TUCSON, Ariz. — Having silenced a record-sized Arizona State student section wielding snarky signs and booing its every move, UCLA is moving on from the undercard of animosity to the main event.
The noise figures to be more deafening, the signs less PG-rated, the taunts in this nearly border town pushing the borderline of good taste.
What might Arizona fans have in store for the Bruins one year after they insulted seemingly every player on the roster, provoking a spitting incident involving one who didn't even play?
An expected sellout crowd inside the McKale Center and national television audience won't be the only ones watching closely Saturday.
A Pac-12 spokesman told The Los Angeles Times that the conference has been in contact with officials from both Arizona and UCLA to review event management, operations and security planning for the game that's scheduled to start at noon local time.
The list of uneasy parties apparently does not include UCLA coach Mick Cronin. With his fifth-ranked Bruins (17-2 overall, 8-0 Pac-12) amassing a 14-game winning streak that could make the Pac-12 title race a runaway by the midpoint of conference play, Cronin did not list crowd control among his concerns.
"I'm not worried about that," Cronin said late Thursday night after his team held off Arizona State with a game-ending 16-2 run. "Unless they're going to let them come out of the stands and stuff like that … last thing on my mind."
Cronin's qualms centered on No. 11 Arizona's front line of Azuolas Tubelis and Oumar Ballo, who are averaging a combined 36.3 points and 18.4 rebounds.
"Probably the most productive tandem of big guys in America," Cronin said.
They weren't quite as prolific during a recent stretch in which the Wildcats (16-3, 5-3) lost two of three games, but coach Tommy Lloyd gave his slumping offense a jolt Thursday by moving Cedric Henderson Jr. into the starting lineup while having Pelle Larsson come off the bench. The move sparked better ball movement during Arizona's 81-66 victory over USC.
A year ago, a play in which Larsson and UCLA point guard Tyger Campbell got tangled up, earning each player a technical foul, appeared to intensify Arizona fans' animosity toward the Bruins. Those fans taunted Campbell with a "F--- you, Tyger!" chant and directed a similarly profane chant at shooting guard Johnny Juzang.
A parent of a Bruins player who did not want to be identified told The Times that a fan spewed verbal insults at them to the point where the parent's young child was so upset that the child had to be taken from the area. The fan was eventually removed by police, the parent said.
After the game, UCLA forward Mac Etienne retaliated at jeering students by appearing to spit in their direction. Etienne was cited by police for assault with intent to injure, insult or provoke before completing a diversion program to resolve the legal case.
The Pac-12 spokesman said the incidents were privately addressed with each school and the conference has reiterated its expectations that all parties adhere to its standards of ethical conduct and sportsmanship.
The fan rowdiness came on the same day that Arizona guard Kerr Kriisa sent out a tweet allegedly showing Campbell making a derogatory remark about the Wildcats while sitting in a timeout huddle.
"Mutual," Kriisa wrote.
Campbell denied his words were directed at Arizona.
The headband-wearing, tongue-wagging Kriisa flung the ball into the stands after Arizona completed its 76-66 home victory over the Bruins, a measure of significant relief after he had made only four of 26 shots (15.4%) in the teams' first two meetings.
Near the end of UCLA's 75-59 victory over the Wildcats the previous week at Pauley Pavilion, some Bruins fans had mocked Kriisa's 0-for-12 performance with chants of "MVP!"
Words matter, but not nearly as much as what happens on the court. A UCLA victory Saturday could give the Bruins as much as a three-game lead in the conference standings, depending on the outcomes of other games.
No matter what the fans shout, the Bruins' play could give them the final say.
"We're just going to look at it as a game," UCLA forward Jaime Jaquez Jr. said. "We're here to play a game and that's really it."
Said Campbell: "It'll be fun. We're excited."
