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Former UCLA player Reeves Nelson filed a lawsuit against Sports Illustrated and reporter George Dohrmann Wednesday and the suit includes declarations from 18 current and former UCLA players who reject various claims made in a March Sports Illustrated article that depicted Nelson as a boorish player with a propensity for violence and out-of-control behavior.

Some, such as Drew Grodon, and Tyler Trapani, were alleged victims of Nelson's violent antics who said Nelson never did to them what the Sports Illustrated story said. Others, such as Blake Arnet and Alex Schrempf, said they spoke with Dohrmann and told him the information he had was incorrect only to see it end up in print anyway.

All of them disagreed with the Sports Illustrated depiction of Nelson as a player who intentionally injured teammates and was coddled by coach Ben Howland, who turned a blind eye to Nelson's transgressions.

"I never saw Nelson intentionally hurt or intentionally try to hurt any member of the UCLA basketball team or staff, nor do I believe that Nelson ever intentionally hurt or tried to hurt any member of the UCLA basketball team or staff," reads a passage in each of the 18 declarations. "I did not observe and do not believe that Coach Howland favored Nelson over the other players in any fashion, not with respect to discipline or anything else."

Some players addressed specific incidents alleged in the article. Gordon, for instance, was reported to have gotten into an off-campus fight with Nelson that resulted in a black eye for Gordon, but Gordon's declaration stated "The article’s description of Nelson’s behavior toward me is false. We have never had a fight, not at a teammate’s apartment or anywhere else, nor has Nelson ever given me a black eye from a fight or otherwise."

The Sports Illustrated story also reported that Schrempf, a former UCLA walk-on, suffered a serious back injury as a result of a Nelson attack during practice. Schrempf's declaration said that never happened. In his declaration, Schrempf acknowledged speaking with Dohrmann but told Dohrmann his facts were wrong.

"During our conversation, Dohrmann specifically told me that he had 'heard' that Nelson intentionally injured me during practice by knocking me to the ground from behind," Schrempf's statement says. "According to Dohrmann’s 'source,' Nelson’s conduct caused me to suffer a serious back injury. I explained to Dohrmann that this version of events was incorrect."

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Ben Howland has pocket aces and might possibly get another on the flop, now he's got to decide how to play the hand.

Shabazz Muhammad and Kyle Anderson, two of the top five national recruits, have signed with UCLA along with No. 41 Jordan Adams and No. 26 Tony Parker could very well join them in Westwood next season as UCLA reopens Pauly Pavilion in front of what is sure to be a full house.

With that kind of recruiting class comes pressure to win and it's up to Howland to decide the best course of action.

He could slow play this talented lineup, letting them grow into their own as the season progresses, or he could go all in on his fabulous freshmen, letting them loose from the beginning and trying to ride them to prominence knowing that they could very well be one-and-done players at UCLA.

"We have to have a good plan as to what we're going to put in right away offensively and defensively," Howland said. "We've got to move quickly because the games come so fast."

[CLICK THIS LINK TO HEAR Ben Howland on 710 ESPN radio with Mason & Ireland]

Howland's coaching philosophy has long centered on the team-first mentality. He prefers to have three or four players score in double figures every night instead of having two players with 25 each and that balanced philosophy coupled with his slow-down motion, offense and tough-nosed defensive style tends to hide the explosive offensive talents of star players.

The college statistics of players such as Kevin Love (17.5 points per game) and Russell Westbrook (8.3) don't exactly foreshadow NBA all-star selections. Former national high school player of the year Jrue Holiday is now a starting point guard for the Philadelphia 76ers, but didn't make so much as second-team all-conference during his year at UCLA.

His style has proven successful over the long haul, with three consecutive Final Four appearance as evidence, but that doesn't mean Howland is oblivious to the need to use talented players.

"We definitely have to try to take advantage of their abilities," Howland said. "They're going to be great in the open court and hopefully we're going to have the depth where we can play faster and get up and down."

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UCLA's maligned basketball program is back in the national spotlight, but this time it's a good thing.

