Diplomacy is not an option in the cross-town rivalry. No matter what it takes, UCLA needs to beat USC, and it needs to do so Saturday when the teams meet at Pauley Pavilion.
"We've got to put our life on the line," senior guard David Singleton, one of the handful of Bruins who have experienced any success in the series, said late Monday night.
There is no amount of exaggeration that can adequately describe how much UCLA wants to end its five-game losing streak against the Trojans, the Bruins' longest slide against their rivals since the 1940s. Two of the losses have come on shots in the final seconds. Two have come at Pauley Pavilion.
