Each time the Arizona men's basketball team has split up to face off in an intrasquad scrimmage, the outcome has been close.

The same held true for one half during the annual Pepsi Red-Blue Game until the Red team, led by preseason All-American Jason Gardner, pulled away for a 105-87 victory.

"As a whole, we played well," Gardner said. "The big guys hit the boards and the players on the wings hit their shots. It was a good night for our freshmen. They don't sit back and wait for things to happen ÷ they make things happen." [Read article]

The one problem with an intrasquad scrimmage is that when one team or player looks good, there is someone on the other side that looks bad.

Last night, in the Pepsi Red-Blue Game, it was either someone didn't get back on defense, someone didn't pick the right lane to run or someone didn't box out on a rebound, leaving the opposing team an opportunity to shine.

Senior Jason Gardner's Red team impressed at the expense of sophomore Will Bynum's Blue team, especially in the second half, when the Blue team was outscored by 22 points. [Read article]

Ahem, scuff, emm, OK, well then. Let me straighten my shirt and check my lip for blood, because I believe that I was just challenged to a duel. No, not me personally, unlike some colleagues of mine, but my kind ÷ those "sports monkeys" at the Wildcat.

We'd like to thank columnist Jessica Lee for bringing to our attention in yesterday's column "Their Music is Mightier Than a Writers Pen," that we failed to realize that the band members were better physical specimens than UA athletes like Luke Walton who, apparently, couldn't, "run formations with a 35-pound drum on his shoulders." [Read article]

It's common knowledge that UCLA stands for the University of California at Los Angeles, but this year it could have a whole new meaning ÷ Underclassmen giving Large Aid.

The Bruins (6-3, 3-2) have had several different players step in and contribute in only their first couple years in Westwood.

Of the 22 players listed as projected offensive and defensive starters, half are either freshmen or sophomores and many of those underclassmen are the players making the most noise. [Read article]

Tonight in Stanford, Calif., two of the nation's top women's volleyball players will go head-to-head in Stanford's Logan Tom and Arizona's Kim Glass.

Tom, the reigning NCAA Player of the Year and an Olympian, was outplayed by Glass in their first meeting at McKale Center, where the freshman Glass finished with a match-high 28 kills.

"I knew how good she was," Tom said. "I didn't expect anything less of her." [Read article]

Icecats planning a different kind of Homecoming

While the campus is celebrating its annual Homecoming weekend festivities, the No. 8 Icecats will head east to take on top-ranked Penn State.

The trip to the East Coast will be a homecoming of sorts for a number of Icecat players as well.

Defenseman and co-captain Bill Pardue, starting goaltender Bryan Aronchick, and forwards Don Holtz, Brian Pollock and Tim Wochok all call the state of Pennsylvania home, while defenseman Dan Whitlock can consider himself a "local" as well, being from nearby Mt. Laurel, N.J. [Read article]

UCLA at Arizona

Arizona lucks out this week. No, not because it has a chance to win, but because Southern Methodist has a bye week, which means that SMU has no chance of putting up a lot of points and beating UA in their fierce "Worst offense in the nation" race. UCLA's Tyler Ebell has five straight 100-yard rushing games. Make that six. [Read article]

Q: How many consecutive 20-win seasons does the UA basketball team have?

A: 15