Arizona’s Problems Rooted in Approach

They are the defending Pacific 10 Conference champions. They were favored to repeat in 2005-06. In Lute Olson, they have the Pac-10’s all-time winningest coach.

So what has happened to the Arizona Wildcats? Why are they entering Pauley Pavilion today in the middle of the Pac-10 standings, looking up at the conference-leading Bruins?

There are various reasons, starting with the backcourt where, in four days last month, Arizona lost both senior Chris Rodgers and sophomore Jawann McClellan.

There was little Olson could do about McClellan. He sustained a torn ligament in his left wrist against Oregon on Jan. 14 and had season-ending surgery.

Rodgers is another story, one Olson won’t fully tell. Rodgers was kicked off the team for unacceptable behavior that has not been clearly defined.

Olson indicated that Rodgers could be back if he cleaned up his act, but Rodgers hasn’t been seen in a Wildcat uniform since, and his return seems less likely as time goes on.

But rather than point his finger in any specific direction, Olson has pointed his finger in all directions, questioning the toughness and intensity of a team coming off a loss to USC on Thursday night that dropped its record to 13-8 overall and 6-4 in the conference.

“There’s no sense of urgency,” Olson said of his players. “They don’t have that refuse-to-lose attitude.”

Yet, while painting a dark picture of his players’ approach, Olson refuses to present a bleak picture of their chances of repeating as conference champions, even with a loss today.

“You can’t say if we don’t get [a win], the season is over,” Olson said. “That’s not the case. We still have five of seven at home.”

Home didn’t prove to be a safe haven for the Wildcats in their previous game against UCLA. In a season in which they are unbeaten on the road -- though one loss, to Memphis, was at a neutral site -- the 14th-ranked Bruins (18-4, 8-2 in conference) defeated the Wildcats, 85-79, in Tucson a month ago.

A win today would give UCLA its first conference sweep of Arizona since the 1996-97 season.

Such talk makes UCLA Coach Ben Howland shiver. With his Bruins having won three consecutive conference games and four out of five, and with the glut of injuries that has hit every scholarship player on the team easing up, overconfidence is a concern.

“This race is far from over,” Howland said. “The significance of [today] is that it is our next game.”

Not really. No matter what either coach says, a UCLA victory and a three-game cushion over the defending champions with seven to play would be significant indeed.

TODAY

vs. Arizona, 1 p.m., FSNW2

Site -- Pauley Pavilion.

Radio -- 570.

Records -- UCLA 18-4, 8-2 in Pacific 10 Conference; Arizona 13-8, 6-4.

Update -- Look for Arron Afflalo, UCLA’s defensive stopper, to spend the afternoon attempting to shadow Arizona senior guard Hassan Adams, the unquestioned leader of the Wildcats. Adams is averaging 19 points and 5.6 rebounds. But somebody in the Bruins’ frontcourt is also going to have to deal with 6-foot-10, 244-pound Ivan Radenovic. In the team’s first meeting, Radenovic had 17 points and eight rebounds against the Bruins.

Tickets -- (310) 825-2946.