NCAA MEN’S BASKETBALL TOURNAMENT : Bruin Victory Over Louisville Is All Business : West: UCLA stays cool after beating the Cardinals, 85-69, to reach round of 16. MacLean becomes Pac-10’s all-time leading scorer.

It didn’t take long Sunday for UCLA to drain any drama from its 85-69 rout of Louisville at the University Activity Center.

The Bruins took command early and never let up, advancing to the round of 16 in the NCAA tournament for the second time in three years.

“They were in total control from start to finish,” Louisville Coach Denny Crum said of the top-seeded Bruins, who will play 12th-seeded New Mexico State (25-7) in a West Regional seminal Thursday night at Albuquerque, N.M. “There was never any question (about the outcome).”

UCLA was businesslike in running its record to 27-4.

Afterward, the Bruins maintained their cool demeanor.

“We kind of expected to go this far,” UCLA forward Don MacLean said. “Everybody expected us to be in the Sweet 16. I know that, as a team, we’ve set our goals higher than the Sweet 16.

“Yeah, we’re excited about beating Louisville, but we know that we’ve still got a lot of work ahead of us to reach our goals.”

The Bruins had already defeated Louisville once this season, winning at Louisville last month, 78-64. That loss equaled the worst of the regular season for the Cardinals, who also lost by 14 points to Kentucky.

Sunday, UCLA won more handily.

“They really played well,” Crum said of the Bruins, who never led by fewer than four points after taking an 11-4 lead. “They’re a very talented team, very experienced, and they did exactly what they wanted to do.

“We never really could get into sync. You have to give them credit for that. They didn’t let us play the way we like to play.”

The worst-shooting team in Crum’s 21 seasons as the Cardinals’ coach, Louisville missed 16 of its first 20 shots as UCLA took a 23-10 lead, missing not only outside shots, but layups, too.

The Cardinals cut their deficit to 37-33 less than three minutes into the second half, but Gerald Madkins then made two free throws to spark a 9-2 run by UCLA and start a Bruin parade to the foul line.

After a four-point play by Madkins capped the run--fouled by Everick Sullivan as he made a three-point shot, Madkins added a free throw--UCLA never led by fewer than eight points the rest of the way, making 34 of 41 free throws during the second half, 30 of 35 after Madkins’ three-point shot.

It was a far more impressive showing than the one put forth by the Bruins Friday night, when they defeated outmanned Robert Morris, 73-53.

“When we play a team we’re expected to beat by a lot, we play as individuals,” said junior swingman Mitchell Butler, attempting to explain the Bruins’ inconsistencies. “But when we confront a team that we know is going to give us a nice challenge, we play as a team. We realize it’s going to take all of us to beat that team.”

As usual, the Bruins’ leaders were forwards Tracy Murray and MacLean, who combined for 49 points and 18 rebounds.

Murray scored a game-high 26 points took eight rebounds.

MacLean scored 23 points, replacing former Arizona forward Sean Elliott as the Pac-10’s all-time scoring leader, and took 10 rebounds.

“We had a tough time defending them,” Crum said of the Bruins’ top scorers. “It seemed like whenever they’d get in trouble, they’d throw the ball to MacLean or Murray and they’d score or get fouled.”

Murray made nine of 13 free throws, MacLean 11 of 11.

Madkins, who scored a season-high 16 points against Robert Morris, matched it against the Cardinals, making nine of 11 free throws and adding six assists, as well as a strong defensive effort against Sullivan.

Butler scored nine points and also played a strong defensive game, limiting Dwayne Morton, Louisville’s leading scorer, to only four points.

Reserve guard James Brewer scored 13 points to lead the Cardinals, who made only 41.4% of their shots and were outrebounded, 35-28.

Sullivan scored 11 points, but missed seven of 10 shots.

Bruin Notes

Louisville Coach Denny Crum said that Don MacLean and Tracy Murray give the Bruins a legitimate chance to win the national championship. “Any time you’ve got two players like those two, on a given night, you can beat anyone,” Crum said. . . . For the first time this season, UCLA Coach Jim Harrick used all five of his starters--MacLean, Murray, Mitchell Butler, Gerald Madkins and Tyus Edney--for more than 30 minutes. “I thought they were playing well and our flow was good,” Harrick said.

Why do teams keep fouling MacLean, who leads the nation in free-throw percentage and has made 26 of 28 foul shots in two NCAA tournament games? “Nobody reads my notes,” joked Marc Dellins, UCLA’s sports information director.

Dwayne Morton scored 15 points against UCLA last month. . . . Among the crowd of 10,125 was Nevada Las Vegas Coach Jerry Tarkanian.

* NEXT FOR BRUINS: New Mexico State beats Southwestern Louisiana, 81-73, and gains a Sweet 16 berth against UCLA Thursday in Albuquerque, N.M. Story, C12.