Shipp has the touch for UCLA

PALO ALTO -- It’s not the way UCLA expects to win, having its surges and runs propelled by Josh Shipp’s three-point shooting instead of sturdy defensive stands.

It was almost disconcerting to watch the Bruins trade baskets with Stanford through the first part of the second half, an Alfred Aboya hook shot followed by a Brook Lopez layup, a Darren Collison fadeaway in the lane matched by a Mitch Johnson leaner.

But it is the win that mattered. The fifth-ranked Bruins beat 24th-ranked Stanford, 76-67, Thursday night at Maples Pavilion in the Pacific-10 Conference opener for each team. A close game was broken open by a three-pointer from Shipp that came after an acrobatic offensive rebound from Russell Westbrook and two well-earned free throws by Kevin Love.

Shipp, who played with a gleam in his eye according to UCLA Coach Ben Howland, finished with a game-high 21 points. The fourth-year junior made five of his eight three-point attempts, including the 24-footer that gave UCLA a 58-51 lead with 7:21 left.

“I expect to make those shots,” Shipp said. “But this was a team effort.”

That effort started with Westbrook, who had started every game this season, sitting on the bench to begin conference play against the Cardinal (11-2, 0-1).

When swingman Michael Roll suffered a ruptured tendon in his foot at practice Monday, Howland said he and the staff spent hours watching film and weighing their options before deciding that for now the best rotation is to have power forward Alfred Aboya in the starting five with Love, Luc Richard Mbah a Moute, Shipp and Darren Collison. Aboya responded with seven points, including his first three-point shot of the season and second of his career.

“With the loss of Roll,” Howland said, “we have to do our rotation differently.”

As long as Roll is out, Howland said, he needs Westbrook to be a third guard off the bench with Shipp sliding from small forward to shooting guard. Westbrook said he was not bothered by his changed role and he responded with 15 points, six assists and no turnovers in 35 minutes.

Seven Bruins played 195 of 200 minutes and that iron-man play is something Shipp welcomes.

“It’s fun for the guys playing,” Shipp said. “You can play, make some mistakes and not worry about getting yanked. You just play.”

This was expected to be a fierce battle between Love, UCLA’s highly regarded 6-foot-10 freshman center, and Brook and Robin Lopez, Stanford’s talented 7-foot sophomore twins.

And the inside play was bruising. Love finished with 15 points and seven rebounds on four-of-seven shooting from the field and seven-of-eight shooting from the foul line. Brook Lopez, who had averaged over 19 points and seven rebounds since returning last month from an academic suspension, finished 13 points on five-of-14 shooting and eight rebounds. Robin had eight points and 12 rebounds.

But the key man was Shipp, the confident junior who is unfazed by close games against good teams and who is not bothered by his occasional defensive mistakes.

This was also a game in which the Bruins (13-1, 1-0) were reminded that in conference play there will be few teams that will recoil from their body-slamming, man-to-man defense. The floor was slippery with sweat from the second-half effort. Stanford’s Anthony Goods had a cartoon tumble on the glistening wood and he howled as the ball dropped out of his hands.

On the next possession, Westbrook lost his footing as if he were on ice but still got a pass to Love, who drew a foul.

Love’s two free throws gave the Bruins their biggest second-half lead to that point, 55-49 with 7:57.

After Brook Lopez cut the lead to four with a driving layup, Shipp made his fourth three-pointer of the game to put UCLA ahead, 58-51.

After a timeout, Shipp scored again, a layup this time, and a game that seemed destined for last-second heroics suddenly belonged to the Bruins.

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diane.pucin@latimes.com

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(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX)

First impression

UCLA is 4-1 in Pacific 10 Conference openers under Coach Ben Howland:

*--* DATE RESULT Jan. 3, 2008 Def. Stanford, 76-67 Dec. 28, 2006 Def. Wash. State, 55-52 Dec. 29, 2005 Def. Stanford, 71-54 Dec. 31, 2004 Lost to Oregon St., 85-80 Jan. 2, 2004 Def. Oregon State, 77-66 *--*

Source: UCLA