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A look at the UCLA-USC rivalry in 1970-71, the last time both won so many games to start a season

USC's Bob Boyd, left, and UCLA's John Wooden talk before a 1974 game between the two programs.
(Joe Kennedy / Los Angeles Times)
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The last time UCLA and USC won this many games to start a season, the college basketball world was about to lose its pebbled leather grip.

John Wooden’s Bruins, winners of four consecutive national titles, were being challenged for supremacy by Bob Boyd’s Trojans, who usually received second billing on their own campus behind the football team.

UCLA started 14-0 during the 1970-71 season and had some catching up to do after losing to Notre Dame in late January. USC won its first 16 games and supplanted its archrival as the nation’s top-ranked team, sparking curiosity across town.

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“We wanted to play them because we knew they had the No. 1 spot and we knew we should have been No. 1,” Henry Bibby, then a junior guard for the Bruins, recalled this week. “How could ‘SC, a football school, be No. 1?”

The Trojans were deemed superior largely because they had what Sports Illustrated called the nation’s best backcourt with Mo Layton and Paul Westphal in addition to forward Ron Riley, who would go on to hold every rebounding record in school history.

The Bruins countered with the fearsome frontcourt of Sidney Wicks and Curtis Rowe, who combined to average a staggering 38.9 points and 22.8 rebounds a game, as well as guards Bibby and Kenny Booker.

When the teams finally met on Feb. 6, 1971, at the Sports Arena, they weren’t just fighting for the city title; they wanted to be known as the nation’s best team. Top-ranked USC was a perfect 16-0 and second-ranked UCLA was one tick back at 15-1. Oddsmakers favored the Bruins by 2 1/2 points, though even some of the participants didn’t believe that either team had a clear advantage.

“I always felt that if we had played them 10 times,” Westphal said this week, “they would have won five and we would have won five.”

There appears to be a bit more separation between the No. 2 Bruins (12-0) and No. 23 Trojans (11-0) this season, even if their unblemished records are nearly identical. Neither would probably mind being considered throwbacks if it meant they could capture a nation’s attention the way they did 46 years ago.

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Boyd had one guiding principle when it came to his schedule.

“He said, ‘I want to play the best possible teams we can play pre-conference,’ ” recalled Jim Hefner, one of Boyd’s assistant coaches.

That’s exactly what the Trojans did as the calendar flipped from 1970 to ‘71. They faced Louisiana State’s Bill Newton, Texas El Paso’s Dick Gibbs, Houston’s Dwight Davis, Brigham Young’s Bernie Fryer, Florida State’s Ron King and Utah’s Mike Newlin, each of whom would go on to play in the NBA.

USC vanquished every team in its way, gaining confidence after beating Florida State and UTEP on the Miners’ home court to win an early season tournament.

“That made us feel like if we could win there against those teams,” Westphal said, “that we could pretty much feel good about our chances anywhere.”

I always felt that if we had played them 10 times, they would have won five and we would have won five.

— Former USC player Paul Westphal

UCLA was plowing through its schedule as expected before a trip to face Notre Dame in late January in South Bend, Ind. Fighting Irish shooting guard Austin Carr practically became a soloist, scoring 15 of his team’s final 17 points and 46 overall in an 89-82 upset of the Bruins.

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That only seemed to heighten the anticipation for UCLA’s trip across town to face USC two weeks later. The novelty of the second-ranked Bruins looking up at the Trojans in the rankings was going to be experienced not just by a sold-out crowd at the Sports Arena but also by a national television audience, rare in those days for college basketball.

“It was more significant because for years, UCLA had always been No. 1 and it wasn’t just ‘SC who couldn’t beat UCLA, it was the whole nation,” Hefner said. “Now all of a sudden you find yourself in a situation where we’re No. 1.”

The buzz was palpable well before tipoff. Trojans fans waved giant buttons proclaiming “We’re No. 1.” Across the way, a UCLA fan hoisted a sign taunting its rival. “SC No. 1?” the sign read. “They can’t even count that high.”

