Bruins Have Yet Another Rank Effort

Any hint of momentum UCLA gained by ending a nine-game losing streak at Georgetown was swept away by an Arizona flash flood of frightening intensity Thursday night.

The Wildcats scored the last five points of the first half and the first 16 of the second to turn a reasonably competitive game into utter humiliation for the Bruins.

The 106-70 final score was a mere detail in a post-mortem, significant only because the margin is one point greater than Arizona’s 87-52 victory at UCLA a month ago.

And that was the worst loss ever at Pauley Pavilion.

“They are capable of the spurt of death,” UCLA forward Jason Kapono said. “And it can push you right into the coffin.”

UCLA might want to rethink trying to fight for enough breath to squeeze into the Pacific 10 Conference tournament as the No. 8-seeded team. The opponent probably would be No. 1 Arizona (18-2, 11-1), which holds a one-game lead over California in the conference.

“Playing them again is not even a thought,” Bruin guard Jon Crispin said. “I know that sounds so negative, but we have a lot of work to do just to make the tournament.”

At least the Bruins (5-15, 2-9) don’t have to return to McKale Center, where they have lost six in a row -- all by double-figure margins.

But none of the others -- even blowing a 20-point lead in the last 13 minutes last season -- resembled this. The crowd of 14,559 turned delirious during the Wildcats’ second-half surge, which peaked with a 39-point advantage with 6:30 left.

“It’s hard to play here,” UCLA forward Andre Patterson said. “When the fans get into it, it’s over with fast.”

Arizona Coach Lute Olson had a hard time turning off the spigot. Starters Luke Walton, Rick Anderson, Jason Gardner, Channing Frye and Salim Stoudamire spent the last 12 minutes on the bench, but Wildcat reserves outplayed anyone UCLA put on the floor.

The Bruin bench? Desolation row.

“It was like, ‘Let the boat race begin,’ ” Bruin guard Ray Young said.

During the 16-0 run in the first four minutes of the second half, UCLA committed six turnovers and missed its only three shots, two of which were blocked. UCLA had 15 turnovers in the second half and seven Wildcats had steals.

“We were denying passes all the way up the court,” Walton said.

Five Arizona players scored in double figures, led by freshman forward Andre Iguodala with 18. Patterson led UCLA with 12 points, making five of seven shots, and Kapono scored 11 on four-of-six shooting.

UCLA opened the game by slashing to the basket for layups, but the Bruins began wearing down late in the first half, scoring only six of the last 21 points to trail, 45-34, at the break.

Frye outhustled and outmuscled three Bruins underneath the basket on Arizona’s last possession, grabbing a miss by Iguodala, missing a putback, grabbing the ball again and banking it in at the buzzer.

Frye, a 6-foot-10 sophomore, took advantage of the void left by Ryan Hollins, the Bruin freshman center who played well in the victory over Georgetown on Saturday. Hollins, as raw as he is exciting, picked up two fouls in the first 3:13 and sat out the rest of the half.

His absence was felt most acutely on the boards. Arizona had 28 rebounds in the half to UCLA’s 15, and 13 Wildcat boards came on the offensive end.

“In the first half, it was rebounding and foul trouble, and in the second half it was turnovers,” UCLA Coach Steve Lavin said. “The bottom fell out.”

UCLA scored 10 in a row to lead, 10-5, but a three-point basket by Walton put Arizona ahead for good, 14-12. Each time UCLA crept close, the Wildcats responded. When it wasn’t a putback by Anderson or slashing runner by Iguodala, it was a three-pointer by Gardner.

In addition to Hollins, T.J. Cummings, Patterson and Dijon Thompson each had two first-half fouls.

But moments into the second half, foul trouble was the least of the Bruin problems.