Coach Ben Howland, his reputation soiled after his program received national exposure for all the wrong reasons, made a startling comeback just a month after his future at UCLA had been called into question.

With one short, declarative sentence, Las Vegas high school senior Shabazz Muhammad changed the fortunes for UCLA basketball and Howland. Muhammad, the No. 2-ranked recruit in the nation, made UCLA relevant once again when he appeared on ESPNU Wednesday and said "I chose to be a Bruin."

And with that, the Bruins, who did not even make the NCAA tournament -- nor the NIT for that matter -- last season, are suddenly a sleeper pick for a national championship run next season. UCLA, its proud basketball tradition waning after missing the NCAAs twice in the past three seasons, once again has something to brag about.

And after a couple of seasons of contemplating how far the mighty had fallen, those around UCLA are now wondering if the bandwagon has any seats left on it.

"I think he’s going to have a tremendous impact," Howland said of how much of a difference-maker Muhammad could be. "He’s a special, special talent and has so many attributes that will help our team."

Muhammad, a 6-foot-6 small forward, is explosive, athletic and can score from anywhere, including beyond the three-point line. He was named the 2012 Naismith Boy’s High School Player of the Year and selected by the McDonald’s All-American committee as the 2012 Morgan Wootten Player of the Year. He also was named the MVP of the 2012 McDonald’s All-American game on March 28 and won the Powerade Jam Fest dunk contest.

But his scoring ability and talent are only half the story of what he brings to UCLA. His character off the court is equal to his ability on it and that is exactly what UCLA needs after Sports Illustrated reported dysfunction in the UCLA program caused mostly by the unscrupulous acts of entitled recruits.

The signing of Muhammad, along with Kyle Anderson and Jordan Adams, puts a new face on the way UCLA does things.

"The thing that’s great about Shabazz is he’s a great kid," Howland said. "They have a great family. He’s really, really the total package. An outstanding student athlete. This is a whole new era. What we’ve really try to institute now is a whole new level of accountability for our current team."

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Lazeric Jones was named the MVP for UCLA's basketball team during the team banquet Monday night.

Jones, a senior guard, led the Bruins in scoring (13.5 ppg), assists (4.1 apg), steals (1.8 spg) and in three-point field goals made (48). He was the only player to start all 33 games in the 2011-12 season and was named second-team All Pac-12.

Sophomore guard Tyler Lamb was named the team's outstanding defensive player and guard Norman Powell was named freshman of the year. Powell and sophomore forward Travis Wear were named co-winners of the most improved award and Wear also won the award for team free throw champion after shooting 79.1 percent (68-for-86) on free trows to rank eighth in the Pac-12.

Sophomore forward David Wear also was a two-time winner on the evening, claiming the team rebounding leader award after leading the squad with 202 rebounds and the outstanding team play award.

Junior forward Brendan Lane claimed the Elvin C. "Ducky" Drake Memorial Award for Competitive Spirit, Inspiration and Unselfish Contributions while senior walk-on guard Tyler Trapani earned his second consecutive UCLA Faculty Athletic Representative Award for academic achievement and team contribution.

Complete list of the 2012 UCLA Men's Basketball Awards Banquet Honors:

• Bob "Ace" Calkins Memorial Award/Free Throw Champion
  Travis Wear, So., F
• Elvin C. "Ducky" Drake Memorial Award/Competitive Spirit, Inspiration and Unselfish Contributions
  Brendan Lane, Jr., F
• Bruin Hoopsters J.D. Morgan Memorial Award/Outstanding Team Play
  David Wear, So., F
• UCLA Faculty Athletic Representative Award/Academic Achievement and Team Contribution
  Tyler Trapani, Sr., G
• Seymour Armond Memorial Award/Most Valuable Freshman
  Norman Powell, Fr., G
• Bruin Bench Basketball Award/Most Improvement in All-Around Play and Mental Attitude
  Travis Wear, So., F/Norman Powell, Fr., G
• Irv Pohlmeyer Memorial Award/Outstanding Defensive Player
  Tyler Lamb, So. G
• UCLA Alumni Association Award/Team Assist Leader
  Lazeric Jones, Sr., G
• Gerald A. Finerman Award/Team Rebounding Leader
  David Wear, So., G
• Coach John Wooden Award/Most Valuable Player
  Lazeric Jones, Sr., G

UCLA completed a season sweep over Arizona State with a 66-57 Pac-12 victory Thursday in Tempe, Ariz. Here's a quick look at the game:

OVERVIEW: UCLA started slow but took the lead midway through the first half and never trailed again, but it wasn't easy to hold off the pesky Sun Devils.

