The UCLA Bruins' final home game of the season is their biggest, as the Bruins will battle the Arizona Wildcats for a share of the lead in the Pac-10 Conference on Saturday at Pauley Pavilion. Arizona holds the lead at 12-3, and can clinch a tie for the conference title with a win today, but the Bruins are just one game behind at 11-4. The Bruins lost 85-74 to the Wildcats in Tucson on January 27.
The Bruins are in the rare place of actually having to thank USC, as the Trojans delivered the loss to the Wildcats that the Bruins needed, a 65-57 loss at Galen Center on Thursday night. If UCLA wins out -- which would include wins over Arizona and Washington in their final three games -- they will finish no worse than tied for first place in the Pac-10. The Bruins beat Arizona State 71-53 on Thursday night.
In their first meeting this year, Reeves Nelson led the Bruins with 24 points and 10 rebounds, including shooting 10-for-12 from the field. But Arizona pulled away in the second half, shooting 60.9% from the field after halftime. Derrick Williams led the Wildcats with 22 points in 29 minutes. For the game, the Bruins made two of 15 shots from three-point range while Arizona made six of 10 from beyond the arc.
Today's 1 p.m. PST game will be televised on Prime Ticket, with Steve Physioc and Marques Johnson on the call. During the game, as part of John R. Wooden weekend on Fox Sports Net, there will be "a series of originally produced vignettes honoring coach Wooden," in addition to coaches wearing pyramid of success lapel pins. All fans in attendance will be given a copy of Wooden's pyramid of success as well.
For more information on today's game, be sure to read Bruins Nation.