What has seemed an impossible feat during the past five weeks
““ a Bruin two-game winning streak ““ is now only one win
away.
Yet accomplishing this feat still seems unlikely.
For UCLA (5-14, 2-8 Pac-10) to match its longest winning streak
of the season, it must overcome No. 1 Arizona (18-2, 10-1 Pac-10),
a squad that obliterated the Bruins just four weeks ago on the
road.
“If we were to lose, no one would be shocked,” said
forward Jason Kapono.
But the Bruins aren’t ready to throw in the towel yet.
Arizona has been struggling of late, needing overtime to defeat
Washington and toying with Washington State well into the second
half last weekend before pulling away with the win.
And UCLA has been playing marginally better basketball, with
center Ryan Hollins and point guard Cedric Bozeman both starting to
live up to the hype that accompanied them upon entering UCLA.
“We have guarded optimism,” said UCLA head coach
Steve Lavin. “We are on a one-game tear.”
Lavin was quick to point out one more difference between this
Arizona matchup and the last one: there is no longer a media
whirlwind concerning his possible resignation.
“Arizona was the low point in terms of
distractions,” Lavin said. “We didn’t have energy
or cohesiveness.”
One other major streak hangs in the balance in tonight’s
matchup.
UCLA has defeated the No. 1-ranked team in the country three
years in a row ““ at Stanford in 2000 and 2001 and home
against Kansas last year.
Everyone on this year’s team would love to extend that run
another year.
“They are a very talented team, but they are open to being
beat,” Kapono said. “They are vulnerable and they have
the bull’s-eye on their chest.”
The Bruins, however, seem to have a bullseye on their chest
whenever they set foot in McKale Center. They haven’t won
there in the past five years and have lost by double digits each
time.
“It is a difficult environment,” Lavin said.
“They are a tough matchup, because they can beat you on
transition, inside or on the perimeter.”
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Bruin legend Kareem Abdul-Jabbar has expressed interest in the
UCLA head coaching job if it is vacated after the season as
expected.
“UCLA is a dream job,” Abdul-Jabbar said Monday.
“Anybody who has aspirations to coach college basketball and
wants a challenge, that is the job they want. I haven’t
spoken to anybody at UCLA about the job, but if at the end of the
season things change and there is a position open there, I hope
they would consider me.”
Abdul-Jabbar, who led the Bruins to three NCAA championships
during the John Wooden era, would have to be considered a long shot
due to his lack of head coaching experience.