Crowd behavior was the pits, Bruins say

EUGENE, Ore. -- UCLA Coach Ben Howland was unhappy with the behavior of the crowd at Oregon’s McArthur Court on Thursday night, characterizing some of the personal references made at the expense of Bruins freshman center Kevin Love, Love’s father Stan and members of Stan’s family as “vile, disgusting, inappropriate innuendo.”

Referring to a local newspaper, which described the behavior ofthe notorious student fan group called the Pit Crew, Howland said, “They referred to one of the lines and said it wasn’t the worst ever. What was the worst? I feel bad when it happens to anybody.”

Signs were held up that referred to past issues with drug abuse and mental illness suffered by Stan Love’s cousin Brian Wilson, who was a member of the Beach Boys. Stan’s brother, Mike Love, also a member of the band, was at the UCLA-Oregon game.

“It was totally out of hand,” said Stan, who sat about five rows up from the floor Thursday. “I had friends with me from New York and Florida who said if Oregon was the last university on the planet they wouldn’t send kids to that school.”

There were several signs and chants calling Kevin “fat,” and others that questioned his and Stan’s sexuality.

Greg Walker, a spokesman for the Oregon athletic department, acknowledged that some of the chants and signs were in poor taste. “But the other side of this is a free speech issue,” Walker said. “We don’t have the authority to take away signs. We don’t agree with all the things that were said or that they were in the best of taste. We’re aware of everything that was said and we’re not always proud. But there is a right to free speech.”

Some members of the Pit Crew held up signs with Kevin Love’s cellphone number, and Love said he had more than 400 messages on the phone.

The activities in the stands didn’t seem to affect Love, who set a UCLA freshman record with 18 rebounds and scored 26 points.

“I’m so proud of him I can’t even tell him,” said Stan Love, who played at Oregon and in the NBA. “I’d like to say it was nice having the Pit Crew as UCLA’s [sixth] man. They motivated Kevin to a point I’ve never seen.”

When the game ended, Stan Love made a point of hugging Lorenzo Mata-Real, a UCLA senior who missed the game because of a concussion. Last year at Oregon the student section mocked Mata-Real’s physical appearance, a performance Stan Love had said earlier this year “was just out of hand, uncalled for and stuff the university should be embarrassed of.”

Oregon’s Walker said Ducks senior Malik Hairston, who had been heavily recruited by Howland before going to Oregon after Nike founder and Oregon backer Phil Knight sent a private plane to fly Hairston to Eugene for his visit, has been obscenely cheered by UCLA fans.

And Bruins fans, despite video board pleas from Howland, have not yet been willing to forego an obscene cheer at the end of the famous eight-clap that makes reference to USC. “I don’t like that from anybody,” Howland said.

Though Kevin Love had said earlier in the week he hoped to be allowed to attend a game featuring his high school team, Lake Oswego, against Oregon City on Friday night, in part so that he could sign autographs for local youth teams, Howland said “no shot” when asked about that Friday.

Howland said the game-changing contribution from sophomore Nikola Dragovic wasn’t a surprise. Dragovic made a three-pointer that drew UCLA to within a point of Oregon in the last four minutes. “That was a huge play,” Howland said.

Dragovic, 6 feet 9, served a 10-game suspension last season because he had played on a Serbian team with professionals. Last summer he underwent a double hernia operation.

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TONIGHT

at Oregon State, 8, FSN West

Radio -- 570

Site -- Gill Coliseum, Corvallis, Ore.

Records -- UCLA 17-2, 5-1 Pac-10; Oregon State 6-13, 0-7.

Update -- Sophomore swingman Seth Tarver has been one of the few bright spots for the Beavers, averaging 12 points and 5.5 rebounds. Senior forward Marcel Jones, from Los Angeles and Santa Ana Mater Dei High, is averaging 11 points and 6.3 rebounds. Oregon State, which lost to USC on Thursday, is playing its second game under interim Coach Kevin Mouton, who replaced fired Jay John on Monday. Howland said backup center Lorenzo Mata-Real might play but it was less likely starting forward Luc Richard Mbah a Moute would. Both players are recovering from concussions.

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diane.pucin@latimes.com

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UCLA TODAY

at Oregon State

8 p.m., FSN West

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