Utah Utes basketball notebook: Plenty of hoops action in L.A.

LOS ANGELES — It was a busy night for basketball, in a three-mile stretch off Figueroa Street in downtown L.A.

Besides the Utah-UCLA game at the Los Angeles Sports Arena, USC hosted Colorado at the Galen Center and the NBA's Los Angeles Clippers and Memphis Grizzlies squared off at the Staples Center.

The "Bruin Road Show" contributed to the congestion. With famed Pauley Pavilion undergoing a $136 million renovation, UCLA is calling three arenas home in this season — Citizen's Bank Business Arena in Ontario, the Honda Center in Anaheim and the aging L.A. Sports Arena.

"I really haven't looked at things like being road games or home games," UCLA senior guard Lazeric Jones told FoxSportsWest earlier in the week. "It's just been games now. All of our games are on the road."

With Thursday's 76-49 win over Utah, the Bruins improved to 5-3 this season at the L.A. Sports Arena. They'll play all six of their remaining 2011-12 "home games" at the facility — which is 15 miles from their campus in Westwood — closing out the slate against Colorado, Stanford, California, USC, Washington State and Washington.

Prior to facing the Utes, though, UCLA had not played at the L.A. Sports Arena since defeating Richmond on Dec. 23. The Bruins topped Pac-12 foes Arizona and Arizona State earlier this month in Anaheim.

Pauley Pavilion is expected to be back in use by next season.

Thursday's attendance was just 4,434.

FAMILIAR FACE: Utah quarterbacks coach Brian Johnson sat courtside with radio announcers Bill Riley and Jimmy Soto after missing his flight back to Salt Lake City following a recruiting trip.

"It's a good deal. It's a win-win," Johnson said. "So it wasn't that bad that I missed my flight. Any time you get a chance to watch the Utes, that's always a good deal."

ADVANTAGE BRUINS: Thursday's win gives UCLA a 5-4 advantage in the all-time series against Utah. It also marked the first meeting between the teams since the 10th-seeded Utes upset the second-seeded Bruins 67-61 in the second round of the 1983 NCAA Tournament in Boise.

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