Freshmen Tyler Lamb, Anthony Stover get food poisoning

The things college kids eat don’t just make dieticians shudder.

UCLA Coach Ben Howland was mildly distressed Sunday after freshmen Tyler Lamb and Anthony Stover contracted food poisoning from some late-night chili chicken cheese fries.

“I won’t name the establishment,” Howland said of the Westwood eatery during a teleconference, “but we’d like to cut that establishment out during the season.”

The players consumed the fries after the Bruins’ 72-61 victory over Cal Poly San Luis Obispo on Saturday night, a celebratory treat the duo soon regretted. Howland said Lamb vomited in his dorm hallway and again during practice Sunday.

Lamb and Stover were not able to participate as the Bruins watched video and completed a walk-through in advance of their game against UC Davis on Monday at Pauley Pavilion. Howland said he hoped the food poisoning was “a one-day deal” that would allow the freshmen to recover in time to play against the Aggies.

Assuming Lamb and Stover are available, Howland said he needed to play them more than he did against Cal Poly. Lamb played six minutes after being what Howland described as out of sorts offensively; Stover played a season-low two minutes, mostly because UCLA freshman center Joshua Smith was so dominant against the undersized Mustangs.

Swat force

Overshadowed by Smith’s double-double against Cal Poly was the all-around strong play of Brendan Lane. The sophomore forward scored all of his seven points in the first half to help UCLA overcome an early deficit and then picked up all four of his blocked shots in the second half to help the Bruins hold on for the victory.

Lane made his contributions as a reserve for the first time in three games, a role he doesn’t seem to mind.

“Coming off the bench,” Lane said Saturday night, “all you have to focus on is just coming in and bringing some energy.”

Howland said he was pleased with Lane’s ability to seal off his defender and create a passing lane. Lane also made a nice catch of a jump pass from Tyler Honeycutt, collecting the ball with one hand and deftly putting it in the basket.

It was an impressive display for a player still rounding into form after missing five months in the off-season because of surgery on his left ankle.

“He’s got a lot of room to improve,” Howland said, “and I think he will continue to improve.”

Running in place?

UCLA hasn’t looked much like a running team recently, scoring two fast-break points against Montana and eight against Cal Poly.

Bruins guard Jerime Anderson said it was harder to push the pace against a zone defense, particularly when Cal Poly appeared to cede offensive rebounds to get defenders back to thwart UCLA’s transition game.

Howland said his team’s inexperience was also a factor.

“You can see how young we are in everything we’re doing, and there’s no way to speed up the maturation process,” Howland said. “It’s time and learning.”

ben.bolch@latimes.com