M. basketball: Team doesn’t waste time gearing up for Saturday

After improving their Pac-10 record to 5-0 with a Thursday night
victory over Arizona State, the Bruins are looking toward
Saturday’s matchup against Arizona to keep their conference
record clean.

“It’s back to business,” forward Dijon
Thompson said. “We have to focus on our next game.”

Arizona, currently No. 7 in the country, was defeated by USC
(8-6 overall, 3-2 Pac-10), 99-90, last night. Arizona is now 2-2 in
Pac-10 play.

Last year, then-No. 1 Arizona beat UCLA by 36 points in Tuscon
in mid-February. Less than a month earlier, the Wildcats beat UCLA
by 35 points in Pauley Pavilion, the worst home defeat in UCLA
school history.

“We’re going to come out fighting and clawing to get
a victory,” Thompson said.

Before Arizona’s loss to USC last night, the Wildcats fell
to Stanford, 82-72, on Jan. 10. Before their loss to the Cardinal,
however, the Wildcats won nine games in a row, with five players
shooting over 50 percent from the field.

Tip-off is at 3 p.m. Saturday, and the game will be broadcast on
ABC.

PRACTICE MAKES PERFECT: UCLA’S free throw
shooting showed consistent improvement Thursday night, with the
Bruins going 21-for-28 from the line.

“Practice is really paying off,” coach Ben Howland
said.

With 14 seconds left in the game, Thompson made UCLA’s
ninth free throw in a row to build a seven point lead, 65-58.
Trevor Ariza sank one of two soon after, and the Bruins finished
the contest with their final 12 points coming from the line.

NO THREE-POINT PLAY: Arizona State, which
averages six three-point shots per contest this season, only made
one shot out of 13 attempts beyond the arc on Thursday night.
Forward Wilfried Fameni made the sole three-pointer, with 31.8
seconds left in the game to whittle UCLA’s lead to 61-58.
Shooting guard Stevie Moore missed all seven of his three-point
attempts.

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