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.