The stars, if they do align, created an ominous setting Saturday for UCLA when it visited Arizona’s McKale Center on Senior Day, Everyone-Wear-Red Day and, of most significance, a Day of Deep Desperation for the Wildcats.
Once 11-1 and ranked No. 7, the Wildcats had lost six of their previous 10, had fallen to sixth in the Pac-10, 19th in the nation and were coming off an embarrassing home loss Thursday to USC.
They clearly were reeling, their knees buckled and backs bent, and only a victory could restore their confidence and their hopes of getting a favorable seed in the NCAA tournament.
They needed this one for their self-esteem, which makes for a dangerous foe, and that is a big reason why UCLA’s 81-66 victory was so impressive. It was not the ease of the Bruins’ triumph. It was not the way they silenced a hostile crowd or the number of fine performances they had. It was, simply, their dominance of a wounded animal in that animal’s lair.
That not only kept the No. 5 Bruins (23-3, 12-2) atop the Pac-10 race, it also reconfirmed their status as one of the handful who can be considered legitimate contenders for the national title.
Last April, of course, they lost the championship game to Florida. Yet their journey to that moment serves as a tool, which is one reason they were successful Saturday and is one reason they will be dangerous in March.
“Experience is the teacher of life,” junior guard Arron Afflalo said. “Anytime you go through situations, you learn and benefit from it. Now we know how to win.
“That’s the difference right there. When you advance in a tournament like that, it gives you the confidence that toward the ends of games, you can overcome adversity and just know how to win. We’re a confident bunch. We feel we can win every game.”
It’s drummed into their heads.
“We have, I think, mentally tough kids,” UCLA coach Ben Howland said. “You’re always going to have adversity. But how you deal with adversity, how you deal with losses, how you deal with whatever you have is the key to everything, not just in basketball, but in life. That’s one thing I’m really proud of with this team, how they deal with adversity.”
They dealt with it Saturday as if it were a plaything, running off seven straight points to open the game and then pushing back any run Arizona made. The Bruins never let the Wildcats take the lead and only once, with 8 minutes 3 seconds remaining in the first half, did they even allow them pull into a tie.
UCLA responded with another seven straight, went to the locker room up one at the half and then patiently nurtured their lead to the end.
Point guard Darren Collison was the catalyst. He is quicker than a blink and could not be contained, finishing with 15 assists and only two turnovers as he buried 5 of 7 three-point attempts en route to 17 points.
Arizona (17-9, 8-7) tried to hobble him with a zone, a ploy many have used recently against the Bruins, but the suddenly resurrected Josh Shipp shredded it.
He entered this one in the icy grip of a slump, hitting just 15.8 percent of his threes and averaging a mere 11 points in league play. But this afternoon he exploded, hitting 2 of 4 threes and 10 of 14 overall while putting up a game-high 24 points.
They also got 15 from Afflalo and 10 from center Lorenzo Mata, and threw up a defense that held the Wildcats to 44.8 percent shooting and 14.9 points below their season average.
“That was one of our best games of the year,” Howland said. “Playing that well in a tough place at the end of the year is important for us.”
Why is that?
“Just the experience of the game,” Afflalo said. “A tough atmosphere against a tough team. It was an NCAA tournament type of atmosphere. Then the way some of our guys played will give them enormous confidence and the way we grouped together for the win was good too.”
Later, as he sat in an anteroom sipping water, Howland was asked if it was also the type of performance that re-established his team as a favorite to win it all.
“There’s no question in my mind Florida’s the favorite. It’s Florida and everybody else . . . ” he said before Vanderbilt’s upset of the top-ranked Gators. “But I really believe there are a dozen teams that can win the national championship.”
Is his team one of the dozen?
“Yeah,” he said.
