Bruins Find Moral to Story

Not looking for moral victories but finding them anyway, the three best Bruin performances of the season have probably come in losses, most recently Thursday at Stanford.

“It’s definitely one of those games that when you get some distance, you can see that you’re making a lot of progress,” Coach Steve Lavin said.

That was in the 77-73 defeat to the sixth-ranked Cardinal.

That also followed similar positive reviews from:

* The 72-59 loss to Stanford on Jan. 16 at Pauley Pavilion, a game in which the Bruins led with nine minutes left and had a chance to win until a span of 7:15 without a basket allowed the Cardinal to turn a five-point advantage into a late runaway.

* The 66-62 loss to Kentucky on Nov. 28 in the Puerto Rico Shootout, a game in which the Bruins trailed by three points with 36 seconds remaining.

But Lavin said that while the games offered encouragement, coming against teams that could compete for a national championship, he did not sell the close losses to his team as moral victories.

“I don’t do that at all,” he said.

Coming up: Wednesday vs. USC, Feb. 21 vs. Syracuse.

at California, 1:30

Channel 7

* Site--New Arena, Berkeley.

* Radio--KXTA (1150).

* Records--Bruins 17-6, 8-4; Bears 13-8, 4-7.

* Update--UCLA is considering another lineup change. This one would make JaRon Rush a starter again. He was held out of the Oregon State game for disciplinary reasons and didn’t start Thursday against Stanford but finished with 20 points and 11 rebounds. Lavin also is contemplating whether to keep Jerome Moiso out today, if not longer, in hopes the rest will help Moiso’s sore arches.