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  PATIL ARMENIAN/Daily Bruin Senior Staff Matt Barnes is blocked by Shawn Daniels as T.J. Cumming looks on. Barnes and Jason Kapono didn’t start on Saturday, but that didn’t stop the Bruins from defeating Utah State by 25 points.

By Chris Umpierre

Daily Bruin Staff

GREENSBORO, N.C. - UCLA Head Coach Steve Lavin doesn't care if his team is playing an exhibition game or if they're in the Final Four. If a player breaks a team rule he will be penalized.

Lavin proved that point once again at the beginning of the No. 4 seeded Bruins' NCAA tournament's second round win over No. 12 seeded Utah State.

With his team's season on the line, the fifth-year coach decided to bench starters Matt Barnes and Jason Kapono after the players didn't attend part of the team's study hall Friday afternoon.

The players attended the first 45 minutes of the two-hour study session but then left unexcused to go to their rooms to make phone calls.

Numerous coaches around the nation in the Bruin coaches position wouldn't have sat out the duo, arguably two of the best players on the team. But Lavin, a stickler for academics, stuck to his guns.

"One of things I promised parents when I recruit student-athletes to UCLA is they are going to be held accountable academically," Lavin said. "The No. 1 priority as a basketball coach at UCLA is to ensure these kids are making progress toward their degrees.

"We're only a week away from finals," he added. "We can't afford to be missing any more study time that we are already missing because we're in the tournament."

While UCLA players are required to go to study hall on the road, they are often excused if they inform academic counselor Mike Casillas ahead of time that they will be late or need to miss a portion of it. Both Barnes and Kapono went to their rooms without notifying their counselor.

"We left and we didn't tell the counselor so it just looked like we ditched," Kapono said.

Guard Ryan Bailey and forward TJ Cummings started in the duo's place. Barnes, who averages 12 points a game, and Kapono, who averages 17 points a game, made their first appearance at the 15:07 mark with UCLA down 9-8.

When they entered the contest, they seemed focused on fixing their mistake. Just 30 seconds after checking into the game, Barnes threw an 80-foot inbounds pass to Bailey who promptly swung the ball to an open Kapono.

The sophomore sharpshooter buried the three-pointer to put UCLA ahead, a lead they would not relinquish. The points were the beginning of a 15-0 Bruin run.

Barnes finished with nine points and five boards in 27 minutes. Kapono finished with a game-high 19 points, including five three-pointers, in 32 minutes.

After the game, an apologetic Kapono expressed his disappointment for putting an extra stress on the team at a time they were battling for a spot in the Sweet Sixteen.

"It was such a big game and to throw things off like I did, I feel really bad about it," he said. "I was just being a dumb college student. It doesn't make any sense."

This is not the first time Lavin has disciplined players for breaking team rules. Before the season, he suspended senior guard Rico Hines for two games after Hines hit Barnes over the head with a stool in a preseason pickup game.

In December, Lavin decided to sit Cummings - who had been told he would start - after the freshman was late for a shootaround.

Despite the impression of Lavin as a strict disciplinarian, shooting guard Ray Young said his coach is really easy to get along with.

"Coach is no sergeant general or anything like that," he said. "He lays out rules and if you break them there are repercussions and consequences.

"He's pretty easy going as long as you communicate with him," Young added. "If he feels the situation is OK for you to leave (study hall) or do something else, it's OK."

Lavin said one of the best ways to encourage players is to take away their playing time.

"Coach (John) Wooden used to always say, the greatest motivation is the bench," he said. "I hope these kids learn from it."

Barnes has had some struggles juggling academics and basketball during his UCLA career. Last season, he missed five games after he was deemed academically ineligible for the fall 1999 quarter.

But hearing Barnes talk after the Utah State game, you get the feeling he's finally grasped the importantance of academics.

"School is the No. 1 thing," he said. "Everybody loves basketball but you have to put stuff in perspective. You got to take care of school and then you can think clearly about basketball."