Bruins try to regain their Pac-10 edge against Ducks

It was supposed to be about revenge. Instead, it’s about resolve.

The rematch between UCLA and Oregon was supposed to be payback for the Bruins after the Ducks toppled them from the ranks of the unbeaten and the top spot in the national rankings on Jan. 6.

Instead, for the Bruins, it’s more about bouncing back from Sunday’s crushing loss to Stanford and holding onto the top spot in the Pacific 10 Conference.

UCLA and Oregon are both 7-2 in conference entering tonight’s game at Pauley Pavilion, but the Ducks (19-2) are one victory better than the Bruins (18-2) overall. It’s Oregon’s best record in 80 years.

As far as UCLA swingman Josh Shipp is concerned, the teams are not really tied for the conference lead.

“They beat us,” Shipp said. “They are in first. They have the edge. We need to get that edge back.”

For Bruins guard Arron Afflalo, the team’s defensive stopper, that edge begins in the film room, where he studies the player he will be assigned to shut down, or at least slow down, with the kind of intensity brought to final exams.

While Afflalo acknowledged he has found it difficult to put the Stanford game in his rear-view mirror -- UCLA blew a 17-point lead -- he has finally swapped the tape of that game, a tape he watched at least five times, for fresh tape on Aaron Brooks.

But the picture in Afflalo’s mind of Brooks is all the motivation he needs: the 6-foot, 165-pound senior guard dribbling through the Bruins to make an open 12-footer with 13.4 seconds remaining in their first meeting, giving Oregon the 68-66 lead that would hold up as the final score.

“[The Ducks] are so spread out,” Afflalo said, “and they set so many screens that it is tough to guard Brooks. But we will make him priority No. 1 from the get-go.”

Brooks is averaging 19.1 points, 4.1 rebounds and 4.5 assists.

And he’s not all the Bruins have to worry about.

Oregon’s other starters also are averaging double figures in points: forwards Bryce Taylor (15.8) and Malik Hairston (13.0), center Maarty Leunen (11.3) and guard Tajuan Porter (13.1).

TONIGHT

7:30, FSN Prime Ticket

Site -- Pauley Pavilion.

Radio -- 570.

Records -- UCLA 18-2 overall, 7-2 in the Pac-10; Oregon 19-2, 7-2.

Update -- Oregon is 5-1 on the road but has lost its last three games at Pauley Pavilion and 45 of its 50 games as the visiting team against the Bruins.

steve.springer@latimes.com