DESERT DROUGHT DOOMS UCLA BRUINS ALLOW 21-0 ARIZONA RUN BEFORE, AFTER HALF ARIZONA 106, UCLA 70.

Byline: Billy Witz Staff Writer

TUCSON, Ariz. - You want dry?

Forget about taking a deep breath of the desert air. Don't bother kicking your boots into the parched dirt that passes for lawns.

If it's dry you're looking for, look no further than the UCLA basketball team, which again left town with its shooting touch, its confidence and, in this case, its dignity evaporated.

No. 1-ranked Arizona, which earlier handed UCLA its worst loss in Pauley Pavilion history, walloped the Bruins 106-70 in front of 14,559 at McKale Center.

It was the Bruins' sixth consecutive loss at McKale, where they haven't won since coach Steve Lavin's first season. Since then, the losses have been by 12, 17, 15, 25, 10 and 36 points.

And, for the fourth consecutive season, they were done in by one big run, getting outscored by the Wildcats 21-0 over a stretch late in the first half and early in the second.

``It's called the spurt of death,'' UCLA forward Jason Kapono said. ``Once they go on it, you might as well give up.''

And from that point, they did. Arizona (19-2, 11-1), which beat the Bruins by 35 at Pauley Pavilion on Jan. 18, led by as many as 38 and might have sent UCLA toward its worst loss ever (48 points) if it had any desire to do so.

Freshman Andre Iguodala, who scored 18 points, was one of five Wildcats in double figures. He grabbed five rebounds, one of five Wildcats who had as many.

The Bruins (5-15, 2-9), stuck in ninth place in the Pacific-10 Conference, hoped that Saturday's victory over Georgetown, which snapped their losing streak at nine games, would spark them toward better basketball in what has become their worst season since the Roosevelt administration (that would be Franklin).

Those hopes barely lasted a half.

UCLA clung within 35-32 before it all went wrong. After Kapono's jumper with 1:31 left in the half brought UCLA within 40-34, the Bruins didn't score again until Dijon Thompson's free throw with 15:54 left in the game.

In the nearly six-minute span, the Bruins were outscored 21-0. They missed four shots, two of which were swatted away by Arizona center Channing Frye. They turned the ball over six times. Arizona scored on 9 of 11 possessions.

In the second half, UCLA turned the ball over 15 times.

``We just fell apart,'' guard Ray Young said. ``We straight fell apart.''

Arizona took a 45-34 lead into the locker room, its largest of the half thanks to Frye's follow of his own follow shot at the buzzer.

It was a fitting end to the half for the Bruins, who stayed with the Wildcats everywhere but on the offensive boards. They allowed 13 of them in the first half and were outrebounded 28-15.

It wasn't Frye, the center, who did the most damage. Nor was it burly Isaiah Fox or jumping jacks like Iguodala or Hassan Adams. It was slender forward Ricky Anderson who seemed to escape the Bruins' attention every time a shot was put up.

Anderson had six rebounds, half of them on the offensive end, and led Arizona with eight points at halftime.

UCLA was within 28-25, but the Bruins couldn't stop the Wildcats after that. Arizona scored on six of its final possessions, including the final one, when it got four shots before scoring.

After Jason Gardner missed a 3-pointer, Iguodala grabbed the long rebound and the Wildcats held the ball for the last shot. Iguodala drove the lane but missed a short shot. Frye's first putback missed, but his second - a fallaway 5-footer - banked in off the glass.

In some ways, the Bruins were lucky they were within 11 at the half. In addition to the rebounding disparity, they were whistled for 10 fouls to Arizona's four and watched Arizona make 10 of 15 free throws.

UCLA was also 0 for 6 from 3-point range in the first half - and only one was attempted by Kapono, who had eight points.

The Bruins got good efforts from Andre Patterson, who had eight points and three rebounds, and reserve T.J. Cummings, who had eight points on 4-of-5 shooting.

UCLA needed Cummings after center Ryan Hollins picked up two fouls in the first three minutes and spent the rest of the half on the bench without picking up a point or a rebound.

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Photo:

(color) UCLA's Cedric Bozeman (21) tries to evade the pressing defense of Arizona's Chris Rodgers.

John Miller/Associated Press

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