No. 6 UCLA (19-11) vs. No. 11 Ball State (22-8)

* About UCLA: Center Dan Gadzuric, who has battled problems with both thumbs for the last five weeks, sprained the left one again during practice Wednesday. He appeared in great pain at the time and afterward had the hand wrapped, but said he definitely will play. Coach Steve Lavin said he would wait until today to decide his opening lineup, partly to see how Gadzuric’s thumb is and partly to continue to consider his options at several positions. No matter who starts, the Bruins could rely heavily, tonight and in any potential future games, on a big lineup with Jerome Moiso, Jason Kapono, JaRon Rush and Gadzuric along with guard Earl Watson.

* About Ball State: The Mid-American Conference champion has won six in a row--with two coming in overtime and all six by an average of five points--and 11 of 12. Duane Clemens leads in scoring, at 18.8 points, and has broken 30 in two of the last four games. The Cardinals are in the same region that last year’s upstart MAC representative, Miami of Ohio, went from the No. 10 seed to the Midwest semifinal. Ball State will have matchup problems if UCLA goes big, but will hope its quick guards can cause trouble for a Bruin defense that lacks speed when Kapono and Ryan Bailey both play.

* Keys to the game: The Bruins were second in the Pacific 10 in three-point defense and will need to increase the perimeter pressure even more tonight. Ball State is 10th in the nation in accuracy from behind the arc at 40%. The Cardinals, meanwhile, could have a great struggle containing UCLA on the boards, especially since the Bruins will have an obvious depth advantage among big men.

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

UCLA LOG

76 Fairfield 57

105 Iona 73

100 Morgan St. 39

43 Gonzaga 59

76 DePaul 58

83 Maine-x 62

54 at Colorado St.-x 55

103 at S. Florida, OT-x 98

68 Pepperdine 66

55 Purdue 53

62 at Washington 63

86 at Washington St. 64

79 at USC 91

71 at North Carolina 68

61 Arizona 76

83 Arizona St. 77

85 at Oregon St. 74

58 at Oregon 73

63 Stanford 78

70 California 73

83 USC 78

67 at Syracuse 71

75 at Arizona St. 104

84 at Arizona 99

75 Oregon 69

69 Oregon St. 59

83 at California 62

94 at Stanford, OT 93

65 Washington St. 58

90 Washington 64

x-Pearl Harbor Classic

BALL STATE LOG

50 at Wisconsin 60

79 S. Illinois 74

64 at Indiana St. 55

73 Cornell-x 65

71 at Wis. Milwaukee-x 58

80 Butler 70

72 Purdue 52

101 Chaminade 79

82 at San Diego St. 65

75 at N. Illinois 67

88 Toledo, OT 85

93 E. Michigan, 3OT 98

84 at Miami, Ohio, 3OT 86

64 N. Illinois 76

55 at Kent 77

88 Cent. Michigan 69

73 at Marshall 85

53 at Ohio 64

82 Buffalo 68

71 Bowling Green 61

78 at E. Michigan 58

80 W. Michigan 60

89 Akron 68

61 at Toledo 66

60 Miami, Ohio, OT 57

91 at Cent. Michigan 80

91 at W. Michigan 82

64 Toledo, OT-y 63

70 Ohio-y 67

61 Miami, Ohio-y 58

x-First Merchants Classic

y-Mid-American Tournament