UCLA is 0-2 in conference play for the first time since 1987-88. They're looking to avoid their first 0-3 start since the same year and here comes Arizona guard Kyle Fogg into town.
He could not be coming at a worse time for the Bruins.
Fogg is a 6-3 senior guard from Brea and is second on Arizona in scoring, averaging 11.6 points per game, but he's had some of his best games against the Bruins.
"I love playing against them especially because it's my hometown and they didn't recruit me at all and it just feels good to kind of make them wish they picked me up," said Fogg. "They're one of my favorite teams to play and I'm looking forward to playing against them."
Fogg didn't have a scholarship offer from UCLA or any other Division I school upon the conclusion of his senior season at Brea Olinda High School despite averaging 28 points per game.
Out of options and still wanting to prove himself worthy of earning a Division I scholarship, Fogg decided to play travel ball for the first time and hopped onto the AAU circuit.
After winning a Las Vegas tournament over Easter he started to be recognized and the more tournaments he played in after that, the more his recruitment picked up, resulting in a late offer from Arizona. He carries the recruiting process with him from day to day.
"It's part of the reason I work hard everyday just because a lot of those people said I wasn't good enough to play at their schools or I'm not supposed to play at Arizona so I'm just trying to go out there and prove those people wrong," said Fogg.
UCLA (7-7, 0-2 Pac-12) will have the tall order of once again trying to slow Fogg down Thursday when they host Arizona (10-4, 1-0 Pac-12) at Honda Center at 8 p.m. on Prime Ticket. The game will also dub as this season's Wooden Classic.
Fogg has had career games against the Bruins. In January of 2010, he set a career high for field goals made in a game when he connected on nine against the Bruins, in what, at the time was a career high 25-point performance. He also had a career high with three blocks in that game.
In March of 2010, he knocked down a career-high seven three-point field goals and set a new scoring high with 26 points in a Wildcats win in Tucson.
In three games against the Bruins as a sophomore, Fogg averaged 20.1 points per contest.
Last January, as a junior, he made a career-high 12 free throws against the Bruins.
Fogg says he didn't follow college basketball much growing up, but admits he was more of a USC fan than a UCLA fan.
Although USC didn't recruit him either, the chip on his shoulder is overwhelmingly larger when he faces the Bruins. It's double trouble for UCLA. He carries the mentality of being a Trojan fan while harboring the disappointment of not being recruited by UCLA.
He still feels slighted by both of his hometown schools.
"It's like those schools just overlooked me and said I wasn't good enough so when I'm playing against a team like that I just make sure I play even harder," he said.
UCLA can only hope they face more of the 2011 version of Fogg than the 2010 version. Last season against the Bruins, he hit double figures twice but struggled from the field. He hit four of 14 shots and did most of his damage from the free throw line.
