What Goes Up Doesn’t Always Come Down in Pauley Pavilion

He has nobody to blame but himself. If he had stuck around long enough to take John Wooden’s job, Denny Crum would never get beat at UCLA by crummy calls.

So, off you go, Crumster. Back to Louisville on Air Bluegrass, or Horse West Airlines, or whatever it is you fly. A little traveling music, UCLA band. Louie, Louie--ohhhhh, oh. You gotta go.

Louisville, the state of Kentucky’s best-known clean basketball program, had a dirty trick played on it Sunday in Pauley Pavilion. The fourth-ranked Cardinals felt like dirty birdies after getting beat, 77-75, by unranked UCLA, which may have deserved to win, but not like this.

“That’s the way life works sometimes,” Crum said. “It does you dirty turns.”

A goaltending violation by that ever-present whirling dervish Never Nervous At Your Service Pervis Ellison, seen by official Willis McJunkin but hardly anybody else, gave Pooh Richardson a game-winning hoop, and gave tournament-bound (probably) UCLA its sixth straight victory and the season’s most important to date. The Bruins showed everybody that they can play with the big boys, and trust us, that’s important.

Even winning Coach Jim Harrick found it pretty important, only semi-joking when he said: “Hey, Denny doesn’t need this as much as I do.”

Crum has won national championships. Crum’s team is nationally ranked. Crum’s team is not only going places, it has already been there. Even Ellison has won more national championships than Harrick has--and Pervis is 21.

But UCLA is improving by leaps and bounds. After 20 games last year, the Bruins were 10-10. After 20 games this year, they were 15-5. And Sunday, they won a big one. A nice way to warm up for next Saturday’s game at Arizona.

“When we started out 4-0, we talked about winning 20,” Harrick said. “Then we got our brains beat out. And then we lost at Irvine. And we never spoke a word about winning 20 since.”

Sixteen was sweet.

Seconds to go: Louisville throws away the ball with a chance to win. Richardson scoops it up. He aims. He fires. Ellison gets a finger on it. It air-balls.

Again, Richardson is Poohie on the Spot. He grabs the ball. He flings it toward the basket once more. And here comes Ellison, up to do his famous shot-swat. The ball goes nowhere near the net. But the official says naughty-naughty to Never Nervous, and calls him for goaltending.

Matter of fact, McJunkin called it again and again, repeating the goaltending gesture for anybody who missed it. Ellison stared in disbelief. LaBradford Smith and the ref locked eyes for several seconds, a few feet apart. Crum stormed the court, complaining about all sorts of crud.

“It was a clean block,” Crum said later, milling around with well-wishers from his old Westwood days. “A horrible call. The guy blew it.”

Someone asked: “Did you see the replay?”

Crum replied: “I don’t have to see the replay. I don’t want to, either.”

He also said that he doubted that a UCLA fan anywhere thought it was goaltending. Trevor Wilson considers himself a UCLA fan, even though he is also a UCLA forward. Wilson said he thought it was goaltending. Was it goaltending?

Heaven knows, Mr. Ellison.

“I did get a hand on the ball, but I’m not sure if it was goaltending,” Never Nervous Pervis said.

Calls went both ways, all day. UCLA got a major break when one of its players stuck a hand through the net and knocked out a Louisville shot. Crum was livid about that.

Harrick wasn’t happy that Ellison was able to bump and grind at will. “Pervis Ellison had a screen around him all afternoon,” Harrick said. “Nobody could touch him.”

After a foul late in the game, Harrick yelled at official Booker Turner: “That’s about the eighth foul on Ellison today.”

According to Harrick, Turner replied: “Aw, Jimmy, sit down. Somebody stuck a hand up the basket before and we didn’t call it.”

“Why didn’t you?” Harrick asked.

“Listen, you got that call. Now sit down,” Turner said.

Just another manic Sunday.

Trevor Wilson recalled the wild finish of the Washington State game Jan. 26, in which he won the game on a last-second shot, but said: “As far as playing a great, I mean all-around great college basketball game is concerned, this was it. This was by far the most enjoyable.”

Harrick liked it, too. To beat Louisville--hey, Harrick said, “That team is real scary.”

That team also is real upset. Upset by the Bruins. Upset by the outcome.

“They ought to let the players decide the game, not the officials. Then again, I’m prejudiced,” Crum said. “At home, the home team gets those calls.”

Aw, laugh it off, coach. Here’s a crummy joke to take home with you, just to make you smile.

What did the basketball arena out West say to the visiting team from the Southeast?

Pauley wants a cracker.