UCLA-Stanford Preview

3/15/2008 1:05 AM

By DAN PIERINGER
STATS Writer

UCLA clinched sole possession of the Pac-10 regular-season title by beating Stanford. It hopes to clinch the conference tournament championship the same way.

The third-ranked Bruins look to win their second Pac-10 tournament championship in three years on Saturday when they meet the 11th-ranked Cardinal at Staples Center in a rematch of the teams' controversial clash last week.

UCLA (30-3) has won nine straight games to become only the third school in NCAA history to win 30 or more games in three straight seasons, joining Kentucky and Memphis. The Bruins' win streak, though, has been challenged with several close calls lately, including their 77-67 overtime victory over the Cardinal (26-6) on March 6.

With the Cardinal leading by two in the final seconds of regulation, Stanford forward Lawrence Hill was whistled for a shooting foul on what appeared to be a clean block. UCLA guard Darren Collison made both free throws to force overtime, in which the Bruins outscored the Cardinal 14-4 to clinch the conference title.

"When you want to win something so bad, everything works in your favor," Collison said after that game.

That definitely seems to be the case for UCLA, which closed the regular season with an 81-80 win over California with the help of two questionable calls, and advanced to the tournament championship with a 57-54 win over Southern California in the semifinals on Friday. USC guard O.J. Mayo's potential game-tying 3-pointer in the final seconds rimmed out.

"That was a great win," said UCLA coach Ben Howland, whose team trailed by eight late in the first half but rallied with a 15-2 run to start the second.

Freshman center Kevin Love scored 11 points during that run and finished with 19 and 10 rebounds for his 20th double-double.

"I just knew if we kept the run going we had a great chance to win," said Love, the Pac-10 player and freshman of the year. "Anytime you get on a run like that you're going to be pretty emotional."

UCLA hasn't lost since its Feb. 10 defeat at Washington despite trailing in the second half of four of its last five games.

"Whenever we get down, we have a never-quit attitude," junior forward Josh Shipp said.

The Cardinal will likely be just as determined as they look to beat the Bruins for the first time in three meetings and win their first Pac-10 tournament since 2004.

Seven-foot sophomore center Brook Lopez had 30 points and 12 rebounds as Stanford beat Washington State 75-68 in the semifinals on Friday night to set up Saturday's rematch.

"We need to play really well," said Stanford coach Trent Johnson, the Pac-10 coach of the year. "It's obvious that (UCLA) is a basketball program and a team that doesn't have any weaknesses. This will be the stiffest test of the season for us."

Lopez and his seven-foot twin brother, Robin, battled with Love in the post in these teams' last meeting. Brook had 18 points and 13 rebounds, and Robin had 14 points, three boards and two blocked shots in the defeat.

"I'm looking forward to it,'' Brook Lopez said of meeting Love and the Bruins again. "It's always fun to play them because they're so physical."

"I'm always excited to play a really good post player, in the Pac-10 there are loads of them."

Love was just as complimentary of the Lopez brothers after their last meeting.

"It's like the walking trees from `Lord of the Rings.' They gobble up rebounds," said Love, who had 17 points, 10 rebounds, five assists and two blocks in that game.

UCLA could have a harder time working the glass with Luc Richard Mbah a Moute expected to miss Saturday's contest with a sprained left ankle.

Mbah a Moute, the Bruins' second-leading rebounder behind Love with 5.6 per game, suffered the injury with 6:11 remaining in the first half on Friday and didn't return. X-rays were negative, but Howland said the junior forward won't play Saturday.

The Bruins split two contests in February that Mbah a Moute missed with an injury to the same ankle, and have gone 3-1 without him.