Senior forward Josh Shipp earned it Thursday night.
With his stellar defensive performance against Arizona star junior forward Chase Budinger in the Bruins’ 83-60 victory, Shipp proved to coach Ben Howland that he can thwart the best in the Pac-10. So now Shipp may receive an even more daunting assignment in UCLA’s next game: Arizona State’s sophomore guard James Harden.
Harden averages 23 points per game, and he’s scored 30 or more four times this season. He will lead the No. 15 Sun Devils (14-3, 3-2) when they play No. 7 UCLA (14-2, 4-0) Saturday at 12:45 p.m.
“Defense is fun for me, I’ve been in coach Howland’s system for five years now and I know what I’m doing,” Shipp said. “Buying into it makes the team better.”
Shipp added that he loves the challenge of facing a player as skilled as Harden.
Howland said he was especially impressed with Shipp’s defense. Shipp held Budinger to 14 points and the Wildcats had to rely on junior forward Jordan Hill.
Normally, UCLA freshman guard Jrue Holiday takes on the opponent’s most dangerous guard, but Howland said both Holiday and Shipp will match up with Harden Saturday, in a highly anticipated game at Pauley Pavilion.
Arizona State’s surprising loss Thursday at USC may quell some of the hype surrounding Saturday’s game, though. Harden scored just four points, and his team finished with only 49 points ““ its lowest total of the season.
A reporter asked UCLA senior point guard Darren Collison if the Sun Devils’ loss to USC removes any of the luster of Saturday’s game.
“No it doesn’t, it doesn’t at all,” Collison said. “Those guys are going to be looking to bounce back. Who knows? They might have overlooked USC, you never know. Everybody’s trying to beat UCLA at their own place. They’re not going to lie down for nothing. I’m pretty sure they’re going to be up for the game, and I can only imagine what their coach is trying to tell them.”
UCLA easily beat Arizona State in both matchups last season. But while the Bruins lost key rebounders from their team ““ Kevin Love and Luc Richard Mbah a Moute ““ the Sun Devils still feature senior forward Jeff Pendergraph and Harden.
And even with its loss Thursday, Arizona State still sits in fourth place in the conference, within striking distance of the top tier ““ first-place Cal, second-place UCLA and third-place Washington.
But the Sun Devils will probably need a win Saturday at Pauley Pavilion to stay in the top half of the conference standings.
“We’re going to get their very, very best,” Shipp said.
The Bruins may benefit from their extensive preparation this week, when they worked exclusively on beating a zone defense. Howland said his team did an excellent job attacking Arizona’s matchup zone Thursday ““ five players finished with more than 10 points ““ but he added that Arizona State runs a slightly different scheme.
“Arizona State has a great zone,” Howland said. “And you know they’re going to be ready coming off a loss.”
Howland said he hadn’t planned for Arizona State yet. His team will conduct a walk-through today to prepare for the Sun Devils.
There are plenty of intriguing story lines surrouding the game. Collison and Harden are considered the front-runners for the Pac-10 player of the year award. Collison and Pendergraph both attended Etiwanda High School. Josh Shipp’s brother, Jerren, plays at Arizona State. The game will mark the first meeting this season of two ranked Pac-10 teams, and CBS will broadcast it nationally.
TOP RECRUITS ATTEND: Renardo Sidney sat four rows from the court as UCLA raced past Arizona Thursday. Sidney, a 6-foot-10-inch forward from Fairfax High in Los Angeles, is considered one of the top high school seniors in the nation. Sidney has not yet commited to a college, and he is reportedly considering UCLA.
High school seniors Tyler Honeycutt (Sylmar High) and Anthony Stover (Windward School) sat near Sidney. Honeycutt and Stover have both commited to play for the Bruins next year.
High school junior point guard Tyler Lamb, another UCLA commit, also attended.