Every time it appeared as if the Bruins had seized some momentum and were about to blow open a big lead, the Sun Devils rallied and kept within striking distance. The Bruins took a six-point lead late in the first half, but it dwindled to 25-24 by halftime.

UCLA had a 46-37 lead with 11:31 to play, but Arizona state rallied back to make it 47-43 a minute and a half later. Even down the stretch, when UCLA finally put the game away by opening a 66-49 lead with 2:25 to play, Arizona State made a run and really could have made things interesting if a couple of 3-point shots had fallen.

Still, the Bruins did what they needed to in winning on the road against one of the Pac-12's lower-tier teams. Lazeric Jones had 20 points to lead UCLA (16-12, 9-6 Pac-12) and David Wear added 13 points and seven rebounds for the Bruins.

Jonathan Gilling led Arizona State (8-20, 4-12) with 17 points and Trent Lockett added 13 points despite making only 3-of-11 shots.

TURNING POINT: After struggling to make a game-clinching run for most of the game, the Bruins finally took control with a 17-4 run that turned a 49-45 lead with 8:42 left to play into a 66-49 lead with 2:25 left.

The Bruins held Arizona State to 1-of-7 shooting during that stretch while connecting on eight of nine shots of their own. Jones and Wear each scored five points during the run, including a 3-pointer by Jones that gave UCLA 56-46 lead for the first double-digit lead of the game with 7:10 to play.

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LOS ANGELES -- UCLA completed a season sweep of crosstown rival USC with a 64-54 Pac-12 victory Wednesday night at the Sports Arena.

The Bruins (15-11, 8-6 Pac-12) took control early in the game and then held off a late rally by USC (6-21, 1-13) to hand the Trojans their fifth consecutive loss and 14th in the last 15 games. It was UCLA's third consecutive victory over the Trojans and the Bruins improved to 44-20 all time against USC at the Sports Arena.

"It was good to sweep the Trojans," UCLA coach Ben Howland said. "That’s always a good thing for us. Believe me, I was worried sick to my gut about this game playing right here in their back yard in what used to be their facility."

The Trojans are playing with a roster that includes only six active scholarship players as they have lost five to season-ending injuries since last summer. Howland came away impressed that the Trojans fought back Wednesday after being down by as many as 23 midway through the second half and cutting the lead to 10 with 1:34 to play.

"They’ve been through about as rough a year as you can have with all the adversity and injuries so I give Kevin [O'Neill] and his staff a lot of credit for keeping those kids to where they’re down here at the very end of the season fighting like it’s the beginning of the year," Howland said.

Five observations from the game:

1The Wear twins had USC seeing double

Twins David and Travis Wear had their best combined game as Bruins with a total of 30 points and 24 rebounds between them. They each had a double-double marking the first time in their college careers that has happened.

The 6-foot-10 twins had a distinct size advantage against USC, which doesn't play anybody taller than 6-7, but they also had motivation after each played poorly Saturday against Cal, when they combined to shoot 5-for-19 from the field and had 14 points and eight rebounds.

"I was especially hard on myself because of how I played," said David Wear, who had 16 points and a career-high 13 rebounds. "I only had one rebound, I think, and that’s unacceptable. I really used that as motivation coming into Monday and Tuesday. I knew that to turn it around I was going to have to play harder and come with a different mindset."

The Wears scored 14 of UCLA's final 15 points, continuing to play hard as USC was trying to get back in the game. Howland said he was pleased to see his sophomore transfers from North Carolina respond to their poor performance from the previous game.

"They came out with a sense of purpose and direction to play tougher, play more physical and go hard to the offensive glass," Howland said. "We need that form both of them as we go forward down the stretch."

