TUCSON -““ What’s the difference between Arizona and
this year’s hapless Bruin team?
When Wildcat head coach Lute Olson walks off the court and holds
up a single finger, he’s signaling his team’s national
ranking.
When UCLA’s Steve Lavin does it ““ like he did at the
end of last weekend’s Georgetown game ““ it’s to
signify the length of the Bruins’ second-longest winning
streak of the season.
When the McKale Center crowd pleads with Olson to clear the
bench, it’s because the home team already owns a safe
30-point lead.
When Bruin fans have yelled for the UCLA reserves at Pauley
Pavilion, it’s been because they had been the ones who looked
like they actually wanted to be on the court.
Both teams are loaded with McDonald’s All-Americans and
plenty of tradition, yet Arizona is the one that’s the
runaway Pac-10 favorite, the one who blew the other out by a
combined 71 points in two games.
“First off, Arizona has a Hall of Fame coach,” Lavin
said. “They also have great fans and play really smart
basketball. When you add it all together, that’s why
they’re the No. 1 team in the country.”
The Bruins played right along with Arizona, matching them as
best they could for most of the first half. But as the game neared
halftime, Arizona ripped off five straight points in what became
the beginning of a backbreaking 21-0 run.
From that point forward, UCLA looked just like it had in recent
narrow losses ““ inspired, unlike before, but simply
outplayed.
In his postgame press conference, Lavin grasped for positives,
just as he’s done all season. But when Olson followed Lavin
in front of the microphone, he looked upset ““ even a little
annoyed ““ at his top-ranked team.
He didn’t talk about his team’s 36-point pole-axing
of the Bruins, instead expressing his own disgusted disbelief at
how his team could shoot 22 percent in the first half on
possessions where they passed the ball one or no times.
“They are very well-coached,” senior Jason Kapono
said of Arizona. “Coach Olson preaches that if you’re
up by 20, you should win by 30.”
So while Arizona worries about locking up a No. 1 seed in the
NCAA Tournament and Luke Walton laments that the ‘Cats
didn’t play a complete game, Lavin and the rest of the Bruins
are preaching the necessity of pulling out of ninth place and
getting into the Pac-10 Tournament.
“The only thing now is making the Pac-10
Tournament,” junior Jon Crispin said. “We have to set
realistic goals, and as bad as it sounds, it’s
true.”