UCLA BASKETBALL NOTEBOOK : TECHNICALLY, LAVIN WASN'T UPSET.

Two technical fouls in the first half of the first exhibition game would seem unsettling. But UCLA coach Steve Lavin focused on sophomore center Jelani McCoy's reaction instead of his action.

``Ideally, we don't want him to pick up a technical,'' Lavin said after UCLA's 114-79 victory Tuesday night over Athletes in Action. ``But he wasn't out of control. He wasn't demonstrative.

``I was encouraged by the way he handled the fact that he didn't play in the second half, the way he talked to the team before going to the locker room. If that had happened a year ago or his senior year of high school, he'd have been too animated to talk to.''

McCoy was assessed one technical for hanging on the rim and one for taunting. With six minutes left in the first half, thinking he had been ejected, he headed to the locker room.

``It was no big deal,'' he said. ``Last year I would have blown the roof off the place, torn my jersey off, ranted and raved.''

But hanging on the rim is an administrative technical, not a flagrant technical - and it takes two flagrants for ejection. McCoy was free to return, but since he had warmed down and changed clothes, Lavin kept him on the bench.

In the second half, junior wing man Kris Johnson was assessed a technical for unsportsmanlike conduct and junior forward J.R. Henderson seemed frustrated with the officials.

But both kept their composure.

``Jelani, Kris and J.R. did a tremendous job of not allowing the officials to take them out of their games, letting a missed shot take them out of their games,'' Lavin said. ``We keep talking about playing through (difficulties) and trying to develop maturity. That's the point of emphasis: no pouting.''

Scary moment: With four minutes left in the first half, point guard Cameron Dollar fell to the court, rolled in agony and clutched his left knee. Although he returned for the second half, the incident temporarily silenced the 5,499 at Pauley Pavilion.

``I was thinking, `We've had enough losses for one week,' '' Lavin said. ``The last thing I wanted was to lose my quarterback. He's an extension of me on the court.''

Dollar finished with 12 points, eight assists and five steals.

Recruiting update: The Bruins received no official commitments on the first day of the early-signing period and don't expect any this week.

One of their top recruits, 6-foot-9 Kaspars Kambala of Mequon (Wis.) Homestead High School, said Wednesday he will either sign next week with UCLA or Florida State, or he'll wait until the April period and see who's coaching the Bruins.

Next up: UCLA plays the German National team tonight at Pauley in the second and final exhibition game. Tipoff is 7:30. Plenty of tickets remain.

The Bruins women play a Slovakian team at 5 p.m.