They finally get the Luc they’ve been looking for all season

The crowd at Pauley Pavilion was shouting “Luuuuc” again, not “Booooo.” And although the two chants sound alike, UCLA forward Luc Richard Mbah a Moute was clearly being shown some love Thursday night for the first time in a while.

He most definitely deserved it.

By just about every possible measure this has been a disappointing season for the sophomore from Cameroon, who averaged 9.1 points per game as a freshman on 53.8% shooting from the field but had slipped to 8.6 points and 49.2% through the first 20 games this season.

Greater things were expected of him than he had been delivering offensively, but his 15-point effort in fifth-ranked UCLA’s 69-57 victory over No. 9 Oregon hinted that the promise he showed last season has merely been dormant and hasn’t disappeared.

With first place in the Pacific 10 at stake, Mbah a Moute stepped up with game-highs in rebounds, blocks and steals -- 12, four and four, respectively -- and a tenacity on defense that had the crowd roaring. He recorded his third double-double this season and 11th of his career -- and went six for six from the floor, certain to pad that shooting percentage.

Not that it seemed to puff his ego.

“I don’t care about that. I just care about a win at the end of the day,” he said after the Bruins improved to 19-2 overall and 8-2 in the conference.

Coach Ben Howland, however, seemed mightily impressed by Mbah a Moute’s contributions and the forward’s best production since his 18-point effort against Kentucky in the third game of the season.

He played 31 minutes Thursday, and Howland said that is likely to be his limit in the future.

“The difference between playing 31 and 36 minutes is huge,” Howland said. “It’s tough when you ask guys to play too many minutes.”

Mbah a Moute made the most of his time Thursday. “Look at his line,” Howland said, reading off each category. “And he played great defense. He really played with a lot of passion.”

Teammate Arron Afflalo claimed he could “see it in warmup, see it in his eyes” that Mbah a Moute was poised for an extraordinary performance. But Mbah a Moute allowed only that he, like his teammates, felt they had to settle some scores.

The first was with Oregon.

“They gave us our first loss, so we had that feeling in our gut,” Mbah a Moute said of the Bruins’ 68-66 loss at Eugene on Jan. 6.

The other score was with themselves, to compensate for squandering that 17-point lead against Stanford last Sunday.

“We just wanted to come out and get the win and play hard 40 minutes,” Mbah a Moute said.

Although Mbah a Moute shrugged off the praise, teammate Darren Collison was only too happy to heap it on.

“I thought his performance was great,” said Collison, who had 12 points. “You can see that from Luc pretty much every game. He’s not always the high scorer, but he does little things.

“Tonight was one of his better games. He’s definitely going to keep it up.”

Mbah a Moute would never be so brash as to say that himself. He has no use for others’ expectations of him, guiding himself by instinct and the ability to work hard and absorb every lesson in a sport he has been playing at an elite level for only a handful of years.

For anyone who believes he hasn’t lived up to his first season and that he has been a disappointment, that’s for them to say. He’s conceding nothing.

“I’m not worried about that personally. All I’m trying to do is help my teammates and focus on the team and help the team win,” he said. “If the team wins, I’m fine. I don’t think about anything else.”

He made his presence known in the second half, after the Ducks began to chip away and had pulled to within 13, at 47-34, on a three-point shot by Aaron Brooks. Mbah a Moute hit an alley-oop, set up by Collison, to give the Bruins some distance. Later, his putback of a jumper missed by Collison gave the Bruins a 54-36 lead.

When the Ducks regrouped yet again and the crowd began to murmur nervously and think of the 17-point lead squandered against Stanford, Mbah a Moute hit a shot underneath and got a hand in the face of Malik Hairston to foil the Oregon forward’s three-point attempt.

“It wasn’t just me, it was the whole team,” Mbah a Moute said. “It was contagious. Everybody came out ready.”

But he wasn’t ready to think about conference titles or NCAA tournament seedings, although the Bruins would seem to be in good shape. “I think the whole team has the same philosophy. We don’t look at seeding,” he said. “We look one game at a time.”

He may talk a dull game but he played an exciting one on Thursday. Nonetheless, he sees no reason for him or the Bruins to get giddy over their success.

“This is over now. We’ve got to think about Oregon State in our next game,” he said, referring to Saturday’s matchup at Pauley Pavilion. “This doesn’t mean anything if we don’t beat Oregon State. Enjoy it for tonight. It’s going to be over tomorrow and it’s all going to be about Oregon State.”

helene.elliott@latimes.com