L.A. story: UA looks for Pac-10 sweep

Ian Mayer Arizona Daily Wildcat UA senior Miles Simon sports some defense during Saturday night's game against Stanford. The Wildcats play Southern Cal at the Los Angeles Sports Arena tonight at 8:30 Tucson time.

A perfect Pacific 10 Conference season has never been accomplished but with two wins this weekend, Arizona will etch its name on that honor.

At 16-0 and coming off a 90-58 conference championship-clinching win, Arizona appears to be finally back to early season form.

That's bad news for Southern Cal, which hosts the Wildcats tonight at 8:30 Tucson time at the Los Angeles Sports Arena.

"It would be a great accomplishment, but in the whole scheme of things it doesn't matter to me," Arizona head coach Lute Olson said. "The one good thing about it is that it has kept them aware of getting out and winning ball games."

A win over the Trojans tonight would also give UA a school-record 20-straight victories.

The Trojans offer a study in contrasts, standing at 7-19 overall and 3-13 in the Pac-10.

"They're just trying to get through the season," Arizona senior guard Miles Simon said.

Simon, a native of Fullerton, Calif., will be playing in front of his hometown crowd for the last time. Despite having big games offensively, his teams have never won at UCLA. Last year he and the Wildcats suffered their worst defeat of the year, a 75-62 loss at Southern Cal.

"He always plays well out there," junior center A.J. Bramlett said. "It's his favorite place in the whole-wide world."

Of course, the extra incentive of going 18-0 and finishing the string off at UCLA Saturday makes Simon all the more eager to get things going.

"It would be really good, especially to complete it on UCLA Senior Day at Pauley (Pavilion)," Simon said. "UCLA is usually the team you talk about as the greatest in the Pac-10 ever, but we would have the best record ever and that would be great."

Simon added that the other Wildcats playing their final game in their hometown did not lose, including Michael Dickerson, Bennett Davison and, he said, Bibby.

"That's if he goes (to the NBA) of course," Simon said.

The second-ranked Wildcats (26-3, 16-0) seem to have come out of their "slump" if that is what you call it when you play badly and still win.

They eked out one-point wins against Arizona State and Oregon State, then they topped Oregon by 13 before barely beating California 76-73 last Thursday.

Then, the Cardinal came to town.

Arizona played arguably its most complete game of the season in the win.

"There were a lot of things that were obvious but the biggest thing was the inside guys," Olson said. "They played with reckless abandon. They pursued everything. Not only passes, but rebounds."

Southern Cal is, of course, coached by Bibby's estranged father Henry. The media scrutiny was intense last season. You could argue that its affects were seen in Bibby's play. He had just four points and two assists. This year, Olson made Bibby off limits to the media.

No. 2 Arizona vs.USC

(26-3,16-0 Pac-10) (7-19, 3-13)

When: Tonight at 8:30

Where: Los Angeles Sports Arena

TV/Radio: The game will be televised on Fox Sports Net and broadcast live by KNST (AM 790).

What: The Wildcats own the nation's longest winning streak at 19 games - A win tonight for Arizona would establish the longest streak in school history - Earlier this season, the Wildcats defeated the Trojans 91-72 in McKale Center - Last year, the Trojans gave the Wildcats their worse loss of the season, a 75-62 upset in Los Angeles.