Arenas’ Fans Get a Show

“Hey, Gilbert!” a fan shouted from the upper level at Pauley Pavilion 45 minutes before game time Thursday night.

Gilbert Arenas, the cool, confident freshman guard for Arizona from Grant High, looked up before shooting a practice jump shot and smiled as teammates teased him for having his own rooting section.

It was the homecoming Arenas looked forward to for months, playing UCLA in front of family and friends. Ever the showman, Arenas came back from early foul trouble to score 15 of his 18 points in the second half and helped the second-ranked Wildcats defeat UCLA, 76-61.

“I was feeling it,” Arenas said. “I was feeling like I couldn’t be stopped.”

Arenas celebrated his 18th birthday on Jan. 6, but he hides his relative youth by the smooth, effortless way he plays.

Arenas admitted he was “very nervous” Thursday, and his extra energy put him in foul trouble. After he picked up his second foul with 9:18 left in the first half, he went to the bench until halftime.

But he made five shots during the first 10 minutes of the second half as Arizona (16-2, 5-0 in the Pacific 10 Conference) broke open a tie game.

Arenas said he had been struggling with his three-point shooting, so most of his shots were from medium range and boosted his confidence.

Afterward, Arenas basked in the glow of his return to Los Angeles.

“It was different,” he said. “You always see UCLA on TV and say, ‘Man, I wish I could play there someday.’ ”

Arenas looked into the crowd trying to spot familiar faces. He saw his father.

“And I saw one fan with a Grant football jersey,” he said.

Friends had already kidded him about seeing him dance two weeks ago on television during the Stanford game.

“Some of them gave me a good grade for it,” he said.

UCLA won’t argue about the grade he deserved Thursday.

“Gilbert just keeps getting better and better,” Coach Lute Olson of Arizona said. “He’s maturing. Early, he was 17 going on 14. His second half tonight, with two exceptions, was perfect.”