Look who’s talking now.
Two weeks after Arizona sophomore forward Marcus Williams claimed, “We are the standard (of this conference),” the Bruins proved on Saturday that all their talking is done on the court.
In front of a season-high 12,249 fans at Pauley, the No. 3 Bruins handily defeated the No. 11 Wildcats 73-69 and showed everybody which team is the one to beat in the Pac-10.
“Let them talk in the papers and we will come out and prove it on the court,” UCLA sophomore guard Michael Roll said.
“Marcus, he’s entitled to say what he wants to say,” sophomore guard Darren Collison said. “It shows how tough the conference is.
“You might think you’re the best in the Pac-10, and a couple of games later, you’re down in the mix.”
Since Williams’ comment two weeks ago, the Wildcats (13-5, 4-4 Pac-10) have lost four of their last five games and have lost three consecutive conference games for the first time since 1984.
The Bruins (17-1, 6-1 Pac-10), meanwhile, have rebounded from their loss to Oregon two weeks ago, and are tied atop the Pac-10 standings with Washington State and Oregon.
Saturday’s victory, in fact, was their fourth consecutive win over the Wildcats.
“That’s a team that has been dominant for years,” Arron Afflalo said of the Wildcats. “I don’t care what transition they are in, it’s still a huge win.”
Against the Wildcats, Afflalo led the Bruins with 22 points on 9 of 14 shooting and scored eight of the Bruins’ first 12 points.
Most importantly, Afflalo was three for six from beyond the three-point line against the Wildcats’ 1-3-1 zone.
“It always important for our team when I am shooting the ball well,” Afflalo said. “It makes my game better and helps out all the other players on our team.”
The Bruins needed all the points they could get from Afflalo on Saturday, especially since they were facing a Wildcats team that came in averaging 84.9 points per game, and the Bruins were without the services of sophomore forward Luc Richard Mbah a Moute.
In the first half, the Bruins struggled without Mbah a Moute in the lineup, getting out-rebounded 20-14 and falling behind 25-17 at one point.
But once the Bruins went to a four-guard lineup, they went on a 13-0 run and finished the half by outscoring the Wildcats 18-4.
“I think that four-guard lineup was very crucial,” coach Ben Howland said. “Russell (Westbrook) and Darren (Collison) were able to play well together, and create some good looks for us.”
A key for the Bruins during that first-half run was the dribble penetration of Collison against the Wildcats’ zone.
Considered a weakness before Saturday’s game, Collison, who finished with 14 points and seven assists, was able to attack the Wildcats’ zone and create easy opportunities for his teammates.
“I thought this Darren’s best job of the season of penetrating against the zone,” Roll said. “He created some good outside looks for us.”
A beneficiary of Collison’s play was Roll, who finished with 10 second-half points. Roll hit two three-pointers that gave the Bruins a double-digit lead in the second half.
The last of Roll’s shots was a jumper with four minutes remaining that gave the Bruins a 62-54 lead.
At that point, it looked like the Bruins had clinched the victory.
But with less than two minutes to go, Collison and Afflalo missed two consecutive front ends of one-and-one free-throw opportunities, and the Wildcats went on a 9-0 run to cut the Bruins’ lead to 68-65 with 30 seconds left.
“At no point in time did we think this game was over,” Afflalo said. “It’s my duty to get out there and make some free throws, and I’m going to work on that.”
But luckily Roll, who finished with 13 points, and sophomore forward/center Alfred Aboya each stepped to the line and calmly hit the two free throws that finally sealed the game.
“I wasn’t nervous,” Roll said. “I had many similar opportunities in high school or AAU competition where it was the same situation. You just have to go up there and concentrate.”
The victory now assures the Bruins of maintaining their top-five ranking. More importantly, it also essentially nullifies Arizona’s chances of winning the Pac-10 title: The Wildcats now fall to 4-4, seventh place, in the Pac-10 standings.
“It feels really good to beat them,” Collison said. “Growing up, Arizona was always one of the top schools and it was the place I wanted to go, but beating them now makes it that much more special.”
ARIZONA WOES: Arizona only had nine points from its bench on Saturday, and in general only plays a five-man rotation.
This season, they have lost key contributors Kirk Walters, who is likely to redshirt the season because of mononucleosis, and J.P. Prince, once a highly ranked recruit who decided to transfer.
After scoring 69 points Saturday, the Wildcats are now 3-5 when they score under 80 points.
DRIBBLERS: Arizona alum Steve Kerr was in attendance at Pauley on Saturday. Despite the matchup of two top-15 teams, there were still dozens of seats that were unfilled by the students.