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Before he boarded a bus to UCLA Friday morning, working on a short night's sleep, Lute Olson appeared neither tired nor worried nor freaked out.

"It's a long season," he said. "People try to make too much of these individual games."

His message: Remove that finger from the panic button.

The Wildcats were one shot from winning at Washington State and a failed 40 seconds from beating Oregon. They lost to superior forces at USC, yet had a chance to win in the final two minutes.

"The season is so long," Olson said. "It's next to impossible to (avoid) a stretch in which you don't play as well as you want to."

There is an obvious precedent: UCLA.

Exactly a year ago this weekend, en route to the Final Four, UCLA had already lost at home to Cal, Washington and West Virginia. The '06 Bruins were further rocked in mid-February, losing successive games at Washington and USC.

As UCLA coach Ben Howland said Friday, referring to his team's recent 10-point deficits against Oregon, USC and Arizona State, "We didn't get down, lose our poise or fail to be enthusiastic."

And thus, far more than designing a zone defense that works or a way to spring open Chase Budinger for a three-pointer, Olson's charge today is to get his squad to play with toughness and purpose.

The Wildcats are likely to lose, possibly by double figures, but the way Arizona handles itself under duress should be the surest indicator of what this team can accomplish in February and March.

And remember, by sundown, Arizona will have completed the Pac-10's two most difficult road trips. If the Wildcats play tougher, and less selfishly, than they did at USC, they should be able to regain their equilibrium next week.

"We need to get better at doing the things (playing defense and shooting with more patience) that we need to do in the long haul," said Olson. "We're not through the first round (of Pac-10 play) yet."

Some interpret these things differently.

After Thursday's game, USC coach Tim Floyd said, "We feel good being 4-2 in the league."

Arizona has never felt good about being 4-2. Imagine what the feeling will be if the Wildcats dip to 4-4 this afternoon.

Everything has changed in Pac-10 hoops, and nothing more than Arizona's vulnerability.

Here's what I mean: For most of the last 20 years, the Wildcats opened the Pac-10 season with six automatic victories, against ASU, Oregon State and Washington State. They would win a minimum of five more Pac-10 home games by exerting their edge in manpower and coaching.

That's 11 victories before you start to do any math.

The UA would find a way to win two or three more on the road, especially when Steve Lavin and Walt Hazzard were coaching at UCLA, when Henry Bibby was at USC and Bob Bender was at Washington.

Those coaching fissures have been closed.

With all of the recruiting resources of Southern California available to them, Lavin and Bibby did the least with the most.

The Bruins were never physical, rarely played good defense and had a shot selection out of H-O-R-S-E. The Trojans were often dispirited, broken down and brow-beaten by the truculent Bibby.

USC has three players — Nick Young, Gabe Pruitt and Taj Gibson — who could start at Arizona. The Trojans haven't had that type of personnel for more than a season or two dating to 1984.

And they've never been coached with more expertise.

"The team we played last night," Olson said Friday, "is as good as the team we will play Saturday."

That's all you need to know about the new way of life in Pac-10 basketball.

If nothing else, Arizona's first 17 games have given Olson and his coaches time to thoroughly evaluate the squad's weaknesses and work to improve them.

Jawann McClellan, with a knee problem, has lost quickness and endurance.

Ivan Radenovic isn't a banger and via necessity is being played out of position.

Budinger is deferential to older teammates and has been unwilling to be assertive when needed.

Marcus Williams is a gifted player who attempts to do too much too often.

Mustafa Shakur can't shoot his team out of a late-game hole the way his predecessors, from Damon Stoudamire and Mike Bibby to Jason Gardner, did.

There is no defensive stopper; no Reggie Geary. There is rarely anyone on the bench who gives his team a lift the way Gene Edgerson could.

But, fortunately, there is time for the UA to overcome its midseason woes and become a team that can win 11 or 12 conference games, which would merit a No. 4 or No. 5 seed in the NCAA tournament.

Short of upsetting UCLA today, that's about the best the Wildcats can hope for this season.