UCLA Wins Ugly Against Louisville : Bruins: They improve their record to 12-1 with 88-81 victory, but they aren’t too impressive in new yellow uniforms.

Two seasons ago, UCLA needed a controversial last-second goaltending call to beat Louisville at Pauley Pavilion.

On Saturday, the Bruins required no outside assistance.

Continuing their best start since the 1982-83 season, when they had 13 victories in 14 games, the Bruins improved to 12-1 by outscoring the slumping Cardinals, 88-81, in front of 12,313.

UCLA was not especially impressive--in fact, it could be argued that the Bruins looked downright ugly in their new yellow uniforms--but it doesn’t take as much to beat Louisville this season as it has in the past.

The Bruins’ point total was their lowest in eight home games, and their 48.4% shooting was their worst of the season at Pauley Pavilion.

“We struggled a little bit,” UCLA Coach Jim Harrick said of the Bruins’ workmanlike effort, “but it was good enough to win.”

And good enough to hand Louisville its third consecutive loss.

The Cardinals (5-4) lost four of their top seven players from last season’s 27-8 team, and four of the six recruits signed by Coach Denny Crum, including the top three, failed to qualify academically.

Louisville has had 46 consecutive winning seasons, an NCAA record, but it has been speculated that the streak could end this year.

“It’s a different year for me because nobody expects us to do anything,” said Crum, whose teams reached the Final Four six times and won two national championships in his 19 seasons at Louisville. “We lost too many good players and nobody expects a lot, so there’s no pressure.

“It’s just fun.”

The Cardinals, though, seemed a little uptight at the start.

They missed eight of their first nine shots and made five turnovers in the first 3 1/2 minutes as UCLA raced to a 10-2 lead.

Louisville settled down after that, and behind forward Everick Sullivan, who scored 20 of his 27 points in the first half, the Cardinals caught the Bruins at several points but weren’t ever able to overtake them.

“You can look at it (two) ways,” Crum said of the Cardinals’ inability to gain the advantage. “If you’re a UCLA fan, you’d say that was good play on their part, and I’d agree with that. If you’re a Louisville fan, you say that’s inexperience on our part, and I’d agree with that.”

Senior guard LaBradford Smith squandered Louisville’s last chance to take the lead, missing the second of two free throws with 15:07 left.

The Cardinals didn’t score again for almost five minutes.

UCLA hit them with an 11-0 run, taking control and opening a 62-51 lead during a stretch in which Bruin point guard Darrick Martin had five points and two assists while Louisville, running out of steam, missed all five of its shots and had three turnovers.

“When we get our transition game going and push the ball up the floor,” Martin said, “we’re a tough team to beat.”

Crum didn’t know what hit him, or blocked it from his memory.

“I don’t remember the sequence of things that happened,” he said of the Bruins’ decisive run. “Obviously, they did some things right and we didn’t. I can’t remember the specific plays that happened.”

Thereafter, the Bruins’ lead was never less than four points.

Don MacLean, limited to a season-low nine points in a 97-80 loss at Louisville last season, looked jaundiced in his new uniform, but still led the Bruins with 26 points and 11 rebounds.

“I play better at home than on the road,” MacLean said.

Mitchell Butler made eight of 11 shots and scored 18 points for UCLA, Tracy Murray scored 15 and Gerald Madkins scored 11.

Martin scored a season-low six points, missed six of seven shots and made a season-high six turnovers, but he also had six assists and two steals and was at his best when the Bruins needed him most.

“He didn’t play particularly well offensively,” Harrick said, “but he controls the game for us. He’s really become a valuable part of our team, getting the ball to the right guys at the right time.”

Smith scored 19 points for Louisville, including 15 in the second half, and guard James Brewer scored 16, including 11 in the second half, when the up-and-down Sullivan went cold.

Sullivan, who made seven of 10 shots and had six rebounds in the first half after failing to score Thursday night in a 72-64 loss at Cincinnati, made two of nine shots in the second, with two rebounds.

Bruin Notes

UCLA is 5-0 against Louisville at Pauley Pavilion. . . . Led by Don MacLean, who was eight for eight from the line, the Bruins made 25 of 30 free throws. “It seemed like every time they stepped up, they made it,” Louisville Coach Denny Crum said. “That’s hard to overcome when you’re on the road.” . . . UCLA has had 42 consecutive winning seasons.

Everick Sullivan made two of 17 shots in Louisville’s previous two games. . . . Cornelius Holden, a junior from Crenshaw High, scored only three points for Louisville, missing five of six shots and three of four free throws. . . . UCLA, 17-1 in nonconference games at Pauley Pavilion under Coach Jim Harrick, has won 14 in a row at home. . . . None of Louisville’s last eight opponents has made more than 50% of its shots. . . . UCLA made only one of 10 three-point shots and has made only four of 30 in its past three games.