UCLA off to the races in Louisville
No. 1 men’s basketball travels to Kentucky for inter-sectional
matchup
By Scott Yamaguchi
Daily Bruin Senior Staff
The top-ranked UCLA men’s basketball team will hit the road
today for its final road game of the regular season  an
inter-sectional matchup against Louisville at 12:45 p.m. Sunday in
Louisville’s Freedom Hall.
The Bruins (22-2 overall, 14-2 in the Pacific-10), who clinched
a share of the Pac-10 title Wednesday with an 85-66 victory over
USC, are looking to remain atop the media polls despite a week of
unwanted diversion  most of it from the fans and the
media.
"There has been unbelievable distractions this week," UCLA head
coach Jim Harrick said after Wednesday’s game. "That’s something
that we have to address as a team. We’re in a different arena now,
and it’s kind of new to the guys.
"Everybody wants their autograph, everybody wants to take their
picture with them, and the media after practice yesterday was more
than we’ve had all year long, combined. You lose your focus."
Sunday’s game will be televised by ABC, giving both teams an
opportunity to shine in the spotlight, which is something that
Louisville has done little of this season.
With a roster consisting of nine freshmen and sophomores, four
juniors and no seniors, the Cardinals (15-12 overall, 6-5 in the
Metro) have struggled to a third-place standing in the Metro
Conference. Louisville beat Virginia Commonwealth Thursday, but
that victory snapped a four-game skid which included losses at
DePaul, at No. 8 Massachusetts, at Southern Mississippi and against
Temple.
Interestingly, Louisville was missing center Samaki Walker in
all four of those defeats. Walker, who was sidelined with a stress
fracture in his right foot, should be available against UCLA. The
6-foot-9-inch freshman averages 14.7 points and 7.2 rebounds per
game and has tallied 70 blocked shots.
Six-foot sophomore guard DeJuan Wheat leads the Cardinals in
scoring with 16.3 points per game.
UCLA, which has run off 10 consecutive wins, enters the game
heavily favored to win, but Cardinal head coach Denny Crum’s squads
are always an upset-threat.
Crum, a former assistant under John Wooden and one of only three
active collegiate coaches in the Basketball Hall of Fame, led
Louisville to an 88-86 shocker over intra-state rival and then-No.
5 Kentucky Jan. 1.
Against Kentucky, Walker blocked a school and Metro Conference
record 11 shots, part of a triple-double that also included 14
points and 10 rebounds.
UCLA defeated a then-No. 3 Kentucky, 82-81, Dec. 5 in the Wooden
Classic at the Pond of Anaheim. The Bruins and the Cardinals have
one other opponent in common  Notre Dame  and both
teams beat the Irish.