UCLA does an about-face on way to win

In a matter of 40 minutes, UCLA’s defense was turned around and inside out, damaged by back-door cuts and confident jump shooters, and then it was so fiercely resistant that 6-foot-8 Luc Richard Mbah a Moute wouldn’t be drawn out of his stance by quick-footed, 5-6 Oregon guard Tajuan Porter.

In a matter of 40 minutes, UCLA’s half-court offense was as basic as a grade-school team’s with lots of standing around followed by a desperate working of the shot clock. And then Russell Westbrook and Josh Shipp and Darren Collison and Kevin Love would throw outlet passes, run fastbreaks and provide dunking, slamming, head-banging highlights for a weekend’s viewing pleasure.

At the end of 40 minutes Saturday, the sixth-ranked Bruins owned a 75-65 win over Oregon that was both confounding and cathartic in front of a sellout crowd of 11,355 at Pauley Pavilion.

For their efforts, for coming back from an 11-point second-half deficit with a resounding 19-4 run that featured Mbah a Moute’s defensive pressure on Porter and Westbrook’s high-flying slam dunk, the Bruins (24-3, 12-2) own a 1 1/2 -game lead over Stanford atop the Pacific 10 Conference standings.

So many were the momentum changes that Stan Love, Kevin’s father, chewed a bloody hole onto his right hand and vigorously paced the stairs of Pauley.

His son was wrapped in black from head to toe after the game, the hood of his sweatshirt covering his forehead. Love finished with 15 points and 11 rebounds for his 16th double-double of the season, but he missed six of his 10 shots and five of his 12 free throws and looked generally miserable for portions of the 10 minutes he spent on the bench.

Still, Love was one of four double-digit scorers for UCLA. Collison led the way with 17, Westbrook had 16 plus five assists, five steals and five turnovers, and Shipp had 10. And, as UCLA Coach Ben Howland said, Mbah a Moute finished a “missed free throw” away from also scoring in double digits. He had nine points and seven rebounds. For Oregon, junior Maarty Leunen had 17 points and 11 rebounds.

Love said he had felt “really sick” the last two weeks but didn’t use illness as an excuse for why he didn’t take a shot for nearly 18 minutes after scoring a two-handed slam to open UCLA’s scoring in the first two minutes.

All the Bruins seemed out of sorts when Porter made a 16-footer with 13:55 left to put Oregon ahead 49-48.

What changed from that point, what jump-started UCLA’s 19-4 run that turned the game around, was an energetic dose of defensive pressure and a determination to drive to the basket.

“Our defense created some easy baskets,” Howland said.

“We got aggressive driving to the hoop,” Collison said.

The Bruins were able to run fastbreaks off many of their 15 steals. When they ran, they showed off the most dramatic skills of Westbrook, Shipp and Collison. Even the 6-10 Love played the role of guard when he created a steal, led a fastbreak and finished it with a layup. Twice in that run, Westbrook missed easy layups, once when his left ankle turned and sent him to the floor in pain.

But it was one of Westbrook’s acrobatic dunks that gave UCLA the lead for good (and for the first time since the Bruins were ahead 4-3). It came off a Collison lead pass and brought the crowd to its feet. The fans hadn’t settled down before Collison made a 24-foot three-point basket to seemingly put away the Ducks for good.

“I thought we had an excellent game plan going into the game,” Oregon Coach Ernie Kent said. “We executed it for the first 30 minutes. Unfortunately a basketball game is 40 minutes. We played one of our best games against one of the top teams in the country, but our poise has to be better.”

In both games against UCLA, Oregon held significant second-half leads. “I thought we beat an NCAA tournament team,” Howland said. “I still believe this will be an NCAA tournament team.”

Mbah a Moute couldn’t believe Oregon (15-12, 6-9) has nine conference losses. “They are a really good team,” Mbah a Moute said. “I thought they have all the tools, all the personnel. You just never know.”

diane.pucin@latimes.com