The Bruins bolted to a nine-point lead in the first half, signaling business as usual for a team that had won 51 of 71 meetings in the rivalry since Wooden’s arrival in 1948. Then USC’s shots started to fall. The Trojans held a 59-50 lead midway through the second half. Maybe they really were the best team in the country.

Momentum would shift once more when the Trojans scored one point over the game’s final 9 1/2 minutes. UCLA’s Booker came up with a steal and a layup to put the Bruins ahead, 61-59, with 5 1/2 minutes left and prompt a nearly three-minute stall by Wooden, who typically hated that tactic. It worked as UCLA prevailed, 64-60.

“That’s what happens when you’re a winner,” Bibby said. “You figure out a way to pull it out.”

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Neither team would lose again before the rematch on March 13 at Pauley Pavilion, entering their final regular-season game with identical 24-1 records. The stakes couldn’t have been higher for the top-ranked Bruins or third-ranked Trojans.

A UCLA win would secure the Pac-8 Conference title and the accompanying berth in the NCAA tournament. A USC win would force a one-game playoff the following day at Pauley Pavilion for the conference title and its sole postseason spot; Pac-8 rules did not permit teams to play in the National Invitation Tournament as a consolation prize.

Boyd told reporters that his team’s season wouldn’t be a success unless it won the game.

It wasn’t much of a rematch. UCLA led by 19 points at halftime and as many as 24 in the second half amid a flurry of offensive rebounds on the way to a 73-62 victory. Rowe said afterward that the Bruins had taken motivation from the Trojans saying in the days leading up to the game that UCLA had gotten lucky in beating them earlier in the season.

“I don’t think there’s much doubt now,” Rowe declared, “about which is the best team in town.”

That didn’t mean there wasn’t mutual respect between the teams. Wicks and Rowe walked over to USC’s locker room after the game to shake Boyd’s hand. The Trojans had finished 24-2, the best record in school history not serving as much consolation.

“I think the emptiness in the whole thing was the fact that you couldn’t go to an NCAA tournament,” Hefner said. “That was the downer. I mean, we were a heck of a lot better than a lot of teams that went.”

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UCLA would go on to beat Villanova for its fifth national championship. The Bruins wouldn’t lose again until another setback against Notre Dame during the 1973-74 season, snapping a record 88-game winning streak.

Comparing those Bruins and Trojans with the current teams is largely a futile endeavor. Freshmen weren’t eligible to play before the 1972-73 season. Stars stayed through their senior season instead of departing for the NBA after one or two years.

One thing is indistinguishable between the eras—all the winning to start a season. UCLA and USC are two of only six remaining unbeatens in the country. Their first meeting is Jan. 25 at the Galen Center, with the rematch Feb. 18 at Pauley Pavilion.

The way things are going for both teams, the loser of those games won’t need to worry about making the NCAA tournament.

UCLA TONIGHT

VS. W. MICHIGAN

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When: 8 p.m Wednesday.

Where: Pauley Pavilion.

On the air: TV: Pac-12 Networks; Radio: 570.

Update: The only drama surrounding the final nonconference tuneup for No. 2 UCLA (12-0) might be whether power forward TJ Leaf’s tweet inviting singer Taylor Swift to a game is successful. “It hasn’t gone as well as I’d hoped so far,” Leaf said Tuesday, “but hopefully we’ll get a response soon.” Leaf has apparently received some ribbing from teammates such as Lonzo Ball, who acknowledged Swift’s lack of a response. “I don’t think he will be getting one either,” Ball deadpanned. Bruins center Thomas Welsh is considered doubtful with a sprained right knee against the Broncos (3-7), who are coming off a 92-86 loss to Washington on Sunday and lost to No. 1 Villanova, 76-65, earlier this season.

ben.bolch@latimes.com

Twitter: @latbbolch

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