Bruins out-muscle Wildcats down low

The Wildcats had their inside game stuffed into the closet as A.J. Bramlett, Bennett Davison and Donnell Harris failed to counter the solid efforts of UCLA's Charles O'Bannon, J.R. Henderson and Jelani McCoy.

As a team, the Bruins out-rebounded the Wildcats in the second half 17-11, including 12 by O'Bannon, Henderson and McCoy. That same Bruin trio shot a blistering 11 of 16 from the floor. Arizona's big men were held to 1 of 3 shooting in the second half and 3 of 8 for the game.

Henderson topped off the evening by hitting a jump hook from the lane with 18.4 seconds left in the game, giving the Bruins an early Valentine's Day present in the form of a 66-64 victory.

The win keeps UCLA tied for the lead in the conference with Southern Cal, who defeated Arizona State in Tempe last night.

"UCLA really hit the defensive boards hard tonight," Bramlett said. "They hit their shots down the stretch and we didn't."

Arizona head coach Lute Olson commended the Bruins for solid execution in the closing minutes.

"To their credit they finished when they needed to and we didn't," Olson said of the last few possessions.

In addition to Arizona's lackluster effort on the inside, the guard play of Jason Terry and Mike Bibby failed to meet expectations as Miles Simon and Michael Dickerson combined to score 70 percent of the team's points. Dickerson's poor shooting from three-point range continued, he connected on1 of 7 attempts.

"We need to just let it go," Dickerson said. "We have USC to look forward to."