UCLA Is a Defending Champion

The grin never left Cedric Bozeman’s face as he stood in the hallway outside the visiting locker room at Maples Pavilion late Saturday afternoon, answering question after question from the media.

“He doesn’t smile too much,” said Darren Collison, observing his UCLA teammate from a few feet away. “It’s good to see him smile.”

All it took was the Bruins’ first Pacific 10 Conference title in the five years Bozeman has been a Bruin. They had clinched the regular-season title outright minutes earlier by beating Stanford, 75-54.

UCLA (24-6 overall, 14-4 in the conference) ended a drought that had begun long before Bozeman arrived. The Bruins last won a Pac-10 title in the 1996-97 season, when they finished 15-3 under first-year coach Steve Lavin.

The celebration in the Bruin locker room Saturday was mild. Senior Janou Rubin doused Coach Ben Howland with a bucket of water, and the players soaked in the moment.

But they know that, after two days off, they must begin preparing for this week’s Pac-10 tournament at Staples Center, and the NCAA tournament a week later.

The Pac-10 tournament begins Wednesday, and No. 1-seeded UCLA will make its first appearance Thursday at approximately 2:50 p.m., against the winner of Wednesday’s game between Arizona State and Oregon State.

But Saturday, Bozeman, who sat out all of last season because of a knee injury and has suffered from knee and shoulder injuries this season, allowed himself a moment to look back.

“I can attest to what we went through in those years,” he said. “It was a struggle, tough times. We were in a hole we couldn’t dig our way out of. But we finally did with perseverance.”

And defense.

No element of the game has been more important for the Bruins in this season’s revival than their defense. And it was again a key factor in Saturday’s game against Stanford (15-12, 11-7).

Coming in to Maples Pavilion, there were two names Howland kept drumming into the heads of his players: Chris Hernandez and Matt Haryasz. Those were the Cardinal’s top two scorers, Haryasz averaging 17.3 points a game, Hernandez 14.

In UCLA’s game at Stanford last year, Hernandez scored 37 to lead the Cardinal to victory.

“Coach kept reminding me about Hernandez,” said UCLA guard Arron Afflalo, entrusted with the task of being the primary defender on the Stanford senior. “Coach kept telling me ‘37, 37.’ ”

The message got through. In the first half, Hernandez and Haryasz combined for a total of one point, that coming on a Haryasz free throw. Haryasz was 0 for 5 from the field; Hernandez got only one shot attempt.

As a result, the Bruins overcame their most glaring problem in recent games. Habitually playing poor, turnover-filled first halves, they had trailed at halftime of their previous five games, and had failed to score at least 30 by intermission in their last six.

The opening minutes Saturday, following an emotional farewell for Stanford’s seniors, looked like more of the same, the Cardinal getting out to a 5-0 lead.

But it ended right there. Bruin guard Jordan Farmar made a three-pointer and followed with a layup to ignite an 8-0 run, and UCLA never looked back. The Bruins even broke the 30-point barrier, leading, 38-24, at the half.

The Bruins had four players -- Afflalo (16 points), Farmar (13), center Ryan Hollins (13) and forward Luc Richard Mbah a Moute (12) -- finish in double figures and shot 50% from the field while holding Stanford to 43.9%. Hernandez finished with nine points, Haryasz with eight.

UCLA was dominant in all the major categories; it outrebounded the Cardinal, 33-24, led by Mbah a Moute’s game-high nine, and even had fewer turnovers, seven to Stanford’s 15.

It was a satisfying finish to the conference season, satisfying enough to bring a smile to even Bozeman’s face.