In his previous game against Arizona State, Dijon Thompson
exploded for a career-high 39 points.
When Arizona and UCLA met in Tucson earlier in the season, the
senior forward played a magnificent first half en route to scoring
27 points.
But in the rematch at Pauley Pavilion, the long and athletic
Wildcats constantly harassed Thompson, double and even
triple-teaming him whenever he had the ball, limiting him to only
10 points on 4-of-13 shooting.
“Every time I put it on the floor or turned my back, they
sent a defender running at me, sometimes it was two, sometimes it
was three,” Thompson said. “They did a good job trying
to get the ball out of my hands or forcing a turnover.”
With Arizona already in the midst of its monster 19-0 run,
Thompson tried to halt the Wildcats’ momentum all on his own.
After his wide-open 3-point attempt bounced in and out and
Arizona’s Ivan Radenovic secured the rebound, Thompson dashed
in and stole the ball, but couldn’t convert the layup
underneath the basket, and then fumbled the rebound out of
bounds.
That possession epitomized the kind of game both he and the rest
of the Bruins were having: nothing, it seemed, would go their
way.
Early foul trouble may have stifled some of Thompson’s
aggressiveness, especially on the defensive end. But most of his
struggles could also be attributed to the Wildcats’ depth and
athleticism at the forward position.
The Wildcats rotated a number of players to take their turn
guarding him, and each did an excellent job covering the
Bruins’ top scoring threat.
The height of Radenovic, the strength of Hassan Adams, and the
quickness of Chris Rodgers all contributed to a night that Thompson
would just as soon forget. Even Channing Frye, the Wildcats’
7-foot center, helped to stymie Thompson.
“He’s a scorer, he’s going to get shots
off,” Frye said.
“I just tried to use my length and coaching, we work on
defensive sliding. I don’t try to do anything fancy. I just
try to play defense and think about his tendencies.”
Thompson now has to turn his attention to the Bay Area schools
for a chance at both personal and team redemption.
Both California and Stanford won at Pauley Pavilion earlier this
year, and he struggled in each contest, scoring only six points in
each game. But if nothing else, he feels Arizona will have taught
him how to better handle intense defense.
“I’m going to be alright,” Thompson said.
“I’m not really worried about how (California and
Stanford) are going to guard me.”
“I’ve seen a lot of defenses, and I’m going to
learn from this game right here. They can’t guard me any
tougher than Arizona did today.”