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LOS ANGELES -- UCLA finally seems to have learned how to hold on to a lead.

After building a reputation this season for letting leads slip away late in games, the Bruins withstood a late-game charge for the second consecutive game and defeated Stanford, 72-61, in a Pac-12 Conference game Thursday night at the Sports Arena.

Despite making only 9-of-16 free throws in the final 1:52, UCLA (14-10, 7-5) held off Stanford (16-8, 6-6), which had pulled to within three points at 56-53 with 4:45 to play. It was the fourth win in five games for UCLA, which also held off a late run in a 63-60 victory Saturday at Washington State. UCLA has now won 10 consecutive home games including six in a row at the Sports Arena.

"I was proud of our poise," coach Ben Howland said. "I was pleased with the poise that we showed when they made a comeback and made a run and fought our way through it."

The Bruins broke a sixth-place tie in the conference standings and are now two games behind leaders Washington and California with a game Saturday at 1 p.m. against California at the Sports Arena.
Five observations from the game:

1Lazeric Jones wasn't going to let it get away again

Jones scored a game-high 21 points to go along with six assists and six steals, more than making amends for his final-second decision that cost UCLA the game last time UCLA played Stanford.

In that 60-59 loss, Jones drove to the basket and tried to penetrate, but had his shot blocked at the buzzer instead of finding a wide open Tyler Lamb or stopping for a jump shot. Thursday, he played the entire game as if he were on a mission to make up for that play.

"We were upset that we got that loss up there," Jones said.

Jones basically won the game in a stretch of about a minute and a half when he made a 3-pointer with 3:35 to play after Stanford had pulled to within three at 56-53. On the next possession he hit Jerime Anderson for a jump shot with 2:44 to play and then scored on a layup on the next UCLA possession as the Bruins opened a 63-53 lead. He got a steal on the other end of the court and Anderson made one of two free throws after getting fouls and UCLA had a 64-53 lead with 1:52 to play.

He also made the highlight play of the night, taking a tipped pass at mid court and making a behind-the-back pass to Anderson for a slam dunk that gave UCLA a 46-36 lead.

"Zeek is our captain," Howland said. "He's really stepped up and he played great tonight."

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After losing a heartbreaker in a place that is no stranger to UCLA losses, the Bruins head to a venue that has been much more friendly over the years for an afternoon game at Washington State.

The Bruins have won 18 consecutive games in Pullman with Washington State's last victory coming Feb. 6 1993 -- three months before UCLA freshman Norman Powell was born.

UCLA (12-10, 5-5) will be looking to keep that streak alive and get its first victory over a Division I team away from Southern California. The Bruins appeared to have that elusive road victory Thursday night at Washington but blew a 10-point lead in the final six minutes and lost, 71-69, for their ninth consecutive loss at Washington.

"Basketball is a game of runs," coach Ben Howland said. "There’s always going to be runs by the other team and we, I thought, did a pretty good job for the most part and really stubbed our foot at the end of the game. I don’t think it’s any one specific thing. We lost a little bit of poise at the end of that game."

Particularly disturbing was UCLA's inability to execute on offense against Washington's zone. The Bruins had done a good job against the zone when Washington went to it earlier in the game but seemed to get frazzled in the waning moments as the Huskies made a comeback.

"We just did a poor job," Howland said. "I should have stayed more simplistic. We actually had a couple of opportunities where we set high screens. Each time the guy inside was open and we just didn’t see it and that’s the first guy you look for. And one shot was rushed against the zone. We did attack it well until the last four or five minutes."

The Bruins will see a lot more zone Saturday against the Cougars (12-10, 4-6), who play a 3-2 zone and a 2-3 zone along with some switching man-to-man defense. They are also playing very well at Beasley Coliseum, where they are 8-0 this season and two weeks ago swept Stanford and California. Washington State's lone home loss came against Oregon in Spokane in the conference opener.

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UCLA blew a 10-point lead in the final six minutes and lost, 71-69, Thursday at Washington, the eighth consecutive loss for the Bruins at Alaska Airlines Arena and the fourth time in five road losses this season that UCLA has let a game get away late.

