Bruins Take Care of No. 1

And if you thought Thursday at California was impressive . . .

The UCLA Bruins played an encore like no other Saturday afternoon, overcoming the steamroller that is No. 1 Stanford and everything else in their cluttered path. That included the Cardinal, the emotion inside Maples Pavilion from Senior Day, controversy, history, suspensions and themselves. That’s all.

How emotional was the 94-93 overtime stunner before a capacity 7,391? Coach Steve Lavin cried in the locker room afterward, then composed himself just in time for his longtime friend and assistant, Jim Saia, to shed tears of his own. Bruin forward Sean Farnham, from the East Bay town of Clayton, looked up in the stands at the end and saw his parents crying.

How storybook was it? The winning basket, a 13-footer along the left baseline with three seconds remaining, came from JaRon Rush, who returned after three months and 24 games on the sidelines because of suspension and got a team-high 19 points in 26 minutes off the bench.

How improbable was the victory that put the Bruins at 17-11 overall and 8-8 in the Pacific 10? Center Dan Gadzuric fouled out with 5:48 left in regulation and power forward Jerome Moiso fouled out with 2:10 remaining in overtime, this against an opponent with a powerful frontline. Rush, Matt Barnes and Billy Knight, all key contributors off the bench, each played with four fouls.

How controversial was it? UCLA charged joyously to its locker room after the game, only to be called back to the court as Stanford Coach Mike Montgomery disputed a non-call on what he thought should have been a 35-second violation that would have disallowed Rush’s winning shot. But referees, relying on a rule change implemented during the season, consulted a TV replay and confirmed they made the right call, ending the game four minutes after the clock said it ended.

In the same building where they endured--for years--the Maples Massacre, the 109-61 thrashing in 1997, the Bruins offered a different kind of game for the ages.

Not only beating No. 1, but after trailing 12-0 and 19-4, by which time they had committed five turnovers in 11 possessions and missed four of six shots.

Not only overcoming the deficit, but shooting a combined 60% in the second half and overtime and 54.5% in all against the team that began the day giving up only 34%, on pace to set an NCAA record.

“It is just--how can I say?--a sign that we are getting to a point where this team is doing what it has been able to do,” Moiso said after his 17 points, 12 rebounds and three blocks. “Tonight was a turning point for us.”

If so, it will be because of the several turning points within, starting with the four lead changes and one tie in the final 98 seconds of regulation, a second half in which neither team led by more than five points. It was capped when Moiso, not even realizing he got the ball with two seconds remaining, hit a four-foot jump hook to force overtime at 80-80.

The Bruins fell behind again early in overtime, 87-84, and still trailed, 93-89, with 54 seconds left. Without a true power player, they went with Rush, Barnes, Jason Kapono, Ray Young and Earl Watson.

Rush, who spent many of his 26 minutes defending power forwards, including conference player-of-the-year candidate Mark Madsen, made a straightaway three-pointer with 42 seconds remaining, the third time in five tries he connected from behind the arc. That got UCLA within 93-92. When that was followed with a full-court press, Stanford’s Jarron Collins could not throw the ball in, didn’t call a timeout in time and instead got a five-second violation.

With the same 42 seconds still on the board, the Bruins called a timeout, then another before even taking the court. When play finally resumed, with the chance to replace moral victory with an actual one, Young ended up with the ball, 10 feet out on the left side with about nine seconds left in the game and two on the shot clock. His jumper grazed the rim.

Stanford (25-2, 14-2) briefly had the defensive rebounds, but Rush stole the ball and let fly what would become the game winner with three seconds left.

The Bruins celebrated at the buzzer, piling on one another on the court. Stanford protested, claiming Young shot an airball that should have meant a 35-second call and the Cardinal getting the ball with a one-point lead.

The Bruins bolted for their locker room, only to be called back as referees checked the replay and Montgomery lobbied hard.

“You don’t want to have a ’72 Olympics, Doug Collins deal,” Lavin said. “The next thing you know, we’re being called back out.”

Only briefly. One of the officials, Charlie Range, later said his crew confirmed the initial call was correct, so play never resumed, sparking the permanent Bruin celebration, prideful enough to last through the night, important enough to last through the years.