Gadzuric Deals With the Injuries

It was still a mystery, even a day later.

How could Dan Gadzuric, with a severe ankle sprain, go from being very doubtful for Thursday’s game against No. 8 Arizona to having the biggest game of his career in the Bruins’ 79-77 overtime victory over the Wildcats?

Trainer Mark Schoen said there wasn’t a chance the junior center would play until early Thursday during a shoot-around.

“He felt good and he had good strength,” said Schoen, who was concerned about Gadzuric coming back too soon. “We tried to tape it up as best as we could. The swelling had gone down, so we thought we’d give it a shot.”

Gadzuric tied career highs of 22 points and 17 rebounds in dominating the matchup with Arizona center Loren Woods. In his last seven games, he is averaging 12.7 points and 8.3 rebounds.

Senior point guard Earl Watson, who called Gadzuric “the best center in the country,” said he was just happy to see him in the locker room.

“I didn’t see him all week up until the game,” Watson said. “I’d call him up and say, ‘What are you doing?’ It definitely released a lot of the burden we had of having to play without him.”

Gadzuric, who has had an assortment of ailments throughout his career, said he has become more diligent in rehabilitating himself.

“I had to find a way to deal with these injuries,” he said. “I did and now I’m just taking a whole different approach by trying to work at it right away. Just try to get better as soon as possible.”

The only concern after Thursday’s big victory was when Gadzuric was caught in the rush of students celebrating on the court. He fell to the floor after a fan ran into him but said there were no problems with the ankle.

“I got back up quickly,” he said.

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UCLA has won 12 of its last 14. As important as the victories over then-No. 1 Stanford, USC and Arizona were, the 94-88 decision at DePaul, a game ripe for a letdown two days after an emotional victory at USC, was also important for the Bruins.

Today’s game against Arizona State is a similar scenario.

“It’s a good reference point in that if we concentrate on effort and execution, we avoid the chances of a letdown,” Coach Steve Lavin.

TODAY

vs. Arizona St., 1 p.m.

Channel 2

* Site--Pauley Pavilion.

* Radio--KXTA (1150).

* Records--UCLA 16-6 overall, 9-2 in Pac-10; Arizona State 11-12, 3-9.

* Update--Arizona State has gotten strong play lately from sophomore forward Tommy Smith, who led a 89-57 victory over Washington last Saturday with a career-high 24 points and an 11-for-11 shooting performance. Despite their record, the Sun Devils have shown they are capable of some big games as they have won by 15 at Oregon State, 27 at Oregon and 32 against Washington. A year ago on this date, Arizona State dealt UCLA a 104-75 loss in Tempe.

* Tickets--310-825-2946.