Joshua Smith had a career-high 24 points to go along with nine rebounds, but it wasn't enough as the Bruins (12-10, 5-5) remained winless against Division I teams away from Southern California.

Overview: UCLA led, 65-55, with 6:02 to play, but had four turnovers and went 2-for-7 from the field over the rest of the game. Washington went on a 13-0 run to take the lead and held on for the victory when Norman Powell's 15-foot jump shot with two seconds left fell off the front of the rim and Smith couldn't corral the rebound as time expired.

Washington guard Terrence Ross scored 18 of his 22 points in the second half, including 12 in the final 6:21 as Washington (15-7, 8-2) rallied back and remained in first place in the Pac-12 Conference standings. Ross made 7-of-8 shot attempts in the second half and Washington shot 52 percent from the field in the game despite a 4-for-11 performance by leading scorer Tony Wroten.

Turning point: UCLA led by 10, but during a 28-second span, Lazeric Jones and Tyler Lamb each picked up their fourth fouls and a minute later David Wear picked up his fourth.

Those fouls seemed to deflate the Bruins, who went a stretch of five minutes, 30 seconds without a field goal. Twice the Bruins committed offensive fouls for turnovers during that span and Ross began heating up.

His layup with 2:35 to play gave Washington a 66-65 lead, it's first since halftime, and his 3-pointer with 1:15 to play gave the Huskies a 71-67 lead.

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LOS ANGELES -- Some wins mean more than others.

UCLA coach Ben Howland will tell you that every win is equally important, but his body language and enthusiasm said something different after the Bruins defeated Colorado in convincing fashion, 77-60, Saturday in a Pac-12 game at the Sports Arena.

This victory meant more simply because it came against a team that was tied for first in the Pac-12 and it helped erase doubts that UCLA could, in fact, pull out a victory against an upper-tier conference team. UCLA's last three wins had come against conference cellar-dwellers Utah, USC and Arizona State, but the Bruins (12-9, 5-4) stayed afloat in the conference race with the victory over Colorado (14-7, 6-3).

"I was very enthused," Howland said. "I knew this was a big game for us to get us back above .500 in the conference against a good Colorado team that has been playing extremely well. That was a very solid win for us against a very good team."

Five observations from the game:

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LOS ANGELES -- UCLA bounced back from its disappointing weekend in Oregon with one of its most dominant performances of the season in a 76-49 Pac-12 victory over Utah on Thursday night at the Sports Arena.

The Bruins (11-9, 4-4 Pac-12) raced to 36-21 halftime lead and unlike Saturday at Oregon, where they blew a 13-point halftime lead, the Bruins finished the job and evened their record in conference play.

"What I said to my team at halftime, I told them two words," senior guard Jerime Anderson said. "One was something I can’t say right now and the other was Oregon. I just said, ‘Man, we cannot let this happen again.’ If we have a lead like that we should be able to control the lead and come out with the win."

UCLA began the second half with a 6-2 run, expanded the lead to 20 points four minutes into the half and led by as many as 35 before coach Ben Howland cleared the bench and got all the walk-ons in the game.

"I talked about the first five minutes of the second half being huge and our intensity level," Howland said. "We have a 15-point lead and have to build on that right away and set the tone in the second half."

Five observations from the game:

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CORVALLIS, Ore. -- On a day when UCLA could have gained some ground in the Pac-12 Conference race, the Bruins instead fell flat on the defensive end in an 87-84 loss to Oregon State on Thursday night at Gill Coliseum.

UCLA (10-8, 3-3) gave up 80 points for only the third time this season and failed to capitalize on losses earlier Thursday by Stanford (15-4, 5-2) and Washington (11-7, 4-2), two of the four teams that were ahead of UCLA in the conference race at the start of the day.

Instead the Bruins dropped from a tie for fifth place into seventh place in the conference race and their title hopes are fading fast after they had gotten a glimpse of hope with a three-game win streak before Thursday.

Oregon State (11-7, 2-5) ended a three-game losing streak and improved to 9-2 at home while UCLA dropped to 1-3 in road games.

