Coach: Fey Won’t Start

With UCLA Coach Ben Howland disappointed by the recent performance of Michael Fey, Ryan Hollins will start at center for the first time this season when the Bruins play No. 2 Stanford on Thursday at Maples Pavilion.

Fey’s statistics have dwindled since his 20-point, eight-rebound debut against Vermont to only three points and three rebounds in Saturday’s blowout loss to Arizona.

“The biggest thing we need him to do is play more aggressively,” Howland said.

Instead of sending Fey, who is 7 feet and 257 pounds, against Stanford’s 265-pound Rob Little, Howland will start Hollins, a slender but more athletic 7-footer.

Against Arizona, Hollins had seven points and six rebounds as well as three blocked shots. Howland is particularly focused on rebounding against Stanford, the Pacific 10 Conference’s top rebounding team.

“Ryan’s only getting 4 1/2 rebounds a game, but he’s doing a good job of playing hard, playing with passion, and trying to get the most out of his 215-pound frame,” Howland said.

“[Fey] is beefy and had zero rebounds three Pac-10 games in a row [against Washington, Washington State and Arizona State.]”

The two centers already were sharing minutes, with Hollins actually averaging four minutes more than Fey in conference games. (Hollins also started three games at forward early in the season when T.J. Cummings was academically ineligible.)

For Hollins, UCLA’s starting center at the end of last season, it’s a return to a position he once thought of as his own before Howland chose Fey to start.

“That was really hard,” Hollins said. “But you’ve got to think about the team. It’s not really up to me. I’m not going to pout or hold it against anybody.

“It’s tough when you know you’ve got to share minutes.... You know if you don’t go in with the right mind-frame, you’re not going to be playing. So every time we go in, we’re that much more focused.”

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Guard Brian Morrison, out since late December because of a hamstring injury, spent about 30 minutes shooting Tuesday but is not expected to play against Stanford or California, though he will make the trip.

“It’s pretty certain he’s not going to play either game,” Howland said, adding that Morrison needs to participate in full practices to be ready to play after sitting out more than four weeks.

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The Bruins’ 97-72 loss to Arizona looked no better on further review.

“Very painful,” point guard Cedric Bozeman said. “It’s more painful to watch it the second time than it is during the game. You go back and find the mistakes. We have to do a better job of blocking out, grabbing loose balls and defend better in transition.”

Howland has hit the rewind button enough.

“I’ve watched it four times now on film. It doesn’t get better.”