TUCSON, Ariz. ““ A year ago, UCLA’s Arron Afflalo
stood at the center of the McKale Center at a loss for words,
silently stewing that Arizona’s Salim Stoudamire, his
defensive assignment, had just buried a game-winner over the
sophomore to defeat the Bruins.
On Thursday night, Afflalo once again found himself near
midcourt in the final seconds, this time sporting an ear-to-ear
smile that not even the memory of last season could erase.
This time it was Afflalo, and not a Wildcat, that came up with
the big plays late in the game to lift UCLA to an 85-79 conference
victory over Arizona on Thursday night. The Bruin sophomore scored
6 of his team-high 20 points in the final six minutes of play, the
dagger coming on a contorting drive to the hoop when Afflalo, while
falling out of bounds, threw up a high-arching shot off the top of
the backboard that fell straight through the net to give UCLA a
7-point lead.
“Afflalo was big again tonight,” UCLA coach Ben
Howland said. “That was a huge shot and a huge
play.”
“I take that shot a lot in practice, but it’s
something I never insist on doing in a game,” Afflalo said.
“But I felt comfortable taking it. I am not saying I’d
make it 10 times out of 10.”
Yet even after making that acrobatic shot, Afflalo still almost
coughed the game away in the final minute, causing some
not-so-pleasant memories of last season’s breakdown to enter
his mind.
With the Bruins clinging to a five-point lead with 40 seconds
remaining, an Afflalo backcourt pass was stolen by Arizona’s
Chris Rodgers, who converted a lay-up and was fouled to bring
Arizona to within two points with 35.2 seconds left. To the relief
of Afflalo, four free throws by UCLA’s Jordan Farmar ensured
that was the closest the Wildcats would come.
“I was kind of over last year a little bit, but (at the
end) I saw a few flashbacks coming back when the game got
close,” Afflalo said. “It started to feel familiar. But
no I didn’t (check to see if Stoudamire was on the bench).
I’m glad he’s in the NBA.”
Afflalo’s postgame smile not only erased the bitter memory
of last year’s dramatic finish, it also provided a new twist
to UCLA’s recent history at McKale Center.
In two of their last three games, the Bruins have ended two
dubious streaks that dated back to 1997, beating Arizona (9-4, 2-1
Pac-10) in Tucson on Thursday after manhandling Stanford at Pauley
Pavilion last Thursday.
And against the Wildcats, UCLA (12-2, 2-1) claimed victory with
a resilient second half, something the Bruins were desperately
missing in their two losses to Arizona last season.
Each and every time the Wildcats mounted a rally on Thursday,
UCLA responded, quickly and efficiently. After Arizona’s
Hassan Adams hit a jumper to cut the lead to three in the beginning
of the second half, UCLA’s Darren Collison found Ryan Wright
and Afflalo underneath the basket for easy lay-ups to boost the
lead back to nine.
After Arizona’s Marcus Williams hit a 3-pointer to cap a
6-0 Wildcat run, Bruins Josh Shipp and Mike Roll hit back-to-back
baskets to stem the tide.
And even when UCLA missed, a rarity on a night in which the
Bruins shot a season-high 61 percent, Arizona stepped on its own
toes, at no point more embarrassingly than when Mustafa Shakur
tipped in an Afflalo miss to give the Bruins their easiest two
points of the night.
On an evening in which the Bruins only played underclassmen and
Farmar reaggravated his sprained right ankle (day-to-day), UCLA
still found a way to stare in the face of a deafening and raucous
crowd and Arizona’s 47-4 home record over the last three-plus
seasons and remain unfazed.
“This is a great win because of fighting through
adversity,” Howland said. “They played for one
another.”
They may have to again on Saturday.
Farmar’s status for UCLA’s bout with Arizona State
(6-6, 0-3) is questionable, with the sophomore saying he might opt
to rest his tender and swollen right ankle.
But not even the biting pain slowed Farmar from seeking out
Afflalo after the game and sharing a smile that silenced rowdy
Wildcat fans while also signifying that UCLA isn’t adhering
to the same old song this season.