Cardinal sin still rankles Bruins

There have been only three losses for UCLA this season, and guard Arron Afflalo says picking the worst is easy.

The 68-66 defeat at Oregon was disturbing -- for the way Aaron Brooks, despite the best intentions of Afflalo and the rest of the UCLA defense, won the game with an open 12-foot jump shot at the end -- but hardly unforgivable. The 70-65 loss at West Virginia was more acceptable -- point guard Darren Collison sat out the game because of a sore shoulder and center Lorenzo Mata sat out the second half because of a hip injury.

But that third loss -- the one in which UCLA led Stanford by as many as 17 points at Maples Pavilion and the Bruins seemed to cruise through the first half by imposing their defensive will and confounding the Cardinal with their offensive quickness -- that one rankles.

“What was disturbing,” Afflalo said of the 75-68 loss on Jan. 28, “is that we didn’t have that killer instinct. The way we lost that game, it was the worst. I don’t anticipate that ever happening again.”

The fourth-ranked Bruins (24-3, 13-2) play host to Stanford (17-9, 9-6) at 3 p.m. today. A UCLA win not only would extend a 19-game Pauley Pavilion winning streak and clinch at least a tie for the Pacific 10 Conference regular-season title, it would also earn the Bruins some peace.

“I don’t like to say revenge,” Afflalo said, “but we don’t want to lose to them twice.”

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It is UCLA’s final home game and that’s traditionally a day to honor the seniors. UCLA has none, but it might be Afflalo’s last game at Pauley. The junior guard -- who is second in the Pac-10 in scoring, second in three-point field goals and seventh in free-throw percentage -- tested his place in the NBA draft hierarchy last summer. After being told he needed to improve his shooting touch (he has) and floor game (he has), Afflalo might opt to enter the draft.

“I’m not making that decision now,” Afflalo said. “All I’m thinking about is getting Stanford.”

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UCLA Coach Ben Howland says he has watched the video tape of the Stanford loss five times. “Four times right after it happened,” he said. “I remember that game very well.”

Most galling to Howland was what seemed to be an innocuous missed shot by Collison near the end of the first half.

“We had a 15-point lead,” Howland said. “Darren shoots the ball coming out of a timeout then he stopped playing because he thought he got fouled. They hit a wide-open three at the buzzer and had all the momentum. That was a mistake Darren had to learn from.”

Stanford’s strength comes from 7-foot freshmen twins Brook and Robin Lopez. Brook is averaging 12.2 points and 5.7 rebounds, Robin 8.3 points and 6.1 rebounds. They’ve also combined for 105 blocked shots.

Mata, the Bruins’ 6-10 center who had a career-high 14 points Thursday against California, and 6-8 reserve center Alfred Aboya give up inches to the Lopez twins but can gain defensive advantages with quick footwork and smart positioning. “I look forward to playing against guys when they’re supposed to be better than me,” Mata said. “I’m glad about that.”

The Cardinal leads the conference in blocked shots and offensive rebounding. Howland says it is crucial for the Bruins to limit Stanford’s second-chance options.

“We can’t get crushed on the boards,” he said. “Stanford is a great rebounding team and they play ping-pong up there. Sometimes for them the best shots are the missed shots.”

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TODAY

vs. Stanford, 3 p.m., FSN Prime

Site -- Pauley Pavilion.

Radio -- 570.

Records -- UCLA 24-3, 13-2 Pacific 10 Conference; Stanford 17-9, 9-6.

Update -- Stanford will be without its second-leading scorer, guard Anthony Goods, who has a badly sprained ankle. Goods helped key Stanford’s second-half comeback against UCLA last month. Brook Lopez had a career-high 26 points last week against Oregon and had 23 points and eight rebounds in the Cardinal’s loss Thursday at USC.

diane.pucin@latimes.com