Thompson’s Big Game Not Quite Good Enough

UCLA lost its eighth consecutive game at the McKale Center, which means senior Dijon Thompson didn’t get his wish.

All last week Thompson talked about wanting to leave UCLA with at least one win here, but after Arizona escaped with a 76-73 win, Thompson said he was disappointed “especially because of the game I had.”

Thompson, who scored 15 first-half points and 27 overall, earned the praise of Arizona Coach Lute Olson, who said the 6-foot-7 senior “played very well on the boards and he shot the ball very well too.”

Olson also said, though, that he urged the Wildcats to double-team Thompson more in the second half and to force Thompson to catch the ball farther from the basket.

UCLA Coach Ben Howland said it was Arizona’s tougher defense in the second half that changed the game. “Their defensive pressure got to us,” Howland said.

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Arizona’s 6-foot-4 guard Hassan Adams twice outjumped UCLA’s 7-foot center Michael Fey. Adams won the opening jump ball from Fey and also blocked what seemed to be a certain Fey layup in the second half that would have given UCLA a 50-40 lead. The Wildcats went on a 9-0 scoring run from that point to take their first lead of the second half, 49-48.

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After cutting down their turnovers during a four-game winning streak, the Bruins had 23 against the Arizona pressure -- 14 from the guard trio of Arron Afflalo, Jordan Farmar and Brian Morrison. It’s the eighth time this season the Wildcats have forced a team into 20 or more turnovers.

UP NEXT

Thursday vs. Stanford, 7:30 p.m., FSNW2, Pauley Pavilion -- Inexperienced Stanford is still finding its way under new Coach Trent Johnson, though the Cardinal did hand 17th-ranked Arizona its only Pac-10 loss last week, 87-76. Junior Dan Grunfeld, a 6-foot-6 swingman, is leading Stanford by averaging about 18 points a game. Junior point guard Chris Hernandez, a preseason John R. Wooden All-American candidate, is the only other Cardinal scoring in double figures (13 points a game). Stanford swept UCLA last year.