UCLA has defeated Arizona five consecutive times. Those Arizona teams usually have been ranked and considered Pacific 10 Conference championship contenders.
Bruins junior Josh Shipp said he had no Xs-and-O's type explanation for UCLA's recent success against the Wildcats. "Just that they've had great teams," Shipp said, "and it's always easy to get up for them."
Fifth-ranked UCLA (19-2, 7-1) should have no trouble tonight at Pauley Pavilion getting roused to play the Wildcats (15-6, 5-3), who are unranked but are on a four-game winning streak under interim Coach Kevin O'Neill. Coach Lute Olson is taking a leave of absence for at least this season.
"I didn't even notice they weren't ranked," Shipp said. "It's Arizona. We've come to expect Arizona is good. For some reason, we just always come out and play well against them."
There will be more national focus than usual directed toward Westwood. ESPN is bringing its "College Game Day" production to UCLA and televising the matchup.
"I know that gets us a little extra attention," freshman center Kevin Love said Thursday night after the Bruins demolished Arizona State, 84-51. "But, really, it's Arizona. Of course it's a big game."
In the last meeting involving the conference's premier programs, UCLA won, 81-66, in Tucson, shooting 57.1% from the field. After that game, where Shipp scored 24 points and Darren Collison had 17 points and 15 assists, both players spoke about how much fun basketball was.
Collison said the same thing Thursday night. Probably not coincidentally, as Collison has become fully healthy after spraining his left knee and bruising his left hip, the Bruins have become more content. Love hasn't needed to point out how few touches he is getting and Shipp hasn't been asked why he and his teammates aren't feeding the post.
"I know this," Collison said. "This game is most enjoyable when everybody makes an extra pass or two and everybody looks out for their teammate. You might think you have an open shot, but if you take the time to look around you'll likely see there's a better shot. It doesn't matter who you play."
Senior Lorenzo Mata-Real had an X-ray and an MRI on his left wrist and both were negative, UCLA Coach Ben Howland said. UCLA's backup center took a charge in the last 30 seconds of Thursday's game and fell on the wrist.
Howland said he spent a mostly sleepless night worrying about Mata-Real.
