Scrawled on a sheet of paper hanging in Dijon Thompson’s
apartment is a lengthy list of personal goals the UCLA forward
compiled before the season began.
He has already accomplished most over the course of a sterling
senior season. A few will go unfulfilled. But Thompson hopes to be
able to safely check off perhaps the most meaningful item of all by
the end of the weekend.
A pair of UCLA victories at Pauley Pavilion tonight against
Oregon State and Saturday against Oregon would give the Bruins 18
wins and all but guarantee Thompson a trip to the NCAA Tournament
for the first time since he was a freshman.
“It’s hard not to think about it,” Thompson
said. “I can’t dwell on it too much because if it
doesn’t happen, I would get really bummed. But if we take
care of business, everything’s going to fall into place where
I would like it to be.”
It’s hard to blame Thompson for not wanting to jinx it,
especially after the way UCLA’s past two seasons have gone.
The Bruins, a Sweet-16 team Thompson’s freshman year, have
not sniffed the postseason since, slogging through two of the worst
years in the program’s storied history.
Redeeming himself by leading UCLA (16-9, 9-7 Pac-10) back to the
NCAA Tournament is the way Thompson would like to conclude his
collegiate career.
“It would mean everything to him,” freshman Arron
Afflalo said. “He’s had an outstanding year. He’s
done a lot with this team, and he should be proud of that. What
better way to finish it than to get into the tournament and do
something special?”
Winning tonight’s match-up with Oregon State (16-11, 8-8)
would go a long way toward giving Thompson that chance. The
fifth-place Beavers, who already boast one victory over the Bruins
in both teams’ conference opener, could tie UCLA for fourth
in the conference standings with a season sweep.
The Bruins, on the other hand, could clinch a winning conference
record and at least the fourth seed in next week’s Pac-10
Tournament if they are able to nab their third consecutive victory
tonight.
“All I’m thinking about is Oregon State and how they
got us up there in our first Pac-10 game,” UCLA’s
Jordan Farmar said. “We weren’t expecting that, and now
we owe them one.”
Having clinched their first winning season since 1990, the
Beavers, too, have postseason aspirations, but their chances of
snaring an NCAA Tournament bid for the first time in 15 years are
faint. Oregon State, 8-1 at home in conference play, is the only
Pac-10 team that is winless on the road.
Averaging 80 points in the friendly confines of Gill Coliseum in
Corvallis, Ore., the Beavers are only averaging 64 points away from
home.
In January, they lost at first-place Washington by 40 and at
California by 25. In February, they returned the favor against both
teams at home, winning by 17 and 19 respectively.
“Anybody’s better at home than they are on the road,
but they’ve had some great opportunities and just come up a
little bit short,” UCLA coach Ben Howland said. “I hope
we can hold them off one more time from getting a road win because
they’re a very good team and a team that can go a long way in
the postseason.”
Thompson, like Howland, is adamant about the importance of
winning tonight’s game, even if his mind does wander
occasionally toward another run deep into March.
“Win now, dance later,” he said. “If we handle
our business now, we’ll be there in the
postseason.”