LOS ANGELES (AP) -UCLA’s Luc Richard Mbah a Moute was set to undergo an MRI on his sprained left ankle and Josh Shipp was recovering from strep throat Monday, putting two of the Bruins’ starters at less than full strength.
Top-seeded UCLA (33-3) plays Western Kentucky (29-6) Thursday night in the NCAA tournament regional semifinals in Phoenix.
Coach Ben Howland said the MRI on Mbah a Moute was being done as a precaution.
“His ankle was swollen pretty severely yesterday,” he said. “I was surprised and a little bit down by it. We don’t anticipate there being any issue.”
M after missing two games. He had two points, eight rebounds, six turnovers and four fouls in 32 minutes of the Bruins’ 51-49 second-round victory.
“It hurt his timing that he hadn’t practiced,” Howland said. “His rebounding, defense and double-teams created a lot of havoc that helped us. I don’t think we can advance much further without him.”
Howland said the junior forward would play Thursday “barring any unforeseen abnormality on the MRI.”
M’s final shot to preserve the victory.
The Bruins didn’t practice Monday, but Shipp spent more than an hour working on his shooting, Howland said. The junior forward who averages 12.8 points has been in a prolonged slump, including an 0-for-20 stretch from 3-point range earlier this month.
Howland said Shipp took about 325 shots, most under game-type conditions, and made 91 of 100 free-throw attempts.
“He shot it very well,” Howland said. “We’ll do some extra shooting tomorrow. I probably have waited too long to do that.”
M. Westbrook had five points, four rebounds and went 0-for-3 from long-range in 39 minutes. His game-ending dunk was disallowed a day later by the NCAA because the ball didn’t leave his hands before time expired.
Darren Collison and Kevin Love scored 40 of UCLA’s 51 points against the Aggies.
“That’s an aberration,” Howland said. “We want to get more production out of our other three starters.”
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