Love takes hits during practice

Welcome to college basketball, Kevin Love.

UCLA Coach Ben Howland said his star freshman post player has been kneed in the left calf each of the last three days and has a back covered in scratch marks.

“Someone scratched the heck out of him,” Howland said after Friday’s practice. “I checked everybody’s fingernails today. Fingernails that are long are very dangerous.”

So are the strong legs of Alfred Aboya and Luc Richard Mbah a Moute.

Howland said Aboya’s knee has hit Love’s calf twice and Mbah a Moute has struck it once and the bruising was bad enough that Love sat out five minutes of practice.

“He’s pretty tough,” Howland said of the 6-foot-10, 265-pound Love. “But it’s so physical down there. He’s constantly getting beat up.”

And there is one more physical player participating in practice. Center Lorenzo Mata-Real has gone through two full practices. Mata-Real, the team’s only senior, has been recovering from a foot injury.

“The foot was a little swollen, a little sore this morning,” Howland said, “but he’s gutting through it and doing a good job.”

The Bruins have been practicing for a week. “It’s been very intense,” Howland said. “These guys are playing really hard, but offensively we have a long way to go to run a good motion.”

Love, even with his bumps and bruises, is making a difference.

“The best thing is, he’s playing a lot down low and if a team doubles the ball in the post, he’s really good at reading that and making quick passes before the double team gets there and he’s finding teammates wide open,” the coach said.

Howland also says he has seen progress in sophomore forward Nikola Dragovic, who played little in 2006-07 after serving a 10-game NCAA suspension to start the season.

“He’s smart, he plays within himself,” Howland said. “He’s a good passer and shooter and knows how to move without the ball. He’s also understanding that to play minutes for us he’s got to play defense.”

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The four recruits who have given oral commitments to UCLA for next season -- guards Jrue Holiday of North Hollywood Campbell Hall High, Jerime Anderson of Anaheim Canyon High and Malcolm Lee of Riverside North High and post player Drew Gordon of San Jose Archbishop Mitty High -- are on campus for the weekend.

While Howland can’t comment specifically on the players until they officially sign letters of intent, he did lay out their itinerary:

Friday the group went to classes, toured campus and ate in the dorms. “Our dorm food is really good,” Howland said. The UCLA team and the recruits were to have dinner at Howland’s home Friday night. There is a Saturday morning practice from 10 until 11:45, and then a trip to the Rose Bowl to watch the UCLA-California football game.

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diane.pucin@latimes.com