The heart of Los Angeles can't complain about a lack of basketball Friday night as both the UCLA and USC men's basketball teams tip off yards and minutes apart in separate games.

UCLA returns to the L.A. Sports Arena in Exposition Park for its first slate of home games there since the 1964-1965 season. The team won its first two national championship at the arena and went on to win two more there in 1968 and 1972. UCLA hasn't lost a home game at the Sports Arena since a defeat to USC in 1963.

The school's 11 NCAA men's basketball championship banners moved from Pauley Pavilion, which is undergoing a $136 million renovation this year, to the Sports Arena last week.

Because USC used the Sports Arena as its home until the Galen Center opened in 2006, some of the arena's seats and many of its walls featured a reddish tint that had replaced an original blue-gray theme. UCLA chose to use seatback covers rather than paint all the seats blue, but many walls, doors and signs have gone UCLA blue.

All told, UCLA will play 14 of its games at the Sports Arena and four at the Honda Center in Anaheim. The team's calling it the Bruins Road Show. Six more days will feature both a USC game at the Galen Center and a UCLA game at the arena.

Since USC left, the scoreboard had gone untouched. The Sports Arena had to acquire a new one that was hoisted up this week and will be re-sold after the season. Even sewer lines, carpeting, lockers and bathrooms received upgrades as part of the process of getting the Sports Arena game-ready.

The playing court has been rented from the Los Angeles Sparks.

UCLA's athletic department refused to provide an interview and a breakdown of costs associated with the move to the Sports Arena. The L.A. Times reported that UCLA has financed $200,000 in improvements to the Sports Arena.

At some point, the Sports Arena could be razed in favor of an amphitheatre or a soccer stadium.

Some players complained about the conditions at the arena after an exhibition game at the beginning of the month, and attendance should be down from last season. Officially, the Sports Arena had budgeted for 7,000 fans per game. Unlike USC football games at the neighboring L.A. Coliseum, beer and wine will be sold at the UCLA basketball games.

Friday's game against Loyola Marymount begins at 7:30 p.m. USC's game against Cal State Northridge starts at 8 p.m.

UCLA's team, ranked 17th in nation in the preseason poll, is anchored by sophomore center Joshua Smith and junior forward Reeves Nelson. USC, meanwhile, has lost most of its firepower to graduation, the NBA or retirement.

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