Big Gap Between Now and Sven

Former UCLA center Sven Nater, a winner if there ever was one, sang the national anthem Saturday at Pauley Pavilion, drawing an ovation for his booming rendition.

Thus inspired, the Bruins played a catchy up-tempo number, hanging close to Stanford much of the way.

Eventually, though, it became the same old song and dance, a predictable fade, a 93-84 loss before 9,541 and more comparisons to pre-Wooden wretchedness.

Certainly, there are few similarities to the two Bruin teams Nater played on from 1971 to ‘73: Both were 30-0. The former reserve center chatted warmly with his coach, 92-year-old John Wooden, behind the Bruin bench in the first half while Stanford seized a 29-13 lead.

But UCLA fought back behind the hot shooting of seniors Jason Kapono and Ray Young, pulling ahead, 45-44, on back-to-back three-point baskets by Kapono less than two minutes into the second half.

The lead lasted all of 22 seconds. Stanford scored on its next three possessions to forge a six-point advantage and never trailed again.

The Cardinal (21-6, 12-3 in the Pacific 10 Conference) became the first team to win six in a row at Pauley Pavilion. And it was achieved by shooting 64.0%, making 10 of 17 three-point shots and scoring nine more points than in any other game this season.

“Coach [Mike] Montgomery told us we are the only team to win six straight here, and it means a whole lot,” Stanford forward Josh Childress said. “It always feels great to win here. That’s a big accomplishment.”

UCLA (6-17, 3-11 in the Pacific 10 Conference) is setting records of a more dubious nature. The Bruins had not lost 17 times since the 1939-40 season.

And more pertinently, they fell half a game behind Washington (9-15, 4-11) in the race for the eighth and last spot in the conference tournament with four regular-season games to play.

“We just didn’t do a good job of defending their shooters,” Coach Steve Lavin said. “Offensively we found a nice rhythm. Eighty-four points is enough to win a Pac-10 game. But defensively, we weren’t tied together.”

Kapono scored 27 points and Young equaled his career high with 22 by making five of five three-point tries, but Stanford guards Julius Barnes (27 points) and Matt Lottich (20) basically nullified their efforts.

Stanford reserves outscored the UCLA bench, 17-8, a margin equal to that of the final score. Getting production from the likes of Nick Robinson and Dan Grunfeld was especially important because standout forward Justin Davis got in early foul trouble, fouled out with 3:26 to play and finished with seven points and four rebounds in 15 minutes.

UCLA center Ryan Hollins missed two free throws on Davis’ fifth foul, keeping Stanford’s lead at six. The Bruins pulled within 88-84 on a three-pointer by Young with 44.6 seconds left, but Barnes and Lottich made five of six free throws and UCLA did not score again.

“Ninety-three points is incredible for our team,” Montgomery said. “We had to score a lot of points because we had trouble defending Kapono and Young.”

Coming off an overtime victory against California, UCLA figured to bring confidence and momentum from the start. But Lottich made three from long range and the Bruins managed only eight points in the first 10 minutes.

UCLA scored 31 in the last 10 minutes of the first half, though, and trailed only 44-39 when Hollins dunked at the buzzer.

Young, in his second game as a starter at point guard, scored 14 in the first half but played better in the second, getting four assists and three rebounds. Kapono got better as well, scoring 16 in the second half and making four of his five three-pointers.

“I was in a good groove and Ray played extremely well,” Kapono said. “The next step is to build off this weekend and play better defense. It’s good playing up-tempo, but we have to get some stops.”

When these teams met at Stanford last month, the Cardinal eked out a plodding, 52-51 victory. This time, with three-point shots falling and layups coming easily, both teams were in the 50s early in the second half.

Yet at the end, UCLA was looking back at the ‘40s.