KEITH ENRIQUEZ/Daily Bruin Senior Staff UCLA co-captain
Earl Watson gets some momentum under the net in a
game last week against Washington State.
By Chris Umpierre
Daily Bruin Staff
It was the destruction in the Desert.
Last year, the Arizona schools absolutely embarrassed the UCLA
men’s basketball team in Tempe and Tucson. First, Arizona
State blitzed the Bruins 104-75 on Feb. 17. Two days later, Arizona
crushed the Bruins 99-84.
The Pac-10-leading Bruins (9-4, 3-0 Pac-10) haven’t
forgotten those two losses and are itching to get back into the
ring with the Arizona schools. They will get their chance this
weekend as UCLA will play Arizona State (8-7, 0-4) tonight in Wells
Fargo Arena and No. 17 Arizona (10-5, 3-1) Saturday in the McHale
Center.
“You remember the close losses and you remember the
blowouts,” Bruin senior guard Jason Flowers said. “Last
year’s trip to Arizona was humiliating, to be blunt about it.
But when you get beat up, you bust your butt so the next time the
fight comes around, you’re ready to throw punches.
“And I think we’re ready to throw punches this
time.”
“We remember what happened last year in the desert,”
Bruin junior guard Ray Young added. “We will have a certain
edge going into those two games.”
UCLA is entering this season’s Arizona trip on a high
note. They have won seven of their last eight games, including the
last five.
More importantly, the Bruins have found their identity.
MEN’S BASKETBALL Today 5:30 p.m. Tempe, AZ Fox
Sports Net Radio 1150 AM vs. Using a nine-man rotation, the
Bruins’ full court press has worn down recent opponents.
During the five-game winning streak, UCLA has forced 106 turnovers
(21 per game).
Last week, then-No. 18 USC had 28 miscues and Villanova threw
the ball away 26 times.
In addition to making the opponent look silly, the press has
allowed UCLA to dictate the pace of the game. The Bruins prefer to
play an up-and-down, fast-breaking game instead of a slow
half-court game.
“One of the byproducts of the press is it’s gotten
our players more aggressive,” UCLA head coach Steve Lavin
said. “They are now on their toes and we are attacking more,
as opposed to early in the year where we were more on our heels.
The opponent was able to dictate the pace of the game.
“Now, we are creating the tempo that we want to play at
through our pressure defense.”
The anchor of the Bruin defense, center Dan Gadzuric, who played
just nine minutes against Villanova because of back spasms, was
held out of full-contact drills in Tuesday’s practice.
According to the UCLA medical staff, the 6-foot-11 center should be
in the lineup tonight.
With the high profile game against No. 17 Arizona on Saturday,
one might expect the Bruins to overlook Arizona State. The Sun
Devils haven’t exactly impressed in league, as they are an
atrocious 0-4 in the
Pac-10.
But because of what happened last year in the desert, Lavin is
sure this Bruin team won’t look past the Sun Devils.
“Probably the low point in the season was coming back from
Arizona when we were 4-8 in conference,” Lavin said.
“So I don’t think they will overlook Arizona State. Our
players understand how much respect we have for coach (Rob) Evans
and his staff.
“They kind of hit a tough spot but if you watch film on
them, they are as defensively sound as any team in the conference.
They run a good motion offense. They’re really a dangerous
basketball team that right now is 0-4.”
In last year’s thrashing of the Bruins, the Sun Devils
were led by Eddie House. House, who graduated in June, set the
Wells Fargo Arena ablaze as he dropped 40 points on the Bruins.
Without House, the team has relied on 6-foot-6 forward Awvee
Storey, who plays a lot bigger than his size.
It is imperative for UCLA to keep Arizona State’s Windex
man off the glass. Storey is averaging 14.6 rebounds in his last
three games. He’s coming off a 13 point, 16 rebound
performance against Washington State.
Then comes the heavily anticipated, nationally televised game
against Arizona. The Wildcats entered the season with center Loren
Woods suggesting his team might be the greatest in college
basketball history. Arizona had an unprecedented five preseason
All-Americans.
While Arizona hasn’t met preseason expectations, they
seemed to have turned things around, dismantling the two Washington
schools last week.
“It’s going to be a heavyweight battle,”
Flowers said about Saturday’s game. “Mike Tyson vs.
Evander Holyfield, without the ear biting.”
He then paused, mulled over what he just said and added,
“There might be a couple bites now that I think about
it.”