/ STAFF WRITER
The needle is pointing up and the UCLA basketball team would prefer it stay that way – for the rest of the season.
Thursday’s game at Arizona State is one of just four remaining for the fifth-ranked Bruins before the program’s most anticipated postseason in a decade.
After losing consecutive games for the first time this season, the Bruins followed that with five straight wins in February. An equally celebrated trend is the simultaneous improvement in their defense.
UCLA coach Steve Alford doesn’t want either streak to end.
“We can’t have that dip.