‘Cats Run, Bruins Hide

It took five minutes for UCLA to blow a big chance.

After the young Bruins took a five-point lead to get Pauley Pavilion rocking early in the second half Saturday, Arizona knocked off an effortless 19-0 scoring run, a stretch of swift, powerful basketball that left UCLA dazed but not too confused. The Wildcats were just better.

By the time Brian Morrison made two free throws, the Bruins were behind by 14 points and well on their way to an 83-73 Pacific 10 Conference loss to the 12th-ranked Wildcats in front of 12,681, the largest Pauley crowd of the year. It was UCLA’s fourth consecutive loss to Arizona.

And there was no doubt what happened. Arizona Coach Lute Olson told the Wildcats to slow down and go inside. Channing Frye, the 6-foot-11 center, and Ivan Radenovic, the 6-10 forward, knocked around the Bruins. From that came layups and free throws and then wide-open jump shots for the guards.

All five Wildcat starters scored in double figures, and the win put Arizona (21-4, 11-2) in first place in the Pac-10, half a game ahead of Washington, which plays Oregon State today. UCLA (13-8, 7-6) fell to fourth, half a game behind Stanford.

Where Dijon Thompson had been magical Thursday night against Arizona State, feeling unstoppable on offense while scoring a career-high 39 points, the UCLA senior seemed slow-footed and lifeless Saturday.

He committed two fouls before five minutes were gone and had three points at halftime, when he’d had 27 in the first 20 minutes against the Sun Devils. The Pac-10’s second-leading scorer and third-leading rebounder finished with 10 points on four-of-13 shooting and three rebounds.

“Every time I put the ball on the floor and turned my back,” Thompson said, “it seemed like they ran two guys at me. Sometimes three.” All the slapping hands forced Thompson into a team-high four turnovers.

Still, with 17:34 left UCLA had a five-point lead, 47-42, on a Josh Shipp rebound of a Thompson miss. Pauley was noisy. Freshman point guard Jordan Farmar (career-high 27 points and five assists) had controlled the game with his scoring and floor play.

Until the streak.

Olson called a timeout after Shipp’s basket. “Once we got that timeout,” Olson said, “our guys came out and made it tough for UCLA to score. We got more touches and were able to make more shots.”

It’s simple if you have big guys who can catch the ball.

The first play after the timeout went inside. Frye put back a rebound, was fouled by Michael Fey and made the free throw. The Wildcats had had 11 runs this season of at least 16 points. This was the start of No. 12.

Fey had two more fouls and a missed layup within 20 seconds and the Wildcats scored four more free throws.

By the time Salim Stoudamire (22 points) bobbed and weaved through the sagging Bruin defense for another layup and free throw, some UCLA fans were leaving and Arizona’s lead was 61-47.

“It happened so fast,” said guard Arron Afflalo, who spent much of the time on the bench because Coach Ben Howland was unhappy with two of his quick, missed jump shots early in the half. “No way we should let a team go like that and my being on the bench ... I’m just so mad right now.”

Farmar said he still couldn’t quite account for Arizona’s scoring run, which turned into a 31-6 burst. “We were up [five],” he said, “then it seemed like we were down 20 instantly. They made some big shots, we took a couple of bad ones. Radenovic was a little more aggressive offensively. And when they got up big, they really executed well. They were really smart.”

Radenovic, a sophomore from Serbia, had his second straight 12-rebound game to go with 19 points. He made two 20-foot jump shots plus two free throws during the big spurt. “He was huge during the run,” Howland said. Olson also had Radenovic guarding Thompson. “He did great,” Olson said.

Until a flurry of uncontested baskets in the final minute, UCLA never got closer than 12 points and was behind by 21 points with 2:25 left in the game.

“We had no inside attack tonight,” Howland said. “Fey’s our prime inside focus, and he has to do a good job of wanting it.”

Until freshman Lorenzo Mata scored a meaningless rebound dunk with 41 seconds left, Fey’s first-half basket was the only one scored by a Bruin center.

“This was a huge opportunity for us to not capitalize on,” Howland said.

Said Thompson: “We missed a big chance.”