Good Till the Last Drops

Stanford squeezed and squeezed and squeezed Thursday night, and the brittle but sometimes brilliant UCLA Bruins finally cracked at the end of this high-magnitude meeting.

One dribble short. One free throw. One steal. One large loss.

In a passionate, panicky, 40-minute mad dash, UCLA fell apart in the second half, rampaged its way back to a last-minute tie, then sagged in the final minute, losing, 84-81, before 13,079 at Pauley Pavilion.

“We all know what’s wrong,” senior swingman Kris Johnson said. “We go through times where we don’t have defensive intensity, and where we stand on offense. That’s what’s wrong.

“You have to be concerned about it, but I’m not going to start dwelling on it. We’ve just got to bounce back on Saturday [against California].”

Relying almost completely on instinct--and the inspiring one-on-one offensive skills of J.R. Henderson, Johnson and Toby Bailey--the Bruins made a gallant, 15-0 run to tie the score at 70-70 with 4:55 left in the game.

In the sudden surge, ninth-ranked UCLA, which had been content to throw up off-balance jumpers through most of the game, had the faster feet, the raging full-court pressure defense and the perseverance to survive.

But, when the game was decided, in the last 51 seconds, Stanford--as it was through the whole contest--was better organized, better balanced, better under pressure, and better in the final score.

Three-time defending conference champion UCLA (18-5, 8-4 in conference play) now finds itself with almost no hope of winning the Pacific 10 Conference, and more than a game behind second-place Stanford (20-3, 9-2), which swept UCLA this season.

It was the first time UCLA had been swept since 1994, when California had the honors.

“We’ll bounce back, just because we’re winners,” said Bailey, who led all scorers with 26 points. “Just like we didn’t give up when we were down 15 in the second half.

“But it’s disappointing. . . . I’m sick to my stomach right now because of it.”

The latest the score was tied was with 51 seconds remaining, when it was 78-78.

In the final 30 seconds, trailing Stanford, 80-78, UCLA turned the ball over on back-to-back possessions, as Bailey tried to create offense as he had for the last eight minutes.

“We were just going to the rack, getting either a foul or a basket,” said Bailey, who missed all six of his three-point tries. “And that’s what we should’ve been doing earlier, instead of casting up three-pointers like we were doing.”

Overall, UCLA was a dreadful three for 18 from three-point distance.

Stanford made four of five free throws in the final 33 seconds, which was enough to pull it out, despite Johnson’s three-pointer with three seconds left.

“Stanford’s real solid,” said Bruin center Jelani McCoy, who came off the bench and had 11 rebounds and nine points. “When you make mistakes, they definitely take advantage of them. They just play it solid--they’re not a bunch of world-beaters out there, they aren’t five Michael Jordans, but they sustain it over the whole game.”

With 8:11 remaining, it was 70-55, as UCLA continued to get nothing out of its half-court offense, and Stanford kept things calm and controlled.

Cardinal forward Peter Sauer was Stanford’s key shooter, making nine of his 13 shots (and three three-pointers) to score 21 points. Guard Kris Weems made several late baskets, and led the Cardinal with 23 points.

But, triggered once again by a full-court press that the Bruins also used savagely to open the first half, UCLA, despite having Baron Davis and Johnson in foul trouble, blew through Stanford for a 3:20 stretch, all the way to the 70-70 tie.

From there, the game was about the Cardinal figuring out a way to manufacture points, and UCLA falling down when it desperately needed points the most.

The Bruins started ferociously, but their overwhelming energy, predictably, was short-lived.

Using their full-court press to force Stanford into four fast turnovers, which turned into four straight UCLA fast-break baskets, the Bruins jumped to an 11-3 early lead, on their way to a 15-5 lead with 15:38 left to play.

But, even with point guard Arthur Lee in foul trouble, the Cardinal started to beat the press, the Bruins’ legs wearied, and the UCLA lead began to erode in a steady stream of crisp, half-court Stanford offense.

“Defensively, I don’t think we played with the energy we needed,” Bruin Coach Steve Lavin said. “The first eight minutes and the last six minutes of the game were great, but the middle period is what concerns me.

“Near the end, we got the shots we needed, but we didn’t complete the plays.”