Bruce Pascoe checks in with the latest news and notes from Los Angeles as the Wildcats take on UCLA at Pauley Pavilion:
If nobody sees them wipe out, did they?
The pandemic-era quietness both inside and out of Pauley Pavilion has turned out to be a boon for skateboarders, who were crawling over the otherwise unoccupied spaces between Pauley, the Bruin statue, buildings named for Arthur Ashe and John Wooden and the UCLA student union.
Several of them caught air over staircases before Thursdayβs game and, when on the occasions when they were unsuccessful, hardly anybody saw them anyway.
The only others on hand were a few pairs of students sitting with their laptops open on outside tables, while the inside of the normally bustling student union was all but empty except for a credit union and a few other businesses.
Decorating the padlock
Located in home of some of the countryβs strictest COVID-19 measures, UCLAβs entire intramural field north of Pauley has also been locked up. But it happened with an artistβs touch at least.
Draped over one of the locked fences was a banner photo of Jessica H. Till, a design media arts major who was pictured with UCLA blue and gold streaks on her forehead and shoulders, with a blue procedure mask streaked with gold covering her face.
βMy idea was to promote an inclusive feel with school colors as my skin color and across my mask,β she said in a quote on the banner. βStay safe for each other and with each other.β
Home of the β¦ 679?
Without a band or fans for that matter, UCLA piped in the national anthem about 15 minutes before tipoff Thursday, but the song glitched and shut off right before it neared the βHome of the Brave,β prompting some chuckles from the camera operators and other media on hand.
Since the song apparently couldnβt be repaired, UCLA instead filled up the dead air by quickly turning instead to Fetty Wapβs 679.
Oh well. The teams werenβt on the court anyway; just staffers, media and ball boys were standing up for it.
Batcho, Baker stay home
Reserve forward Daniel Batcho and injured guard Jemarl Baker did not accompany the Wildcats on the trip.
Batcho is not playing the rest of this season and Baker has been hurt, so the only real loss for Arizona was not having Baker around to flash one of those retro 1990s Wildcats shirts he normally wears.
Walk-ons Jordan Mains and Matt Weyand also did not make the trip, giving the Wildcats 12 players in uniform.
Seeing red
Arizona wore its red uniforms Thursday for the third time this season, but it hadnβt been lucky so far.
The Wildcats first wore them on Dec. 19 at Santa Cruz, Calif., where they lost to Stanford by three points and last Saturday against Oregon, when they lost by two.
Five-star guard sold on Cronin
After decommitting after UCLA fired Steve Alford during the 2018-19 season, five-star 2022 combo guard Amari Bailey will become a Bruin after all.
While donning a UCLA hat on Instagram Live on Wednesday, Bailey announced he has committed again to the Bruins after watching Mick Cronin coach the team for the past two seasons.
A native of Chicago who now plays nearby for Sierra Canyon School in the San Fernando Valley, Bailey told the Los Angeles Times that UCLA still pursued him harder than any other school and that he bonded with the coach.
βI play both ends of the ball, I play defense and I feel like our Midwestern grit is something we share in common,β Bailey told the Times. βWeβre definitely going to go to war with each other.β
While the Bruins could have the vast majority of their team returning in 2021-22, Bailey is expected to give them a major boost in 2022-23.
βUCLA has always been like a dream school for me, so I just had to wait and see it out,β Bailey told the Times, βbut this is something Iβm totally committed with.β
Undefeated versus COVID-19
The fact that Arizonaβs game with UCLA went off as scheduled Thursday, by now, is no surprise.
Neither team has had a single game canceled or postponed this season because of their own COVID-19 issues. All eight of Arizonaβs canceled or postponed games and all five of UCLAβs have come as a result of positive tests and/or contact tracing protocols with their opponents
βI know it look weβve made it look easy by, knock on wood, not having a positive test since we returned to training in September,β Cronin said. βBut itβs not easy.β
And itβs boring. Both teams have gone out of their way to alter nearly every aspect of their daily routines: UA charters two buses instead of one almost everywhere it goes, and assigns each player their own room instead of doubling them up, as well as eating alone in their rooms out of a box or room service tray on most occasions.
While UCLA guard Johnny Juzang says part of the Bruinsβ success in staying clear of virus issues is simply luck, the Bruins also have a drastically different routine. They simply donβt mix it up at all very often outside of the court.
βItβs hard because what you donβt realize is the only time weβre there together to kid around is on the bus,β Cronin said. βI donβt think people understand that we get a bag of food and go back to our room and eat alone. β¦ maybe itβs helped us stay safe but we have not had one team meal since we came back in September. So it makes for boring road trips.
βThe whole world is dealing with it but these guys obviously weβve asked them to be super careful.β
Lonely banners
While McKale Center is known more than anything for the near-sellout crowds it routinely attracts to watch the Wildcats, Pauley Pavilion more known for history, for John Woodenβs legacy and the banners overhead.
Maybe that helps explain why the Bruins entered Thursdayβs game still undefeated at home despite the fact that nobody can attend except staff, media and scouts.
βThe environment is something thatβs kind of not all the way there,β UCLA guard Johnny Juzang said before Thursdayβs game. βWe definitely miss the crowd. We miss them, man. But for guys who have played college basketball, you can feel the energy and weβre just weβre just happy to play.β
β Bruce Pascoe