"It makes it hurt a little more," guard Jerime Anderson said. "I think this really could have helped us and given us a little momentum but this loss is on us. We did the things that put us in the position to win the game, but we had too many turnovers and too many defensive breakdowns."
Five observations from the game:

1UCLA's defense was not up to par

The Bruins allowed Oregon State to shoot 58 percent for the game, with the Beavers' guards continually getting penetration and the post players getting easy, point-blank layups.

"Our whole problem tonight was defensively we couldn’t get stops," coach Ben Howland said. "We just didn’t do the job on the defensive end of the floor and after having three good defensive efforts in a row, it’s disappointing and we have to bounce back."

UCLA had struggled defensively early this season, but appeared to have turned a corner by holding its past three opponents to 36, 48 and 36 percent.

The Bruins played man-to-man for most of Thursday, but switching to zone didn't help much. Howland called for the zone four times and Oregon State scored on three of those possessions, twice on 3-pointers.

"When we went to the zone, they scored three of the four times so we went away from it," Lazeric Jones said.

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ANAHEIM -- Apparently all it takes to wake up Joshua Smith is a game against Arizona State.

Smith broke out of an early-season slumber against the Sun Devils, scoring a season-high-tying 18 points with three powerful dunks and led the Bruins to a 75-58 victory Saturday night at the Honda Center.

Last year, Smith had a monstrous two-handed jam -- one of his most aggressive moves of the season to that point -- against Arizona State and it propelled him to a strong second half. Saturday, he displayed the same type of aggressiveness after playing passively for most of the season so far and finally displayed the type of skill that had him pegged as one of the top centers in the country going into this season.

"It was funny, Jerime [Anderson] and Coach [Ben Howland] reminded me in the walkthrough saying 'Josh, last year this was a turning point with the dunk at ASU,' " Smith said. "The guys were like 'You got to get at least one of them' and I was like, 'All right.' "

With the victory, UCLA (9-7, 2-2) evened its conference record and got back into the thick of what seems early on will be a wide-open Pac-12 race. It also improved UCLA's record to 4-0 at the Honda Center as the Bruins wrapped up the Orange County portion of their schedule, which included Thursday's Wooden Classic.

"It was great playing down here," Howland said. "We really loved playing down here. We loved the fan support, it’s a great venue. It was great to have it in Coach's name on Thursday."
Five observations from the game:

1Joshua Smith looked like a different player

Smith took the ball to the basket aggressively, showed some signs of quickness and energy was able to finish around the basket -- something he has struggled to do most of this season. He was a dominant force inside, especially on the offensive end, and not just a big body clogging up space.

"Josh had his best game of the year," Howland said. "He was very aggressive and when he was going to score he was going to dunk it and not just lay it in. He was aggressive and it was fun to watch."

Smith sat out Thursday against Arizona and was questionable to play Saturday because of a concussion, but was cleared to play Saturday morning after returning to UCLA to take a computerized test that is part of the UCLA concussion protocol. He did not start the game, but took over once he got in.

"I’m just trying to be aggressive," Smith said. "I really wanted to play that Arizona game, so I felt like I owed my team one."

2The Bruins dominated the paint and the glass

Led by Smith, UCLA had 46 points in the paint and out-rebounded Arizona State, 31-23. David Wear had eight points and nine rebounds and Travis Wear had 16 points and seven rebounds. Travis Wear was especially efficient on the offensive glass, getting five offensive rebounds and scoring 10 second-chance points.

"I try to be consistent in my effort on the offensive glass because if you are there most of the game you’re going to have a couple of them bounce to you if you are in a good position and you can get a couple of easy buckets that way," Travis Wear said. "Especially against a zone, you can sneak in there sometimes and not get boxed out."

Howland said it was part of the strategy to crash the offensive glass against Arizona State, which was playing without three suspended players and had only six scholarship players suited up.

"We really made an effort to try to get second shots because being short-handed the way they were they weren’t looking to push the ball at all," Howland said. "So we felt like we could rebound real aggressively and not get hurt in transition defense."

