PAIN KEEPS ON COMING UCLA LEARNS MATA OUT 6-8 WEEKS WITH RIGHT LEG FRACTURE.

Byline: Jill Painter Staff Writer

Beware if you're wearing sneakers, have any college athletic eligibility left and attend UCLA's game against Washington today. Bruins coach Ben Howland might just pluck you from the crowd and ask you to grab a few rebounds.

Of course it sounds laughable, but who knows what Howland will resort to after another injury and more unfathomable news on Friday. UCLA center Lorenzo Mata is out for six to eight weeks with a fractured right tibia. He injured the leg in a collision under the basket with teammate Jordan Farmar in UCLA's win over Washington State on Thursday.

Ten of UCLA's 13 players have suffered injuries this season, but the 11th-ranked Bruins (14-2, 4-1) have marched on and are in first place in the Pacific-10 Conference. This injury, however, will surely take a toll.

Centers Michael Fey and Ryan Hollins are still out, although Hollins (groin pull) could return today for as many as 15 minutes. Even when Fey and Hollins played, they didn't seem to provide UCLA with a consistent presence in the middle.

Mata had emerged the past three games, but now that he's out, the Bruins will rely on freshman Ryan Wright.

``He's been playing best basketball of his career over the course of the last few games,'' Howland said of Mata. ``He was getting better and improving. It's a tough break for the team.''

It wasn't the only one. This is Mata's second injury in a week. He fractured his nose last Saturday against Arizona State and played Thursday with a facemask.

Josh Shipp was ruled out for the rest of the season Tuesday because of pain resulting from September hip surgery. Cedric Bozeman (torn cartilage in left shoulder) has been out for 17 days and won't play today, either. There's been no update as to when he'll return.

``I've never heard of anybody having this many injuries,'' Howland said. ``If you go through the chronicles of all the (UCLA) injuries sustained before practice until now, it's a litany of injuries. It's an unbelievable amount of injuries. The players have done a great job continuing to deal with the adversity.''

Jill Painter, [phone]

jill.painter(at)dailynews.com

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