Only title fitting for once-proud bruins: also-rans

OK, time for some Pacific 10 bookkeeping. UCLA has won 27 conference basketball titles in its illustrious history. You can now officially forget about No. 28. UCLA has won 11 national

titles. You can officially scratch the notion of No. 12. UCLA has appeared in 35 NCAA tournaments. You can officially start sweating about No. 36. The sun is setting on Sunset. It was

sometime early during Stanford’s 78-63 victory over UCLA on Thursday at Pauley Pavilion that you sensed a changing of the guards . . . and forwards . . . and the centers. If you’re keeping

score, this was Stanford’s third straight win at Pauley. Know how many games UCLA lost here from 1965 to 1975? Two. Well, of course, that was then. “You still walk in and see the banners,”

Stanford forward Mark Madsen said after collecting 10 points, seven rebounds and two blocked shots in 28 minutes. “You can’t miss the championships. But we feel like we’re doing some things

too. We feel like we’re building a little program up in Palo Alto.” Stanford improved to 18-1 and UCLA did not improve at all. At 12-7 overall and 3-5 in conference, UCLA can forget about

the Pac-10 title. The question now: Are the Bruins’ NCAA tournament hopes in jeopardy? The Bruins haven’t missed the tournament since 1987-88, when they went 16-14 in Walt Hazzard’s last

season. Even Hazzard finished 12-6 in the conference that year. UCLA figures to need 18 wins to secure an NCAA bid, meaning the Bruins will have to go 6-5 in their last seven games. That

probably will require two wins against Cal, a sweep of the Washington schools, a win against Oregon State and one win against either USC, Syracuse, Arizona, Arizona State. Is it do-able?

Probably. The Bruins have a solid power rating, No. 30 in the latest Ratings Percentage Index, and their strength of schedule won’t be hurt having played No. 2 Stanford with a game against

unbeaten Syracuse upcoming. But what good is an NCAA berth if UCLA keeps playing like this? Scrap for every inch. Fight for every point. When the scoreboard mistakenly had Stanford leading

44-22 instead of 42-22 early in the second half, no one on the UCLA bench even complained. Then again, what would two points mean in this game? Stanford senior guard David Moseley recalls

playing at Pauley Pavilion as a freshman. “I remember walking in here, seeing Coach Wooden walk on the court, everyone cheering,” he said. “It was like, ‘Goodness, they’re invincible here.’

They took advantage of that and smoked us.” But there was nothing close to intimidation Wednesday. Stanford led from wire to wire. “To get a 16-point lead going into halftime, that’s pretty

impressive,” Stanford Coach Mike Montgomery said. UCLA played as well as it could in one brilliant second-half burst and cut the Stanford lead to eight. And Stanford didn’t flinch. “We got

together and said, ‘Hey, we know we’re going to win this game,’ ” said freshman Casey Jacobsen, from Glendora High, who scored 17 points in his collegiate debut at Pauley. “We had confidence

in each other.” Wednesday was no fluke. Stanford walked into Pauley as if it owned the place. For now, it does. Stanford and Arizona are clearly now the class of the conference. With USC

and Oregon losing Thursday night, the Cardinal moved to 7-1 and shares the Pac-10 lead with Arizona. Arizona owns the tie-breaker with its victory over Stanford in Palo Alto on Jan. 8, and

it looks as though the Pac-10 title might be decided when Arizona and Stanford meet in Tucson on March 11. UCLA is no longer in the equation. Stanford took care of that. MORE TO READ