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UCLA may be facing a short-handed Arizona State team in their Pac-12 game Saturday night at the Honda Center in Anaheim, but coach Ben Howland is taking nothing for granted.

The Sun Devils are traveling with only six scholarship players because starting point guard Keala King, starting forward Kyle Cain and reserve guard Chris Colvin have been suspended for unacceptable conduct, but that didn't stop them from defeating USC, 62-53, Thursday night at the Galen Center.

"Arizona State proved real clearly last night that maybe this thing has brought them together more," Howland said. "We’re going to have to play really well tomorrow to beat them. I know that and I think our team knows that."

King is averaging a team-high 13.7 points while Crain averages 8.5 points and Colvin 5.4. In their absence Trent Lockett moved to point guard and junior forward Carrick Felix had a career-high 22 points as Arizona State used a starting lineup of players that measured 6-6, 6-7, 7-0, 6-5 and 6-4. Sophomore Jordan Bachynski, a 7-2 center, is the only other scholarship player available for the Sun Devils.

"They’re really big right now," Howland said. "They have those three kids that are going to miss tomorrow’s game as well. So they’re huge and really have great length. It makes it different because our matchups are so hard."

The other thing that makes Arizona State difficult is their zone defense. The Sun Devils (5-9, 1-1) are holding opponents to 40.1 percent from the field which ranks second in the Pac-12.

"They do a good job contesting every shot," Howland said. "They’re matching up. They have man to man principles within the zone. It’s a hard defense to play against."

UCLA (8-7, 1-2) is coming off of a 65-58 victory over Arizona, which defeated a full-strength Arizona State, 68-51, last week. The Bruins are looking to even up their conference record, which would actually get them right back into the thick of the conference race.

On Thursday, California, Stanford, Washington and Arizona all lost, leaving Colorado as the lone undefeated team in the conference and the league title race very much wide open. Those teams all lost on the road and Howland, whose team lost two road games last week, said that will be the challenge in the conference this season.

"There are home games and road games," Howland said. "Every team at home won last night except USC and so that’s not that big of a surprise. And now you’re going up into the mountains and you’re going to Utah and Colorado, take the oxygen."

Howland said the Pac-12 title winner could be a team that finishes 13-5. Washington in 1984-85 and California in 2009-10 are the only teams to win the conference with five losses since the conference expanded to 10 teams in 1978.

"Yeah, I do," Howland said when asked if he thought a five-loss team could win the Pac-12 this season. "It wouldn’t surprise me in the least. I don’t think it’ll happen. I still think it’ll probably be four, but who knows?"

The Bruins have a pair of very winnable games coming up with Arizona State and then a game at USC (5-11, 0-3) before a difficult road trip to Oregon State (11-4, 1-2) and Oregon (11-4, 2-1) Jan. 19 and 21 which will likely determine if the Bruins can stay in the conference title race.

Presuming, of course, they don't take a short-handed Arizona State for granted.

Other tidbits:

• Forward De'End Parker is on an excused absence to be with his ailing mother in the Bay Area. She had open heart surgery earlier this year and has had some complications, Howland said. Parker has a knee injury and has not played since Nov. 15. "Because he’s not healthy and not playing I just decided it was OK for him to stay at home and be with her," Howland said. "He’s supposed to be back in school on Monday."
• Freshman Norman Powell has had some acrobatic dunks over the last couple of games, but his shooting percentage is way down after scoring a career-high 19 points Dec. 20 against UC Irvine. Powell was one for six Thursday against Arizona making him four of 22 (18.1 percent) over the last four games. He was shooting 47.1 percent before his current slump. "For him typically, it’s just good shot, bad shot and recognizing when he’s open," Howland said. "When he’s open, he’s a good shooter."
• Lazeric Jones will continue to play more minutes at shooting guard than at point guard, Howland said. Jones, the team's leading scorer at 13.5 points a game, is also leading the team with 149 shots attempted and Howland feels that Jones is a better fit at off guard. Jones played there for the first time on Thursday against Arizona and had 13 points on a team-high 16 shots. Jerime Anderson ran the point most of the game. "We executed a lot better offensively than we have been," Howland said.

