Keefe story

By Brian Dohn
Staff Writer
USC center Taj Gibson had his shot blocked by UCLA center Kevin Love, but the ball popped right back into his hands. So Gibson went up again, and this time Bruins power forward James Keefe swatted it away.
Keefe had no points, missed his three field goal attempts and did not record an assist, but in playing a career-high 23 minutes, he earned plenty of kudos from teammates, who understood his contribution went much further than a stat sheet.
When power forward Luc Richard Mbah a Moute sprained his left ankle in the first half of top-seeded UCLA’s 57-54 win against No. 4 seed USC on Friday at Staples Center in the semifinals of the Pacific-10 Tournament, the little-used Keefe was forced into a major role.
“James did a heckuva job coming into the game and giving us key minutes,’’ UCLA guard Darren Collison said. “He gave us a couple of key rebounds. He really forced their defense -- when they were in a triangle-and-2 -- to commit, and made some good passes. He was aggressive. If he was open, he was going to shoot it. He was a threat out there, and that’s basically what we need.’’
Keefe’s blocked shot of Gibson came at the beginning of UCLA’s game-turning 12-0 run to begin the second half. He had four rebounds, and also played solid defense while logging 19 minutes in the second half.
“It always helps when you come in and do something good,’’ Keefe said. “It gives you something to build on and really helped me.’’
The 23 minutes matched Keefe’s total in UCLA’s last seven games, but he said he was not fatigued.
“The intensity kind of negated it,’’ Keefe said. “When you’re playing a rivalry game, you kind of put that stuff in the back of your head. It’s mind over matter.’’
Mbah a Moute will not play in today’s championship game, which against the winner of Friday’s second semifinal between Washington State and Stanford, and Howland said Alfred Aboya is the likely starter.
However, Howland elected to use Keefe to start the second half against the Trojans because of his outside shooting ability. Keefe isn’t shy taking 3-pointers, having made 4 of 12 in his 19 appearances this season, and that was a factor against USC’s triangle-and-2 defense.
“James Keefe’s minutes in the second half were huge,’’ Howland said. “I decided to start him because how we were attacking the triangle(-and-2) better with him in there, as opposed to Alfred.’’