INGLEWOOD — The scene Friday night at Intuit Dome might as well have been a salute to a better time in college basketball and its drift toward coast-to-coast conferences. Consider: Regional rivals and their fan bases coming together to try to outplay and outshout each other. Regardless of the result, you walk away feeling better about the sport.
This time it was UCLA and Arizona, with their shared history in the Pac-10 and then Pac-12, facing each other in a nonconference game as part of the Basketball Hall of Fame series. An added bonus was a tribute to an outsized individual who straddled both camps – the late Bill Walton, Bruin for life and a Wildcat dad, his progeny Luke playing four years in Tucson for Lute Olson.
And may we remind everybody that one of the loudest, most strident voices against the breakup of the old Pac-12, and the scattering of its members to the Big Ten, Big 12 and Atlantic Coast Conference, was none other than Bill Walton.
“I don’t believe that joining the Big 10 is in the best interest of UCLA, its students, its athletes, its alumni, its fans, the rest of the UC system, the State of California, or the world at large,” he wrote in November 2022, four months after UCLA and USC had bolted for the Big Ten and started what turned out to be the dismemberment of a Power Five conference.
During Friday’s halftime salute, which included Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and former Walton teammate Jamaal Wilkes, that advocacy wasn’t mentioned. Maybe it should have been.
On its own, the game was a reminder of what we’ve been missing. Arizona (3-0), ranked fifth in the most recent AP Top 25, came on with a rush at the end to subdue No. 15 UCLA (3-1), 69-65, in an atmosphere that seemed more fitting for an NCAA Tournament game than an early-season nonconference game.
UCLA’s fan base, of course, was well represented. And Arizona’s fans, who always travel well, outshouted the locals at times with that thundering “U-of-A … U-of-A …” chant. It sounded much like the 2023 Pac-12 Tournament final in Las Vegas, another occasion when Wildcat fans took over the building … and their team edged UCLA 61-59.
This time it almost seemed like UCLA-Arizona was the varsity game and the first game of the doubleheader, USC’s 87-67 victory over Illinois State, was the warmup act. I hate to say it, but the first game gave off a high school JV vibe – not the caliber of basketball, mind you, but the excitement level. The game tipped off with a tiny crowd, with fans starting to take their seats throughout the second half in anticipation of the second game.
Maybe that has something to do with USC’s traditional apathy toward men’s basketball, and give second-year coach Eric Musselman credit for doing everything he can to change that. But it’s a tall hill to climb, and the football school vs. basketball school comparison between the Trojans and Bruins is as strong as it’s ever been.
But here’s another factor, and a bit of advice if the organizers decide to do another of these Trojans-Bruins neutral site doubleheaders: Don’t schedule the first game at 4:30 on a Friday afternoon, unless it’s Black Friday. And maybe not even then. When your target audience is stuck on the freeways – or still on campus – at tipoff, that doesn’t do anybody any good.
UCLA-Arizona is the type of game you circle on the schedule, not only one that captures the public’s imagination but a nice counterbalance to the games meant to pad the won-loss record. I get it; those are necessary for any coach that has designs of holding onto his job for any length of time.
But the difference between low-profile and high-profile games can be a shock to the system. UCLA came in with victories at home over Eastern Washington, Pepperdine and West Georgia, but this was its first real test. With a 63-62 lead after Skyy Clark’s jumper from the right wing with 1:47 left, it looked like the Bruins might pass that exam … and then they were outscored by Arizona 7-2 in the final 1:23.
“We’ve got to get better on defense,” UCLA coach Mick Cronin said. “We’ve gotta get much better on the backboards. But we had our chances. Our execution on offense down the stretch, or lack thereof, got us. And on defense, we gave up layups.
“Lack of execution ends up with a bad shot. And not just for us – for the Clippers, for the Lakers, for FC Barcelona. … We did some things well, but we’ve got to get a lot better. We’ve got to get more productive off the bench.”
Still, these games are good for everybody – for the fans, who get to see good, competitive, high-intensity basketball, and for the coaches and players who learn some important things about themselves in the process. Anyway, last year it was the Bruins’ chance to plant the flag, beating Arizona 57-54 at Phoenix’s Footprint Center.
This series will resume next year in Las Vegas, Cronin confirmed, adding, “Hopefully we’ll do another one.”
Hopefully, many more than that.
“I mean, I think it’s extremely important,” Arizona coach Tommy Lloyd said. “For both fan bases – I don’t know if it’s a love-hate deal. Not for me … I think there’s just a mutual respect between the programs.
“Us programs on the West Coast need to protect each other. There’s not a lot of us out here. There’s a lot of space out West and a only a select few programs that are playing at that highest level, and us and UCLA happen to be a couple of them. So I think just the matchup’s great for our fan bases, and it’s great for college basketball and I think it serves both programs well.”
UCLA is doing its part. Also on the Bruins’ 2025-26 schedule are former Pac-12 foes Cal (Nov. 25 in San Francisco) and Arizona State (Dec. 17 at Pauley Pavilion), plus a Dec. 13 date in Seattle against future Pac-12 member Gonzaga – and doesn’t that phrase sound funny? And, of course, there are home-and-home Big Ten games against Oregon, Washington and USC.
“There’s no shame in losing to UCLA, and I don’t think there’s any shame in losing to Arizona,” Lloyd said. “And I think both programs are better for it.”
Both programs, and the sport overall. The more of such matchups the better, especially if they help keep those old regional rivalries alive.
jalexander@scng.com