Arizona State-UCLA: pregame

UCLA is favored by 13 1/2 points tonight over 14-5 Arizona State (4-3 in conference) at Pauley Pavilion. The over-under line is set at 127, so the Bruins are supposed to win by a score of 70-57. UCLA has beaten Arizona State in their last six meetings.

>> As usual, defense will be the key. The Bruins are allowing opponents to shoot 41.9% from the field, but the Sun Devils are  allowing only 39.7% shooting.

>> Tonight’s game features a pair of high school teammates and a pair of brothers facing each other. Arizona State’s junior forward Jeff Pendergraph was a teammate of Bruin point guard Darren Collison at Etiwanda High School, and the brothers Shipp —  Bruin Josh and Sun Devil Jerren — will be together on the court. All four are starters.

>> Although the Sun Devils have lost three games in a row, they have led in each: 12 over Stanford, nine over Washington and 11 over Washington State. But one of the reasons they’ve collapsed is the play of Pendergraph, who is averaging only 7.3 points a game in those three outings. "It seems like when I get on a roll, we get on a roll," he told Norm Frauenheim of the Arizona Republic. "It’s almost like defenses are saying: ‘We can’t get Jeff get going.’ " With freshman sensation James Harden almost unstoppable, that’s a good strategy. "There are a million excuses," said point guard Jamelle McMillan. "But we've lost three games we should have had."

>> The latest NBA mock draft from NBAdraft.net has two Bruins listed in the first round: Collison at No. 13 and freshman center Kevin Love at No. 20. Also on the board in the second round are Josh Shipp (who has said he plans to return to school) at No. 34 and junior forward Luc Richard Mbah A Moute at No. 40. All together, this mock draft has 15 Pac-10 players listed out of the 60 picks to be made by NBA teams.