Bruins reach for win, fall short

  BRIDGET O’BRIEN/Daily Bruin Senior Staff Senior guard
Billy Knight attempts to fight his way through a
tangle of Stanford defenders on his way to the net. UCLA lost 86-76
at Pauley.

By Christina Teller
Daily Bruin Senior Staff

Thud.

That was the sound of a Bruin free-throw attempt bouncing off
the rim.

Slash.

That was a Stanford perimeter player slicing through the Bruin
defense.

Swish.

That was Casey Jacobsen sinking his three-pointer with 3:46 to
go in the game, giving Stanford its biggest lead of the game, at
73-63.

The Bruins were in it for the first 15 minutes, but after the
No. 17 Cardinal (12-4 overall, 5-2 Pac-10) started to penetrate the
Bruins’ defense, Stanford flat-out beat No. 13 UCLA (13-5,
5-3) on the Bruins’ home floor 86-76 in front of 12,243
spectators on Thursday night. It is the fifth year in a row that
Stanford has defeated the Bruins at Pauley.

“In other games this season, we’ve beaten
ourselves,” Bruin forward T.J. Cummings said, “but
tonight we got beat. They’re a smart team.”

The Bruins took an early lead, going on a 9-2 run in the first
four minutes into the game. They milked the shot clock on most
possessions, showing a different composure than what they ended
with against Arizona last week.

Dan Gadzuric was on early in the game. Hitting three commanding
dunks in the first half and racking up 10 points, Gadzuric was
playing the way the Bruins needed him to in order for them to
win.

And then came the fouls. In his 10 first-half minutes, Gadzuric
notched three, relegating him to the bench for a good portion of
the second half.

With Gadzuric riding the pine, Stanford’s own seven-foot
man carried his team. Borchardt saw 34 minutes overall, during
which he went for 20 points, eight rebounds and three blocks.

“They basically controlled the paint through the dribble
penetration and through their second and third shots,” UCLA
head coach Steve Lavin said. “Rebounding was less about Dan
Gadzuric and more about their dribble penetration, which broke down
the integrity of our shell defense.”

The Bruin offense had a different look on Thursday. Matt Barnes,
who had showcased a dangerous perimeter game in the past three
games, settled in inside the paint for much of the game and
finished with 20 points and six rebounds. Barnes, who was averaging
3.5 three-pointers in the last three games, went without any
against Stanford.

Kapono carried the perimeter offense for the Bruins, but with
just one Bruin scoring from the outside, Stanford didn’t have
to spread its defense thin.

Billy Knight had an uncharacteristic night, going just 2-for-9
overall and 0-for-2 from three-point land. Cummings looked good at
the beginning, draining two outside shots, but he wasn’t able
to continue the outside success.

“We took too many contested shots,” Lavin said.
“We tried to force too many shots, took too many quick
shots.

“Stanford did a great job and we played very
poorly,” he said, “and now we have to get ready for a
good Cal team on Saturday. As disappointing as this loss is, we
have to get ready for our next game.”

As bad as the loss seemed when time ran out, some of the sting
was taken away when it was revealed that USC had lost to Cal in
overtime and Oregon fell to Washington. With the loss to Stanford,
the Bruins are still just a half game back in the conference
standings.

“It’s tough to win on the road in this
conference,” Stanford head coach Mike Montgomery said.
“You have to hold your own court. After (the other
conference) games, it shows that the conference is even more
balanced. The team that doesn’t make slip-ups is going to do
the best.”