UCLA NOTEBOOK: LAVIN TO USE FRESHMEN.

Byline: Billy Witz Staff Writer

UCLA coach Steve Lavin said one of his objectives for today's game against No. 1-ranked Kansas is to get his three freshmen onto the court more often, particularly point guard Cedric Bozeman.

In the last two games, Bozeman has played a total of 20 minutes, wing Dijon Thompson 17 minutes and forward Andre Patterson only eight minutes.

In Thursday's loss to USC, neither Bozeman nor Patterson played in the second half and Thompson played two minutes.

``We have to get Cedric more minutes,'' Lavin said. ``I wish I had played him more (against USC). Cedric will play closer to starter's minutes. I was disappointed in not having played him more minutes.

``Andre, Cedric and Dijon will get more minutes. I'm going to give a spell to Jason (Kapono) and Billy (Knight) because I think they're more effective offensively if they get a blow occasionally.''

Going deeper into their bench is a necessity if the Bruins hope to keep pace with Kansas' running game, and the freshmen have clearly looked most comfortable in the open court.

Thompson said he's doing his best to adjust to the limited minutes. After playing 38 minutes in his only start, against UC Irvine, he's averaging 12.7 minutes since and often looks tentative.

``I know I have to be a little more solid when I'm in there,'' Thompson said. ``I don't focus on that, but I do think about it.''

--Familiar opponent: T.J. Cummings, after his one-rebound, two-point performance against USC, is happy to see Kansas. In the first game of his career, the sophomore scored 24 points and grabbed seven rebounds against the Jayhawks in a season-opening 99-98 loss to the Jayhawks last year at Madison Square Garden.

``They didn't really know about me,'' Cummings said. ``I was just a freshman coming out of Illinois. They didn't know what I was going to do. After that, everybody was ready for me.''

--What might have been: UCLA once had its eyes on two Kansas starters - junior forward Drew Gooden and freshman point guard Aaron Miles. Miles, from Portland, took a recruiting trip to UCLA in September 2000 but chose Kansas, which also offered a scholarship to his friend and high school teammate, Michael Lee.

UCLA, USC and Cal all pursued Gooden, who only visited Kansas.

``When I was a kid, ... it was a big-time thing to go to UCLA,'' said Gooden, who is from Richmond. ``They recruited me and I had them on my list, but things just didn't work out. Coach Lavin and I still have a pretty decent relationship. A lot of coaches just recruit you and kiss up to you to come to their school. But Coach Lavin, even though I didn't come to his school, still treats me with the same respect.''

--The waiting: The hardest part of redshirting for senior guard Ray Young are days like today.

``This is my type of game,'' said Young, who scored 10 points - including a pair of 3-pointers - and had three steals against Kansas last season. ``I'm a stallion. I like to get up and down the court. For somebody like me, you're mad you're missing it.''

--NBA eyes: Ten NBA scouts are expected to be in attendance today, including former UCLA coach Gene Bartow, who works for the Memphis Grizzlies.

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CEDRIC BOZEMAN

Freshman expected to get more playing time today.