UCLA basketball bests ASU with aggressive shooting, defense

The buck didn’t just stop with Arizona State’s visit, it came to a screeching halt. After dropping a 79-75 decision to No. 1 Arizona on Thursday that was full of white-knuckled intensity and emotion, UCLA men’s basketball fought off some early flatness and surged to a 17-point halftime lead before coasting to an 87-72 victory. Playing their […]

UCLA men’s basketball leads Arizona State 50-33 at the half

Heading into Sunday’s matchup with Arizona State, UCLA coach Steve Alford talked about the need for his team to come out sharp and prevent a hangover from an emotional four-point loss to No. 1 Arizona on Thursday. After a quick 12-6 run for the Sun Devils to open the game and seven points from senior guard […]

UCLA not consoled by effort against No. 1 Arizona

Steve Alford knew what he was up against. The UCLA men’s basketball coach spoke Tuesday about the strength of Arizona’s defense in anticipation of the tough opposition the team would face Thursday. The Wildcats lived up to their billing. Arizona (16-0, 3-0 Pac-12) played smothering defense against UCLA’s offense, the second-highest scoring unit in the […]

Bruins basketball narrowly defeated by Wildcats, 79-75

Another big-time opponent, another tally in the loss column for UCLA basketball. In a 79-75 loss, the Bruins’ first at home this season, the sequence momentarily appeared to be a rerun of UCLA’s previous defeats this season: face some adversity, turn the ball over and stand idly by as the game is pushed out of […]

UCLA trails Arizona 42-38 at the half

It took a few minutes for patches of empty Pauley Pavilion seats to be filled in for Thursday night’s game against No. 1 Arizona. The culprit? Horrible traffic clogging the streets of Westwood and entrances to campus parking structures. UCLA held its own against a long Arizona defense for 20 minutes of play, drawing on what is […]

Nguyening: Uninspiring season setup makes for an empty Den

If UCLA plays in Pauley Pavilion and no one’s there to see it, does the arena make a sound? This brain teaser is a little easier to solve than the one about the tree falling in the forest. In this case, the answer: hardly. With about half of the seats in Pauley Pavilion empty on […]

Athletic trainer finds lifelong friend and ‘Coach’ at UCLA

Tony Spino stands atop the two-flight staircase overlooking the lobby of the John Wooden Center. A few hundred feet and several racquetball courts behind him lies his new temporary office in the UCLA Competitive Sports Clubhouse. Plastered on the yellow wall adjacent to the landing is something altogether more permanent. What Spino sees as he […]