UCLA knows how deep of a hole it is in.
The Bruins (13-10, 4-6 Pac-12) find themselves near the bottom of the conference as they visit the No. 17 Arizona Wildcats (19-5, 7-4) on Friday. They know that to sneak into the NCAA Tournament like last year, they’re going to have to string some wins together.
“We put ourselves in this position,” said freshman guard Aaron Holiday. “Now we have to get ourselves out of it.”
To do so, UCLA will have to replicate the late-season hot streaks it has enjoyed the past two years. A year ago, the Bruins closed out the regular season with a 6-4 record in February and March. Two years ago, it was with a 6-3 run.
“I feel like through my two and a half years here, we always play our best basketball in February and March,” said junior guard Bryce Alford. “That’s what we do here, we play our best basketball when it counts, and we got to start doing that real quick.”
February got off to a rough start this year after falling to USC 80-61 – so this year’s late-season tally currently stands at 0-1.
It doesn’t get easier Friday, but UCLA can look back to just a month ago when it upset then-No. 7 Arizona at Pauley Pavilion.
“It gives you confidence that you know you can beat them,” Alford said. “But it’s hard to beat a team twice, and we know that.”
The Bruins are just 2-4 on the road this season and will be venturing into a notoriously raucous McKale Center in Tucson, Arizona. In fact, the older guys on the team have already warned the freshmen about what to expect.
“They just said it was very loud and crazy,” Holiday said. “But I like that type of environment, so it’ll be fun for me.”
Having fun could be critical as UCLA tries to salvage the season down the stretch. Coach Steve Alford said that the focal point the coaching staff have been stressing is just to stay positive. Sophomore center Thomas Welsh said the team needed to enjoy games in order to win them.
“In the games that we do well, we were just having fun, playing hard,” Welsh said. “When you’re out there focusing on having fun and enjoying the game, that’s when you’re playing looser and good things happen to you.”
The last time the Bruins won two consecutive games was a little over a month ago, when UCLA took down Arizona and Arizona State in Pauley Pavilion.
A repeat of that might just be enough to get the Bruins out of their hole and back on track to make yet another late season push.