UCLA Beaten at Cal : Bruins: Nation’s 15th-ranked team falls to seventh in Pac-10, 82-79.

California lost a 10-point halftime lead but then overcame a seven-point second-half deficit to defeat UCLA, 82-79, Thursday night before a sellout crowd of 6,578 at Harmon Arena.

Billy Dreher led the Golden Bears with 24 points, making four of five three-point shots, as Cal dropped the 15th-ranked Bruins into seventh place in the Pacific 10 Conference race.

“They just flat-out beat us, almost in every phase,” UCLA Coach Jim Harrick said of the Bears, who outshot UCLA, 57.1% to 42.6%, while improving to 11-11 overall and 7-6 in the Pac-10.

UCLA (17-7, 5-6) has lost five conference games that have either gone into overtime or been decided in the final minute.

“It’s not feeding on itself,” Harrick said of the Bruins’ inability to win close games. “We’re just getting beat. The conference is good.”

Tracy Murray led UCLA with 25 points, making five of 11 three-point shots, including two in the last 30 seconds, the last with 16 seconds remaining to pull UCLA to within 80-79.

Dreher then made two free throws with four seconds left.

UCLA’s Don MacLean had 14 points and 12 rebounds, but followed a seven-for-20 shooting day against Arizona on Sunday by making only four of 12 shots. He had to leave the game with less than two minutes to play after an errant elbow by Murray opened a small cut on the outside corner of his right eye. He will be examined today and is expected to play Saturday against Stanford.

Last month’s 98-81 loss at Pauley Pavilion was California’s 61st in 64 games against UCLA since the 1960-61 season.

Cal Coach Lou Campanelli was not happy with the accelerated pace of that game, in which the Bruins shot 52.2% and received 68 points from Murray, MacLean and guard Gerald Madkins.

“We got caught up in trying to trade them basket for basket,” Campanelli said. “I think we’ve got to be a little more judicious on that. I just don’t think we want to get into a 108-to-102 type tempo.”

The rematch started at a pace more to Campanelli’s liking.

UCLA jumped to an 8-4 lead, building its advantage on two three-point shots by Murray and a follow dunk by Mitchell Butler, but Cal then put together a 7-0 run and never trailed the rest of the half.

Midway through the half, Murray fell hard on his left hip and was taken to the locker room, but he returned within a few minutes.

UCLA pulled to within 25-23, only to have Cal’s Bill Elleby make a three-point shot. The Bruins had a chance to pull to within a point late in the half, but Rodney Zimmerman fumbled a pass on his way to a fast-break layup and Elleby scored on a layup at the other end to start a 9-0 run by Cal.

A driving layup by Sean Harrell capped the Bear blitz, giving the Golden Bears a 44-32 lead with 1:06 left in the half.

UCLA’s 46-36 halftime deficit was its largest of the season.

Cal outshot the Bruins in the first half, 53.1% to 41.2%.

The second half started with a Bruin turnover, which led to an uncontested layup by Elleby, increasing Cal’s lead to 48-36, but UCLA then outscored the Bears, 26-7, to open a 62-55 lead midway through the half.

The Bruins’ lead was 64-57 after Butler made a layup with 10:26 remaining, but UCLA didn’t make another shot for more than six minutes and was outscored, 16-3.

Martin’s driving layup ended the run, cutting Cal’s lead to 73-69 with 4:16 to play.

Bruin Notes

UCLA Coach Jim Harrick called Don MacLean’s technical foul Sunday against Arizona “unacceptable in our program,” but he never made a move to pull MacLean after the Bruins’ top scorer threw the ball at Arizona’s Brian Williams. “Kids get embarrassed enough,” Harrick said. “Me taking him out (would add) to that embarrassment. When kids make a mistake on the floor, you think they don’t know it? If they make mistakes, they know it better than anybody and you just compound it by pulling them.”

Harrick, on UCLA’s inability to win close games: “Coach (John) Wooden called to offer me his four-leaf clover.”