The ASU men's basketball team has dropped 24 of its past 25 games against UCLA, but don't remind Rob Evans about the glaring statistic.
The Sun Devil head coach is rather sensitive when hearing about his program's lack of success against the Bruins, mainly due to the fact that he is only responsible for losses in the past four years. ASU has recorded just one win against UCLA in that timeframe.
"This is the toughest game we'll play so far because they're so talented and have a lot of experience," Evans said. "You've just got to guard them. You can't go in looking at just one guy because they've got so many guys."
ASU lost 22 straight versus UCLA - a streak that spanned for more than a decade in three different coaching eras - before finally halting the skid two years ago with a 104-75 blowout win at Wells Fargo Arena in Eddie House's final season. Prior to that victory, the Sun Devils had not beaten the Bruins since celebrating a 93-86 home win in their 1989-90 campaign.
ASU gave UCLA about all it could handle a year ago, but came up on the losing end twice. The Sun Devils fell five points short at last season's game in Los Angeles, despite bolting out of the gates on a 10-0 run.
The circumstances surrounding tonight's meeting between the two schools don't appear to be very different from those in year's past. Ninth-ranked UCLA (12-3, 4-1 Pac-10) comes rolling into town having hit the midway point of the season in stride, and is slowly gaining momentum in the heart of the conference play.
Meanwhile, ASU (10-5, 3-3) is once again struggling simply to stay above the dismal level of mediocrity. A split on the Washington trip has given the Sun Devils a slim ray of hope heading into this weekend's crucial series.
ASU's chances as the heavy underdog will hinge on whether junior shooting guard Curtis Millage will be healthy enough to have an impact on the game. Millage is near 80 percent after sustaining a bruised left hip during Saturday's win at Washington State, but will likely still be penciled in as a starter.
"Against Washington, we played like a high school team," Millage said. "We just have to come out and refocus. Any night, you can catch anybody off guard."
Another key for the Sun Devils is going to be the effectiveness of senior center Chad Prewitt, who is coming off a less than average performance versus the Cougars. Prewitt tallied 13 points on 4-of-11 shooting from the field. Nevertheless, "Big Red" is still averaging 20.7 points and 7.9 rebounds in the past seven games.
"We (have to) stay patient, break their defense down and not turn the ball over," said Prewitt, who held UCLA senior center Dan Gadzuric scoreless in 13 minutes last year. "We expect them to come in and put a lot of pressure on the ball. They run a lot of sets and a lot of backdoor stuff."
The Sun Devils have the misfortune of facing the Bruins at the most inopportune time of the season. UCLA is less than one week removed from the year's biggest win, an 87-77 triumph over then-No. 1 Kansas.
But stretches of inconsistency has been reminiscent of a team that is off to one of its best starts in recent history. The Bruins escaped with a one-point victory over UC Irvine, while suffering early defeats against Ball State and Pepperdine.
"Those losses give you a great report card or measuring stick to go back to the drawing board to work on," said UCLA head coach Steve Lavin, whose team made the defensive switch from a full-court press to a match-up zone this year. "Every coach is hoping they play their best basketball and begin to hit on all cylinders come February and March in preparation for the NCAA Tournament. Sometimes losses with a veteran team can be a positive because it tends to expose deficiencies or weaknesses."
With an arsenal of weapons heavier than the gel lining Lavin's hair, UCLA has the potential to pose some serious match-up problems for its opponents. The Bruins are stacked with big-time playmakers at virtually every position.
"The fact that we have nine players capable of scoring 20 or more points on a given night makes it difficult to match-up against because it's a pretty balanced team offensively," said Lavin, whose Bruins like to stretch the perimeter. "It's been a different player every game that has stepped up to help us win."
UCLA's most potent offensive threat is junior forward Jason Kapono, who is averaging 18.1 points and 5.9 boards per game. Kapono has posted double figures in every game this season and has also scored more than 20 points on five separate occasions.
Another essential part of UCLA's explosive offense is freshman guard Cedric Bozeman, who is expected to play roughly 25 minutes Thursday while recovering from a torn meniscus. Although Lavin said Bozeman may not play at all if he is not feeling up to par.
Reach the reporter at brian.gomez@asu.edu.
