[0] BRUINS BEFUDDLED PAULEY PAVILION AGAIN IS HOME FOR THE CARDINAL STANFORD 86, UCLA 76.

Byline: Billy Witz Staff Writer

The UCLA basketball team can manufacture all the indignation it wants about Stanford.

It might want to start manufacturing the type of basketball team the Cardinal has. One that competes fiercely on the boards, defends its basket like a family nest egg and plays, as you might expect, intelligently.

Stanford did all those things that the Bruins did not, pulling away from UCLA for a 86-76 victory before a crowd of 12,243 that had cleared out of Pauley Pavilion inside the final two minutes.

The victory was Stanford's fifth in a row at Pauley Pavilion, the most ever by a UCLA opponent. The loss, UCLA's second in a row and third in five games, dropped the Bruins (13-5, 5-3) into fifth place in the Pac-10.

And if the Bruins don't feel bad enough about that, then they can consider how they were done in by three players from their own backyard: Casey Jacobsen, Julius Barnes and Josh Childress.

The three scored 57 points and were never better than at the end.

Jacobsen, the junior All-American candidate from Glendora High, might have been expected to bury the Bruins and he did with a pair of NBA-range 3-pointers in the final six minutes.

But they were hurt just as much by a pair the two most athletic players on the court - Childress, the freshman from Lakewood Mayfair, and Barnes, a junior from Rowland Heights Rowland.

With Stanford (12-4, 5-2) leading 59-58 just inside nine minutes, the three scored 19 consecutive points for the Cardinal.

The one that hurt the most was Childress, the spindly 6-foot-7 forward. He scored 14 points, including a pair of 3-pointers, and grabbed a game- high 12 rebounds (five more than any Bruin) and also blocked two shots.

Childress tipped in a basket to put Stanford ahead 61-58 then scored on a drive to the basket to make it 65-60. Jacobsen followed by drilling a 25- foot 3-pointer to put the Cardinal ahead 68-60. He punctuated it by shouting at the student section as the Bruins called timeout.

The Bruins closed within 68-63 when Matt Barnes, who had a team-high 20 points, six assists, four steals and six rebounds. But Julius Barnes answered with a jumper over Ryan Walcott and the Bruins never got closer than seven the rest of the way.

UCLA center Dan Gadzuric, who had fouled out of the past three games, had vowed to use better discretion against Stanford. But again he was in foul trouble. And he didn't wait long to get there.

He picked up his first foul 75 seconds into the game. He played just 10 minutes in the first half, but when he picked up his second, with 3:20 left in the half, UCLA coach Steve Lavin left him with Stanford already on a 10-0 run and leading 38-35.

Gadzuric scored on a jumper and had a steal, but with 2:06 left he picked up his third foul trying to guard Stanford center Curtis Borchardt.

Gadzuric had a pair of dunks early in the second half, but then picked up his fourth foul trying to defend an entry pass to Borchardt - 20 feet from the basket.

Matt Barnes made up for the void with a more energized second half. He scored eight points in the first six minutes of the half and also helped draw two fouls on Borchardt.

The Bruins, as they did against Arizona, came out shooting well. And when Jason Kapono hit a 3-pointer from the wing they led 18-10.

But again their poor defense and inability to rebound bit them again.

Stanford dominated the boards 25-16 in the first half, and that statistic doesn't even do it justice. The Cardinal had 11 offensive rebounds and probably just as many tips they couldn't control.

As a result, when UCLA eventually started to struggle offensively, the Bruins lost their advantage. The Bruins, who led 33-28, missed eight consecutive shots and scored just one basket in the final 8:55 of the half.

Stanford took advantage to go on a 10-0 run and take a two-point lead at the half.

One bright spot in the first half was the re-emergence of forward T.J. Cummings. The sophomore, who had totaled 20 points and seven rebounds in the last five games, looked like a different player.

He collected rebounds at each end of the court moments after he entered the game and finished with 11 points and three rebounds in 10 minutes.

Billy Knight, who missed his final seven shots against Arizona, saw his slump continue early. He made just 1 of 4 shots in 16 first-half minutes.

Guard Rico Hines, who missed the last two games with the after effects of a concussion, did not suit up when headaches returned Thursday morning.

Hines, who was cleared by doctors after a workout Tuesday afternoon, woke up Thursday with headaches, reported to the trainer's room and underwent more tests before being declared unfit.

CAPTION(S):

2 photos, box

Photo:

(1 -- color) Stanford's Casey Jacobsen goes between UCLA's Matt Barnes, left, and Billy Knight.

Mark J. Terrill/Associated Press

(2) UCLA's Matt Barnes goes up for a shot in the second half Thursday night.

Mark J. Terrill/Associated Press

Box:

PAC-10 STANDINGS