Loud and purple.
Those are the two adjectives sophomore guard Jordan Adams used to describe Washington’s Alaska Airlines Arena, the building where UCLA men’s basketball will kick off a two-game road trip on Thursday to close out the regular season. It’s also a venue where the Bruins will need to win for the second straight year to solidify their spot in the Pac-12 standings.
Thanks to Oregon’s 85-78 win over Arizona State on Tuesday night, UCLA and Arizona are the only two teams left in the Pac-12 with fewer than seven conference losses.
The progression is now laid out clearly for the Bruins: Win one game at Washington and clinch the No. 2 seed in the Pac-12 tournament. Win a second game at Washington State on Saturday and head into Las Vegas as one of the hottest teams in the conference.
But that first win could be more difficult than expected, as loud and purple has been to the detriment of other Pac-12 teams all season. The Huskies have gone 6-1 at home during conference play, their only loss coming at the hands of the Cal Golden Bears on Feb. 15. Since losing at Oregon four days later, Washington has been playing some of its best basketball of the season, earning 20-plus point wins over Oregon State and Washington State in its last two games.
“We’ve got a Washington team that’s streaking,” said coach Steve Alford. “They’ve won two in a row and in lopsided wins.”
Perhaps even more lopsided has been UCLA’s weekday-to-weekend transitions on the road this season. Three 1-1 efforts have highlighted a lack of everything from team focus, to sleep, to general preparedness for each road trip’s second game. Saturday night’s opponent, Washington State (9-19), is fighting to stay out of the Pac-12 cellar, but the Bruins insist they’ve regained their footing after three slip-ups.
“Yeah it does, and I think that just can only make us stronger,” said sophomore guard/forward Kyle Anderson when asked if UCLA’s lack of a road sweep this season bothers him. “It prepares us for this one. We know how focused we gotta be and just make the most of it.”
On Thursday, the Huskies will look to make the most out of the Bruins’ trouble guarding teams that can score and command attention multiple ways.
Guards C.J. Wilcox, Nigel Williams-Goss and Andrew Andrews have all averaged 12 points or more through 29 games, while 6-foot-9 forward Perris Blackwell has managed the post with success, scoring more than 10 points and grabbing nearly seven rebounds per game.
“Blackwell is somebody inside who commands a lot of attention just because of what he does in the low post,” Alford said Tuesday. “This team is very similar to Oregon State in that they have an inside-outside threat.”
UCLA is hoping its inside man – Seattle native and freshman guard Zach LaVine – will continue to be an outside presence. After a multigame dip in production, LaVine has reached double figures in two of his last three games and has recorded at least one 3-pointer in each of his last four.
More importantly, LaVine, who was once heavily recruited by Washington coach Lorenzo Romar before committing to UCLA, comes into Thursday’s game confident against fans he knows will give him a hard time – well, save for maybe a few.
“I’m going to get a lot of boos, but hopefully I get some applause from my family and friends there,” LaVine said, smiling. “But I’m not worried about getting people tickets. That’s my mom’s job to do that.”
A mom’s job may be to get tickets, but a UCLA player’s job will be to build some momentum as the regular season comes to a close.