Of all the things the Bruins’ 2004 freshman class ““ Josh Shipp, Arron Afflalo and Lorenzo Mata ““ have accomplished during their three years at UCLA, one surprising thing has eluded them.
Defeating Cal at home.
The Bruin juniors will have their chance to end the streak tonight as the Bruins host injury-riddled seventh-place Cal (14-12, 6-8 Pac-10) at Pauley.
“Cal has beaten us two years in a row,” coach Ben Howland said. “They are not intimidated at all by coming into Pauley Pavilion.”
The Bears, who have split the season series with the Bruins the last eight years, are coming off two unexpected victories over then-No. 15 Oregon and Oregon State at home.
Before the two victories, however, the Bears had lost six consecutive games (including a loss to UCLA) and lost two of their big men, DeVon Hardin and Jordan Wilkes, to season-ending injuries.
That means a very revitalized and focused Bears teams will be trying to upset the No. 4 Bruins (23-3, 12-2).
“They had a bad stretch in the season, but they have a lot of pride,” Bruin guard Darren Collison said. “After our last game against them, you know they will come out against us.”
In the Bruins’ last matchup against the Bears, the Bruins were victorious 62-46. The Bears’ second-leading scorer, Ayinde Ubaka, who was sick during the game, was held scoreless, and Bears guard Patrick Christopher was held to two points.
Since that game, however, Ubaka has recovered from his illness, recording 27 points and 14 rebounds in the past two games. Christopher had a career-high 24 points and 11 rebounds in the Bears’ last game against Oregon State.
“Christopher is playing really well for them,” Howland said. “They took him out of the starting lineup, and that really lit a fire under him.”
For the Bruins, tonight’s game will be a question of whether they can continue to receive improved performances from two of their leaders, Shipp and Darren Collison.
Shipp, who had 24 points against Arizona on Saturday, had only 12 points against the Bears last time around. Collison only had four.
They know they need to play much better tonight.
“We need to match their intensity,” Collison said. “If Ubaka scores along with his teammates, it’s going to be a very different ball game.”
Arron Afflalo, who led the Bruins with 25 points against the Bears, is fully prepared for a hungry Ubaka.
“He’s a competitive player and I’m sure he’s more upset about the loss than his own personal performance,” Afflalo said.
HARDIN UPDATE: There is a possibility that Cal center Hardin, who was supposed to be lost for the season, will return to the Bears for the Pac-10 Tournament.
Last week, Hardin had the boot removed from his left foot. Coach Ben Braun anticipates Hardin returning to practice sometime soon.
“If he can come back, I’d welcome that,” Braun said. “But if it doesn’t happen, we’re prepared to continue on course and keep using our formula of preparation and hard work and great attitude.”