UCLA BASKETBALL NOTEBOOK: BRUINS FIND THEIR COMFORT ZONE.

Byline: BRIAN DOHN

Staff Writer

TUCSON, Ariz. -- Frustrated Arizona coach Lute Olson saw enough of UCLA picking apart the Wildcats' ineffective and unenergetic zone, so he made the switch to a man-to-man defense.

To Bruins point guard Darren Collison, who had a career-high 15 assists to go along with 17 points Saturday, that was when he said he knew No. 5 UCLA had broken No. 19 Arizona.

"Any time you see a team going out of their strength defensively, which is Arizona playing a 2-3 or a 1-3-1, and they go to man-to-man, it gives you a little bit of confidence," Collison said. "It's like, all right, now we've got them where we want them."

Collison penetrated gaps and passed to open teammates. Luc Richard Mbah a Moute was given the ball in the high post, which allowed him to either shoot or distribute.

And when the 35-second clock ticked down, Collison said he could tell the Wildcats were worn down, which resulted in a number of open jumpers and a handful of 3-pointers as the buzzer sounded.

"I believe they were tired the last part of the game," Collison said. "I think we were capitalizing on their mistakes down the stretch, when they were missing easy buckets. Any time you miss easy buckets, it deflates you and you get tired. Sometimes mentally you can't run as hard, and we just capitalized on their mistakes."

Bruins coach Ben Howland said he is hopeful UCLA's success in breaking Arizona's zone will carry over.

"That's great, a good feeling," Howland said. "When you're a player, you should be loving to play against a zone. I think this game will give us more confidence playing against zone, and I'm excited about that."

Not asking for much: Collison's career game also featured four rebounds and just twoturnovers in 35 minutes. His 15 assists were one off Earl Watson's school record, which was established against Maryland in the 2000 NCAA Tournament.

"That's the kind of play we want to see out of him consistently," Howland said. "Not asking for much."

Two for the road: For the first time since November, UCLA finished a road trip with a win. The Bruins lost the back end of road trips at No. 15 Oregon and Stanford and fell last week at No. 23 West Virginia.

"We'll be happy going back on the plane, for once," UCLA guard Arron Afflalo said.

Howland continued to take the blame for the losses to Stanford and Oregon, saying he had the team practice too hard after the Thursday games on those trips.

"I think we're a good road team," Howland said. "Part of it is me not being so stupid and wearing my guys out the day before the game, like I did the two previous days at Stanford. We went too long the day before the Oregon game."

Changed times: Before Afflalo, Josh Shipp and Lorenzo Mata arrived, UCLA had lost four in a row and six of seven to Arizona. Now, the Bruins have beaten the Wildcats five straight times.

"That's what I was hopeful of when I committed here," Afflalo said. "That I would have some type of impact. When I came here, that was my goal."

It is UCLA's longest streak against Arizona since winning 11straight from 1979-84.