The UA men’s basketball team felt its confidence surge after upsetting then-No. 4 Gonzaga in US Airways Center on Dec. 14.

Since the start of the season, Arizona associate head coach Mike Dunlap has repeatedly told the team they can beat anyone they face, using UCLA as an example. The Wildcats, Dunlap said, are a good enough squad to take down the Bruins in Pauley Pavilion.

“”That’s one thing we focus on every day in practice – Pauley Pavilion,”” guard Nic Wise told the Daily Wildcat and the Tucson Citizen following the upset of the Bulldogs.

UA interim head coach Russ Pennell said he doesn’t get caught up in those kinds of predictions.

“”That stuff winds up on bulletin boards,”” Pennell said.

And that it did.

The Bruins took notice of the quote, and have the Citizen’s newspaper clipping posted in their locker room, according to several Los Angeles reports.

The Bruins have beaten the Wildcats seven straight times, a streak they know the Wildcats will try their hardest to snap.

“”Coach tells us every game that every team is going to give us their best game,”” UCLA freshman Jrue Holiday told the LA Times. “”And every game we have to come back with something strong.””