Bruins Return to Scene of Massacre

Steve Lavin remembers it as a two-hour tidal wave, wiping away all things Bruin.

J.R. Henderson’s most vivid memory is a profound, impossible, sane desire:

“Wanting to leave,” Henderson said Friday morning, “at halftime.”

That’s when the score was only 57-26, and, no matter their preference, Henderson and his teammates had to remain in the arena as the downpour of Cardinal offensive firepower continued.

The object of this fright, fascination and conversation was last year’s 109-61 loss to Stanford at Maples Pavilion, immediately dubbed the Maples Massacre, the worst defeat ever suffered by a UCLA team.

The Bruins bobbed back with a victory two days later over California, and ended up winning 17 of the 21 games that followed the Stanford debacle (including a 19-point Pauley Pavilion defeat of the Cardinal), all the way to their third consecutive Pacific 10 Conference title and the Midwest Regional finals.

But the year-old scars linger.

“I didn’t want to be there at all--not a good place to be at that time if you were UCLA,” Henderson said. “They were running up the score on you, and it seemed like you were helpless. Like we couldn’t put the ball in the basket and we couldn’t defend.

“It’s like we were handicapped or something. I don’t know what it was.”

Today, the Bruins (who already have suffered a 41-point defeat to North Carolina this season) head back to Maples, urging themselves to forget the past or be doomed to be ground into dust once again.

The Cardinal is ranked seventh in the nation, has gotten off to school-best 15-0 start, and is deeper, more fluid and more versatile that it was last season.

In last year’s game, triggered by since-departed point guard Brevin Knight and reserve guard Ryan Mendez, Stanford bolted to a 17-1 lead in the first five minutes, was up, 41-15, midway into the first half, outrebounded the Bruins, 45-26, and made 15 three-point baskets.

“You hate to be on the back end of runs like that, when . . . they can put shots around the back and through the legs and it’ll still go in,” said center Jelani McCoy, who was benched for the second half after refusing to touch Lavin’s outstretched hand during a substitution.

Said Henderson: “We don’t plan on getting embarrassed.”

The Bruins won their second consecutive tight game Thursday at Cal, and though UCLA is 13-2, Lavin acknowledges there are offensive and defensive problems to straighten out.

“Because you’re so concerned kind of moment to moment, game to game, week to week, you don’t really have the time to waste on grudge matches or paybacks or vendettas or anything like that,” Lavin said.

“It’s more just, ‘Is your team improving?’ The concerns we’ve had are much larger than worrying about the Maples Massacre from last season.”

Stanford, which destroyed USC, 99-62, Thursday at Maples, is assuming the No. 8 Bruins will come out fiercely today.

“They’ll be motivated to come in to play a much better game,” Stanford guard Kris Weems said. “They know we’re No. 7 in the country and they want to prove that they still belong in the top 10 as well.”

Asked to compare the Cardinal backcourt, which also includes junior point guard Art Lee, who has been a steadying influence in place of Knight, Weems said UCLA may suffer by starting two freshman guards--Earl Watson and Baron Davis.

“Earl and Baron, they’re great players,” Weems said. “But they’re freshmen, and they haven’t been to Maples yet.”