CHRIS CODUTO / Arizona Daily Wildcat Hassan Adams tomahawks the ball during the second half of last night's blowout against the visiting Bruins. Top-ranked Arizona defeated UCLA 106-70.

Paced by freshman Iguodala's 18 points, Arizona crushes lifeless UCLA by 36 at home

After two disappointing wins, Arizona wanted to show the rest of the nation that it's not just the No. 1 team in the nation by default.

For UCLA it could have been a season- making game, but it ended up being a statement game for Arizona as the Wildcats routed the Bruins 106-70.

"I thought we played very well tonight," senior point guard Jason Gardner said. "In the first half, we didn't play as well, but in the second half we did play very well. It's a big confidence booster."

Besides their win against Kansas, this may have been the first time this season that the Wildcats have played with the swagger of a No. 1 team.

Arizona had a 21-0 run that lasted throughout the first half and the beginning of the second half. The Wildcats were sparked by Gardner, who finished the first half with two late 3-pointers that helped UA build an 11-point halftime lead.

The Wildcats next take on a Southern California team tomorrow at 11 a.m. that was crushed by Arizona State 108-78.

"That score is not going to change how we approach them," UA head coach Lute Olson said.

KEVIN B. KLAUS/Arizona Daily Wildcat Luke Walton drives hard to the basket during the first half of Thursday's blowout against UCLA. Arizona won 106-70.

Coming into the game, Olson stressed that the Wildcats had to dominate the boards, shoot well from the free-throw line, and limit their turnovers to become the team that they are capable of being.

In the second half, UA (19-2, 11-1) executed Olson's goals to perfection, as Arizona outscored the Bruins 61-36 in the second half.

"We know Arizona counts on vital spurts, especially here at home," UCLA senior Jason Kapono said. "It's the spurt of death. We have been victims of it four years in a row. Arizona definitely feeds off the crowd."

In the game, the Wildcats out-rebounded UCLA (5-15, 2-9) by a 41-33 margin and they only committed nine turnovers.

Turnovers have plagued the Wildcats all season, but UA's three point guards, Gardner, Salim Stoudamire and Chris Rodgers, had two turnovers in 51 minutes of action.

"We needed to take care of the ball," Olson said. "We finally had a game where we had single digit turnovers. We also limited them to eight offensive rebounds and we did a really good job of not giving them many second chance shots."

With the Wildcats dominating the glass and limiting their turnovers, the only goal of Olson's left to be accomplished coming into the game was to shoot consistently from the line.

Arizona shot 22 of 28 from the line.

The Wildcats' dominance in the second half was due to stellar defensive pressure along with near-flawless execution on the offensive end.

The defensive combination of Stoudamire and freshman Andre Iguodala held the sharp shooting Kapono to a mere 11 points.

"This shows how talented this team is and how good we can be," senior Luke Walton said. "I definitely think our defense was key. When we play like we're capable of and play defense like we did tonight, we can do that to a lot of teams around the country."

Offensively, Arizona was able to post up Channing Frye or Isaiah Fox at will, leading to wide open three point shots for Arizona's perimeter shooters as well as open lanes in the key.

Freshman Andre Iguodala came into his own offensively as he scored a career and game high 18 points to go along with five rebounds.

"I was just feeling it tonight," Iguodala said. "We practiced well this week and I really worked on my shooting. I played with a lot of confidence."

Walton said Iguodala is beginning to show what he can bring on both ends of the court.

"Andre is going to be one of the best players to ever come out of Arizona by the time he is done here," Walton said.

Arizona finished the game with five players in double figures and it shot 49.3 percent from the field and 52.2 percent from behind the arc.

Game Notes

Luis Gonzales of the Arizona Diamondbacks sat front row along side John Jay from the KRQ radio show · All 12 players scored for the Wildcats. Late in the game, UA fans began to chant "fire Lavin ·" Walton has been limited to only practicing once a week, but he is planning to practice today in preparation for its game tomorrow against USC ·

The Bruins have lost nine consecutive Pac-10 games, which is a school record · Bill Walton was in attendance watching his alma mater lose to his son Luke's team.