Madkins’ Acting No Flop for UCLA : College basketball: Bruin guard takes charge as Payton draws fourth foul in key play of 94-80 victory over Oregon State.

Gerald Madkins scored only five points Saturday in UCLA’s 94-80 victory over Oregon State, but he made the play of the game.

Or did he?

It seemed a matter of debate after UCLA had improved to 14-3 overall and 8-1 in the Pacific 10 Conference, claiming a share of the conference lead by handing the Beavers (15-3, 8-1) their first conference loss.

The game at Pauley Pavilion seemed to turn with 13:32 left, when Madkins took a charge against Oregon State’s All-American guard, Gary Payton.

The foul was the fourth against Payton, who had scored 21 points and orchestrated the Beavers into a 53-53 tie.

And from the time he collided with Madkins outside the lane in front of the Oregon State bench until 3:24 remained, when UCLA Coach Jim Harrick cleared his bench with the Bruins in command, 86-66, Payton scored only two points and seemed reluctant to get too involved in the game.

Harrick refused to call Madkins’ play the turning point, instead giving credit to the Bruin guard’s defense.

“I don’t know if that had a lot to do with it or not,” Harrick said of the call against Payton. “They were on the second leg of a tough road trip (after beating USC Thursday night, 92-82, at the Sports Arena).

“He played, didn’t he? Maybe he can’t play the same (with four fouls), but he got 30 (points). I didn’t see any difference in his play.”

Continuing a 24-4 blitz that started a couple of minutes earlier, when Madkins made a three-point shot from the top of the key, UCLA turned a 53-48 deficit into a 72-57 lead with 7:21 remaining.

Payton’s only points during the Bruin run were scored on a follow shot, and he seemed hesitant as the Beavers fell behind.

But foul trouble didn’t bother him, he said.

To what, then, could he explain the drastic momentum swing?

“I don’t know,” said Payton, who had six of his season-high nine turnovers in the second half and missed nine of his last 13 shots. “We played great in the first half, but then the game just changed.”

Payton refused to comment on the charging call.

Madkins, though, confirmed what television replays seemed to indicate: His feet weren’t planted when he collided with Payton.

“I took a belly flop,” Madkins said. “You play to officials. I knew that’s the kind of game they were calling. I had position, but if I would have come to a complete stop, I think Gary would have been smart enough to go around me.”

Quick enough, too.

Said Madkins: “He was still moving and I was, too, so I said, ‘belly-flop time,’ and the official fell for it.”

But Madkins didn’t realize that the foul was Payton’s fourth.

“He had four?” he asked. “I didn’t know that. I thought I was playing great defense. Maybe he was a little hesitant. I don’t know.”

Whatever the reason, UCLA took control and never let up until it was evident that Oregon State’s 10-game winning streak would end.

“We just couldn’t seem to miss,” said Don MacLean, who led UCLA with 27 points and 12 rebounds, the fifth time in six games that he has reached double figures in both categories. “And when we did miss, we usually got the rebound and put the ball back up and in.”

The Bruins made 64.3% of their shots in the second half and at one point outscored the Beavers, 41-15, before Harrick emptied his bench.

Oregon State, which made 63% of its shots in building a 44-40 halftime lead, made only 31.3% in the second half.

“When the dam broke, it sure did go quick,” said Beaver Coach Jim Anderson, whose 17th-ranked team hadn’t lost since Dec. 19, when it was upset by Loyola Marymount at Corvallis, Ore., 117-113.

Anderson said the game was too physical for the Beavers, who were outrebounded, 45-34, by the bulkier Bruins.

“We don’t have the size or the bulk to combat their physical game,” said Anderson, who commented after a practice Friday at UCLA: “All their bodies are big and strong and all our bodies are thin and weak.”

Anderson said he never considered replacing Payton, who wound up with 30 points, eight assists, six steals and four rebounds. Payton made 12 of 24 shots, including seven of 10 in the first half, when he scored 18 points.

“He’s too valuable to us,” Anderson said of the senior point guard from Oakland. “You have visions of the game getting worse.”

Considering what happened, that didn’t seem possible.

Bruin Notes

UCLA’s Trevor Wilson had 22 points, eight rebounds and six assists. . . . Don MacLean was nine of 14 from the floor and in UCLA’s last five games has made 61% of his shots. . . . Said UCLA Coach Jim Harrick: “No question we had to win this game to have a chance to win the conference.” In the second half of the Pac-10 race, the Bruins will play at Arizona Feb. 10 and at Oregon State Feb. 24, while Arizona (6-3 in conference games) will play both UCLA and Oregon State at Tucson.

Harrick, on Gary Payton: “If the score is up (in the 80s or 90s), then he can get 30 and we can overcome that if we take care of their other guys.” MacLean on Payton: “In the first half, I think we were just sitting there watching (him), because we were so amazed at how good he was.” On the rematch next month: “Now that we’ve beaten them here and beaten them pretty good, we’ll have confidence going into Corvallis.”

Gerald Madkins, who had the flu, wore a T-shirt under his jersey, which is usually not allowed by Harrick. Madkins said he had to take himself out at one point because he was hyperventilating. . . . Payton was averaging less than three turnovers a game and hadn’t had more than four in a game since Dec. 8, when he had six in a 78-72 loss at Memphis State. . . . UCLA, which hasn’t made it through a home season unbeaten since it won its last national championship in 1975, is 10-0 at Pauley Pavilion with five games left to play in Westwood this season. . . . Forward Earl Martin from Carson scored 17 points for Oregon State.