Alfred Aboya, left, and Arizona's Mustafa Shakur battle for a rebound. Aboya made his first start of the season and finished with 11 rebounds.

David Sanders / arizona daily star

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LOS ANGELES — With his team's best rebounder out for probably another week, Alfred Aboya made his first start of the year and third in his two-year career against the Wildcats on Saturday. You could tell.

"The adrenaline got to him," UCLA coach Ben Howland said. "I thought he was a little out of gas after four minutes."

So Howland took Aboya out of the game. He calmed down and finished with 11 rebounds and made two of the most important free throws of his career.

After the Wildcats narrowed UCLA's lead to 70-67 with 17 seconds left, Aboya — a 54 percent free-throw shooter this year — stepped to the line and made both. He finished with four points, all from the stripe.

"All I was thinking about was, 'In practice I made my foul shots,'" Aboya said. "Why not here? It's the same floor, the same basket and the same goal."

Aboya filled in for fellow sophomore Cameroonian Luc Richard Mbah a Moute, who hyperextended his right knee Thursday against Arizona State. Howland said Mbah a Moute rode a stationary bike Friday and felt better Saturday. An MRI showed nothing structurally wrong.

"I would say it could be another week," he said. "You just don't know until he gets out there. It's not long-term."

Kerr: D up

Steve Kerr was a reserve freshman in 1983-84, the last time the UA lost three straight Pac-10 games. On Saturday, when the Wildcats did it again, he was a disappointed fan.

Kerr, who watched the game in person with his son, Nicholas, said he was impressed with UCLA but noted that the Wildcats must play better defense in order to snap their losing skid.

Arizona allowed both USC and UCLA to shoot better than 50 percent this weekend.

"If there's one thing we can learn — and you always try to learn from setbacks — it's that if you look at the teams we've lost to, particularly Washington State, USC and UCLA, they've all played great defense," Kerr said. "That's how we have to dig our way out of the rut: Defense and energy. I don't worry about the shooting percentages.

"That stuff comes and goes, but defensively they've got to play with activity and energy and compete."

Rim shots

● Saying Arizona "could go the rest of the way without losing a game," Howland sounds like he will be rooting for the Wildcats when they host North Carolina on Saturday.

"That will be a big game not only for Arizona but for our conference," he said. "Go, Wildcats."

● Increased playing time appears to be helping former Wildcat guard Chris Rodgers of Albuquerque in the NBA Development League, according to agent Tim Hicks.

"It's hard to tell with Chris, but I think he likes it,'' said Hicks, who bought an upper-section ticket to watch Saturday's game. "He's getting minutes, and he has to be on the floor to get going."

Rodgers, who was released by the D-League's Sioux Falls affiliate after just five games, is playing an average of 24.9 minutes over 10 games with Albuquerque.

He has scored an average of 14.3 points entering a game Saturday with Los Angeles, shooting 41 percent from the field (but 0 for 7 from three-point range) and making 75 of 87 free throws.

● USC's improvement seems like good news for UCLA; teams that travel to Los Angeles will have to prepare for two threats. Still, it is not that simple, UCLA guard Arron Afflalo said.

"Give or take," he said. "Because of the fact that if they're coming off a loss, they're gonna come in here desperate for a win. But also you're wearing them down a little bit. That's good."