Davis, Bibby Have Their First Point-Blank Meeting Tonight

Baron Davis and Mike Bibby, neither yet 20, almost seem as if they were assigned by basketball destiny to each other long ago, matched as territorial rivals before they ever stepped onto the same collegiate court.

Bibby, the Arizona sophomore, is a child of the Southwest, one year older, the stoic son of a UCLA hero, and already a national champion point guard.

Davis, the rambunctious Bruin freshman, is Los Angeles-bred, raised by his grandmother, and already has the breadth of basketball knowledge and experience to understand the full weight of their first head-to-head meeting, tonight at McKale Center.

“When I made my decision [to attend UCLA],” Davis said last April, “the thing I was looking forward to was playing against Mike Bibby. That’s what I want to do--I want to go at it.”

Arizona and UCLA. The two best programs in the West, the only two Pacific 10 programs to have won a national title since either has been alive. Davis and Bibby. The two best point guards, possibly, in the nation.

So, this is a big game, and also a duel.

In the days leading up to tonight’s game, Davis was much more circumspect, quietly--but not successfully--trying to minimize the man-to-man battle and focus on the game itself.

“I guess . . . I don’t know,” Davis said, when asked if people around him were anticipating the Davis-vs.-Bibby dramatics. “I just want to go out and get a victory against Arizona, which is more important.

“If I have a bad game, I have a bad game. As long as we win.”

But with both point guards probably too good to ignore the NBA for much longer than another year or two, beyond their March 7 rematch at Pauley Pavilion, who knows how many more times they will face each other in the uniforms of these two rival programs?

Davis’ teammates, for sure, are not hiding their eagerness to see Davis and Bibby dart and dribble at each other for 40 furious minutes, even if Michael Dickerson will guard Davis at first, and Earl Watson could end up on Bibby for long stretches.

“I’ve been pumping that matchup to all my friends, telling them to watch that one,” UCLA center Jelani McCoy said of Davis vs. Bibby.

And how does he think the battle will be decided?

“I think Baron has him,” McCoy said with a broad smile. “I think we have them in all spots. Earl Watson, Baron. . . . To me, our team is sweet right now. But I’m kind of biased.”

Though the two have scrimmaged against each other in summer camps, Davis says they have never really talked--especially since Bibby was far more acclaimed when they were at camp together.

But Davis has developed into clearly the more spectacular player--he already is one of the best fastbreak finishers in the nation, and he has shown the ability to consistently beat his defender off the dribble.

Bibby usually is the middle part of the break, not the conclusion, usually directing traffic, not helicoptering over it.

“I think Mike Bibby is a real solid point guard--he does the best with the gifts God has given him,” Bruin guard Toby Bailey said. “He doesn’t make many mistakes, he knows the game real well. . . . That’s why I’m real impressed with him.

“But you can’t compare him to Baron Davis. Baron Davis is different. Baron has different God-given abilities than Mike Bibby. I don’t know what his vertical [leap] is, but I’ve seen him dunk on 6-8, 6-9 guys.”

Bibby, meanwhile, already has made 32 of 88 three-point tries, and 83.3% of his free throws--matched against Davis’s seven-for-21 from three-point distance and his struggling 57.5% from the line.

“Baron’s quickness is probably better than Mike’s [and] Mike’s perimeter shooting probably is superior,” Arizona Coach Lute Olson said. “Both of them do a good job of getting the ball to people. . . .

“There’s no question that these are the best freshman and sophomore point guards in the country. . . . This conference has had a lot of great guards through the years, and both of these guys are going to fit right in when people talk about those guards down the line.”

By current statistics, Bibby has the edge, averaging 16.9 points, 6.7 assists and 2.9 rebounds, while playing a far tougher schedule than Davis, who has averaged 13.6 points, 4.5 assists and 5.4 rebounds.

Bibby has had difficulties in his two games against the Bruins and since-graduated Cameron Dollar, making only five of 20 shots in Arizona’s two losses, scoring a combined 13 points.

But Bibby also has one unimpeachable statistic: 88 points in the Wildcats’ six NCAA tournament victories, on their way to the school’s first national title. One year of Bibby, one championship.

Said UCLA Coach Steve Lavin: “Bibby obviously has experience right now over Baron. But Baron’s a quick learner, like Bibby was last year.”

Times staff writer Robyn Norwood contributed to this story.