The knock on Miles Simon has been that he's inconsistent.

In all fairness, it is difficult to throw in 70-footers at the buzzer every night.

Okay, his shot to beat Cincinnati is not really where the inconsistent label originated from. It comes from his ability to score 25, 13, 15, 10 and 26 points in consecutive games and then hit for five, three and eight in the following three games and come back with 14- and 28-point efforts.

That's been the sophomore's season thus far € a series of peaks and pot holes.

"He has played very well. He's been a little inconsistent in terms of scoring, but he knows and understands the game," UA head coach Lute Olson said. "He does a lot of things that don't show up in the stats."

There is his leadership, his ability to play point guard and spell Reggie Geary, and his ability to penetrate and dish - things that don't show up in the newspaper but are crucial to a team's success.

Of course, some things do show up on the stat sheet. Besides his 13.2 points a game (second on the team), Simon tops all other UA guards with 4.4 rebounds and is second behind Geary with 4.3 assists a game. He is currently ninth in the conference in that category.

"Our local people have talked about Miles Simon being up and down," Olson said, "but he's only been up and down in terms of shooting and scoring."

Shooting percentage has been another sore spot of late. Before the conference season started, the 6-foot-4, 186-pound Simon was hitting on a 47.5 percent clip, but in the 10 Pacific 10 Conference games so far, his average has plummeted to 35.8 percent.

"Maybe I need to start shooting from 70 feet," Simon said. "That seems to be the only 3-pointer I can make."

"When you're in a slump like that and you hit a spectacular shot like that, it lets you know you've got luck on your side, it's a stress reliever," senior forward Corey Williams said.

Perhaps tonight's game against UCLA comes at a good time for Simon, who torched the Bruins in January for a career-high 28 points on 6-of-9 shooting from the 3-point range.

"I like playing against UCLA, it's the game I wait for. It's the game I want to win most," said Simon, who hails from Bruins territory in Fullerton, Calif. "I'm from that area and they are the defending national champions."

Simon said he has played against many of the current Bruins in high school. UCLA guard Kris Johnson's Crenshaw High School team knocked Simon's Mater Dei High School out of the state tournament twice. But acquaintance does not mean friendship, and Simon said he is not close with any of the Bruins.

"I don't have any of their phone numbers, I don't see them when I go back home," Simon said.

But Simon will see them tonight when the two teams suit up at Pauley Pavilion, and he is not about to rest on Sunday's miracle ending with Bruins on the court.

"It's a big game," Simon said. "Sunday's over with and it's a new day."