Pivotal Game Against Arizona

No. 25 UCLA gets the chance to either build on its impressive showing in the last game or suffer a critical setback in the conference race when No. 2 Arizona comes to Pauley Pavilion tonight.

The return to Pacific 10 play, after last Saturday’s victory at North Carolina, carries major implications for the Bruins, aware that a 1-3 start and a home loss to the conference leader would make an already uphill road an even steeper incline. Some UCLA players have even called it a must-win game for their title hopes.

Arizona comes in 15-2 overall and 4-0 in conference, including the Jan. 8 victory at then-No. 1 Stanford. The Wildcats followed that with two close home wins, by five over Washington State and seven over Washington, and now get a stretch of four consecutive road games against UCLA, USC, Arizona State and Louisiana State--teams that began the week with a combined .733 winning percentage overall and .933 at home.

This marks the Wildcats’ fourth 4-0 start in the Pac-10, after 1988, ’93 and ’98. They finished 17-1 and won the conference title each time.

Even more impressively, Arizona is having success while starting three freshmen, one sophomore and a junior transfer in his first season of action, and without one starter, Richard Jefferson. Named to the conference’s all-freshman team last season in a vote by coaches, Jefferson is expected to be out until mid-March because of a broken right foot suffered against Stanford. He has been replaced at small forward by Luke Walton, son of former UCLA great Bill Walton.

The Wildcats are so young that only one starter, sophomore Michael Wright, has played in Pauley Pavilion. Among the newcomers is Gilbert Arenas, the freshman from Grant High in Van Nuys.

TONIGHT

vs. Arizona, 7:30

Fox Sports Net 2

* Site--Pauley Pavilion.

* Radio--KXTA (1150).

* Records--Bruins 10-4, 1-2; Wildcats 15-2, 4-0.

* Update--This is the first time since 1990-91 that the teams are meeting without either one as the defending conference champion. They have split the last eight meetings.

* Tickets--(310) UCLA-WIN.