BERKELEY, Calif.--The heartbreak from Thursday's last-second loss at Stanford will be less than 40 hours old when UCLA hits the court against Saturday against California, but the Bruins will have to find a way to bounce back and avoid falling into an 0-2 hole to start Pac-12 play.

Staying within a point of one of the conference's top teams on the road and having two shots to win the game at the end of a 60-59 loss to the Cardinal (11-2, 1-0) may serve as a moral victory, but moral victories don't count in the standings and UCLA (7-6, 0-1) is getting dangerously close to a point where it can ill-afford any more losses on its resume.

"It’s very important especially after the game we just had," forward David Wear said. "Losing like that is really tough, but we’ve got to let this go and realize we’ve got another game. We can't leave this trip without a win."

It won't get much easier when they play at California (11-3, 1-0) Saturday at 1 p.m. UCLA and California have gone to overtime at Haas Pavilion the last two seasons, with each team winning one of those games. Cal has won five of its last six games and is coming off of a 53-49 conference-opening victory over USC, so UCLA can't be haunted by what might have been at Stanford or the Bruins will be in for a long night.

"It’s definitely a tough loss but you have to have a short term memory," Tyler Lamb said. "We still have another game on this road trip."

DEFENSE NOT THE ISSUE: UCLA coach Ben Howland was questioned about starting the Stanford game in a man-to-man defense and falling behind, 13-6, before switching to a zone. The zone was far more effective as Stanford made five of nine shots against the man, then made four of its next 26 against the zone.

But Howland said he was OK with the way his defense played. He was more concerned about the lack of production on the other end of the floor. UCLA shot 39 percent for the game. Lazeric Jones was eight for 13, but the rest of the team was 12 of 38 (31.5 percent).

David Wear was 1-8 from the field, Lamb was 3-7, Jerime Anderson was 2-9 and Norman Powell was 1-5.

"My big thing is we’ve got to play better at the other end of the floor, too," Howland said. "We shot 39 percent from the field as a team and no one else made a three but Zeek [Jones]. We had some open looks and open shots so we’ve just got to shoot better."

A major part of the problem was missed layups. Post player Joshua Smith and David Wear had several fumbles near the basket and some of the guards were unable to finish when they got penetration. Howland said players are trying to finesse shots around defenders instead of going in strong. David Wear did not have a free throw attempt Thursday.

"I always tell the players either score it, get it blocked or get fouled," he said. "I think players are too worried about getting their shot blocked at times."

NO TIMEOUTS, NO PROBLEM: When UCLA took possession trailing by one with 29 seconds remaining against Stanford, the Bruins had no timeouts to set up a play for a game-winning shot.

Howland had burned through his timeouts earlier in the game, using his last one to stop a run of Stanford three-pointers with 5:08 left to play. But Howland said he did not regret his early use of timeouts during the game.

"We just used our timeouts to stay in the game and give ourselves a chance," Howland said. "Maybe if I had saved them, we wouldn’t even have been close at the end. There’s obviously different ways to look at it."

Howland said he doesn't know how much good a timeout would have done, anyway. The Bruins ran a play and found Anderson wide open for a three-point shot that would have given the Bruins a two-point lead with 11 seconds to play. Anderson, a 39-percet three-point shooter, simply missed.

"That last play was perfect, we just missed a wide open shot," Howland said. "It didn’t have anything to do with timeout or no timeout. If we had called a time out we still couldn’t have gotten a better shot than what we got."

GUARDING GUTIERREZ: Anyone who watched UCLA's game at Cal last year will remember the virtuoso performance put on by Jorge Gutierrez, who had 34 points and almost single-handedly carried the Golden bears with nine points in overtime.

Gutierrez seemed a step quicker than UCLA's defenders in that game and continually penetrated for layups of drew fouls inside. If UCLA plays man-to-man, Lamb will start off on Gutierrez, Howland said.

"He’s a very good competitor," Howland said of Gutierrez. "He's a great athlete, driver. He does a lot well. He’s getting 5.2 rebounds per game. He’s second on the team in assists. He gets to the free throw line."