) vs. Davidson (3-4), 2:30 p.m.

TV -- Ch. 9, WGN.

Radio -- 570

Update -- Davidson and UCLA played only once, in 1975 when John Wooden was still coaching. The Bruins won, 91-64, though Wooden apologized Friday for not remembering the game. Wildcats guard Jason Richards, a 6-2 senior, leads the nation in assists (9.4) and had a double-double (14 points, 11 assists) in Davidson’s 79-73 loss to Duke. Davidson starts three guards and two 6-8 forwards and will be driven by Richards and guard Curry. Howland expects Collison and Roll to be in better shape after four hard practices. Both returned to practice last week after starting the season on the bench because of injuries.

Tickets -- Available through the Honda Center box office at 714-704-2500 or online at www.ticketmaster.com.

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diane.pucin@latimes.com