By RICHARD CROOME
Eagle Staff Writer

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ANAHEIM, Calif. -- The UCLA Bruins and Texas A&M Aggies crossed paths during their practice sessions on Wednesday afternoon.

It was a good time for the Aggies' DeAndre Jordan and the Bruins Kevin Love to embrace.

It had been a while since the two freshmen had seen each other, but that didn't mean there hadn't been a whole lot of communication between the two, whose careers have been tied together through basketball for a number of years. Love and Jordan were the most highly-touted post players to come out of high school last season.

"I talked to him [Sunday] night, we were kinda trash talking," Jordan said. "We keep up with each other on the phone], try to keep each other motivated. We've been doing it all year."

UCLA coach Ben Howland made a point to mention after his team defeated the Aggies last season that he expected to see A&M continue to grow as a basketball school, especially with the signing of Jordan, who he considered the next-best big man after Love.

The two players got to know each other well between their sophomore and junior years at camps and tournaments. They've made a point to stay close ever since.

On Friday, when Love was walking down the hall to the UCLA press conference, he made a point to yell out to Jordan in the A&M locker room, while his teammates walked ahead.

"He's a great friend of mine," said Love. "We've played against each other a lot of times."

Jordan said many of their conversations pertain to talking about how many points and rebounds they might have had in a game and daring the other to top that.

"I'll call him and tell him, 'I did better than you this game,' so he tries to come out and compete with me, so we keep each other motivated," Jordan said. "It's kind of a little deal we came up with at the end of the high school season."

Jordan admitted that Love has made more of the phone calls this year when playing "Can you top this?"

The 6-foot-10, 271-pound Love, an Oregon native, averages a double-double with 17.2 points and 10.6 rebounds per game. He has led UCLA to a No.1 seed in the NCAA Tournament while being selected the Pac-10 Player of the Year.

Meanwhile, Jordan has had an up-and-down year. The 7-footer from Houston has been in and out of the starting lineup, averaging 8.2 points per game and a team-leading 6.2 rebounds.

The numbers don't fool Love, who is looking forward on Saturday to their first game against each other since the Round Ball Classic in Chicago during their senior year in high school.

"When he decides to go to the NBA, whenever that is, I think he's going to be a lock for a top-five pick," Love said. "He has the size, the athleticism and he is a great kid, so I wish the best for him.

"He changes every shot, and when he gets picked in the NBA Draft, he might be something like an Andrew Bynum [Los Angeles Lakers' young center]. People might pick him as a project, because he's got an upside. "

Jordan isn't letting on whether that NBA sojourn will come after this season or not. His only concern at the moment is helping the ninth-seeded Aggies advance in the NCAA Tournament.

On Saturday, that means beating Love's Bruins. If that happens, Jordan can save the minutes on his cell phone. A handshake or a hug will be enough.

• Richard Croome's e-mail address is richard.croome@theeagle.com.

MEN'S BASKETBALL

NO. 9 TEXAS A&M VS. NO. 1 UCLA

WHEN/WHERE: 8:15 p.m. Saturday at the Honda Center in Anaheim, Calif.

RECORDS: A&M (25-10), UCLA (32-3)

TV/RADIO: KBTX, Ch. 5/WTAW, 1620 AM

TEXAS A&M-UCLA LINEUPS

NO. 9 TEXAS A&M (25-10)

NO. NAME POS HT WT CLASS PPG RPG

22 Dominique Kirk G 6-4 185 Sr. 8.6 *3.5

12 Donald Sloan G 6-3 205 So. 9.4 4.1

23 Josh Carter F 6-7 200 Jr. 12.3 4.0

30 Joseph Jones F 6-9 255 Sr. 10.4 5.3

0 Bryan Davis F 6-9 250 So. 8.7 5.0

NO. 1 UCLA (32-3)

NO. NAME POS HT WT CLASS PPG RPG

2 Darren Collison G 6-1 165 Jr. 14.9 *3.9

0 Russell Westbrook G 6-3 187 So. 12.5 *4.4

3 Josh Shipp F 6-5 220 Jr. 12.8 3.2

13 James Keefe F 6-8 225 So. 2.1 2.4

42 Kevin Love C 6-10 260 Fr. 17.2 10.6

*assists per game

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