UCLA Learns No. 1 Lesson From Stanford

There was little drama, no upset and only one almost imperceptible celebration at Pauley Pavilion Saturday.

A few of the Stanford players slapped hands as the game ended: With four games to play, unbeaten Stanford clinched the Pacific 10 Conference championship with a 73-60 victory over UCLA that was hardly as close as it appears.

Any UCLA vision of another upset of a No.-1 ranked team evaporated along with the Bruin offense in the first half.

A 19-17 lead turned into a 19-point halftime deficit after UCLA was outscored, 25-4, over the final 8:38 and held without a basket the final six minutes of the half as Stanford stymied UCLA with a zone defense.

“Previous years, when we beat the No. 1-ranked team, just like today, we felt we could beat these guys,” said Dijon Thompson, who led the Bruins with 17 points.

It never really looked as if they could.

“That was a disappointing loss, especially after the way we played on Thursday night,” UCLA Coach Ben Howland said, referring to a 17-point victory over California.

Stanford wasn’t even at its best with forward Justin Davis out because of a knee injury, but the Cardinal won at Pauley for the seventh consecutive time, sending many among the crowd of 10,815 home before the game ended.

Oddly enough for a game that was no contest, both teams made 23 field goals.

But Stanford made eight of 10 three-point shots while UCLA went two for 14. The Cardinal outscored UCLA from the free-throw line by seven as well.

Stanford (23-0, 14-0) is chasing perfection, seeking to become the first team to go 18-0 in the Pac-10 and the first team in the nation to complete an undefeated regular season since Nevada Las Vegas in 1991. (No. 2 Saint Joseph’s also is undefeated.)

“For a lot of people in there, this is their first Pac-10 championship, so we’re very excited, even though we kind of knew it was a matter of time,” point guard Chris Hernandez said outside the locker room.

“That was one of our goals, but we have other business to take care of.”

UCLA (11-12, 7-8) is trying to make sure it doesn’t miss the Pac-10 tournament and is trying to avoid a second consecutive losing season -- a difficult challenge with USC at the Sports Arena Wednesday, Notre Dame at Pauley Saturday and a trip to Oregon State and Oregon remaining.

“That’s our goal. Coach talked about it. We’ve got to at least finish with a winning record,” Thompson said.

His own goal apparently is a little different.

“To me, I don’t care if we win another game -- I want to beat ‘SC,” Thompson said.

Howland praised Stanford for its poise under the pressure of being undefeated and its perseverance through injuries to Josh Childress at the start of the season and now Davis, who is expected to return shortly from a knee injury.

“They obviously have a lot of mental toughness,” Howland said. “Hernandez, [Matt] Lottich and Childress, you can see it in the way they carry themselves and communicate and pick each other up.”

Guard Jon Crispin, who started in place of Trevor Ariza as a reward for his senior leadership as the Bruins played their final conference home game, called Stanford a “really good” team.

“They don’t make mistakes,” he said.

Thompson was more grudging.

“Stanford, they’re good this year, but they could be beaten,” he said. “You’ve got to make shots, Lottich has to miss and you have to contain Childress because you aren’t going to stop him.”

Lottich didn’t miss from three-point range Saturday, making all four long-range shots he tried and finishing with 14 points.

Center Rob Little, the player Stanford went to inside seemingly every time the Bruins tried to mount a run, tied his career high with 18 points. Forward Nick Robinson added a career-high 15.

UCLA capitalized on an unusual spate of Stanford turnovers in the second half and used a 10-0 run to get as close as seven points.

The Bruins were still sticking around, down 11, when Lottich and Hernandez went on a three-point binge -- Lottich made two and Hernandez one -- that helped stretch the lead to 18 with 6 1/2 minutes left.

UCLA was six points better than Stanford in the second half, but the game was decided during that dismal first-half stretch.

“I don’t know how many minutes it was,” Howland said. “It felt like forever.”

Sort of like this season.