UCLA NOTEBOOK: STANFORD THRIVES DESPITE ADVERSITY.

Byline: Billy Witz Staff Writer

UCLA coach Steve Lavin was explaining again Tuesday how he wasn't really surprised that the Bruins are 4-9 this season, what with their demanding schedule (60th in the nation, according to the RPI) , having lost two fifth-year seniors in Billy Knight and Rico Hines, losing freshman Evan Burns because he couldn't gain admission, and starting the season without Ryan Walcott (NCAA suspension) and Andre Patterson (flunked out of school).

Yet, Stanford, whom the Bruins play Thursday, is 12-5 with some impressive victories despite taking truly devastating roster hits.

The Cardinal lost two first-round NBA draft picks, Casey Jacobsen and Curtis Borchardt, who left school a year early. They lost sixth man Teyo Johnson, who is preparing for the NFL draft; point guard Chris Hernandez is out of the season with a broken foot; and forward Justin Davis - the Cardinal's best player - will miss his fifth consecutive game with a knee injury.

Stanford, which is down to nine scholarship players, starts three sophomores and relies on three freshmen - Dan Grunfield, Jason Haas and Matt Harayasz - to come off the bench. They've had some uneven moments, losing at home to Montana and Richmond, and losing at Washington.

But the Cardinal has the Pacific-10 Conference's most impressive postseason resume, with victories over No. 5 Florida and No. 23 Oregon, as well as Xavier, UNLV and Gonzaga.

Why have the Cardinal been able to sustain their losses while the Bruins haven't?

``Mike Montgomery is a Hall of Fame coach. He's a three-time national coach of the year,'' said Lavin, though Montgomery won the honor once, in 2000. ``He's one of the best in the business. He's done a masterful job reloading, making the adjustments of all the things, pushing all the right buttons.''

--Back to the bench: Janou Rubin, the sophomore walk-on who hit three 3-pointers in the loss to Arizona, won't necessarily get more playing time when the Bay Area native returns home.

``I don't know how significant,'' Lavin said of Rubin's playing time. ``He didn't do anything spectacular, but he had open shots that he made, which is a step in the right direction. He played with some energy, didn't turn the ball over. We'll just kind of see.''

--Injury report: Stanford forward Justin Davis, who is averaging 11.2 points and a Pac-10-best 9.4 rebounds per game, will not play after his left knee (which has a partially torn ligament) was examined Tuesday by doctors.

--Mum's the word: Two years after closing practices to reporters, UCLA is restricting media access to players, no longer making them available for interviews Friday - the day between conference games.

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Photo:

JANOU RUBIN

UCLA walk-on sophomore returns to Bay Area after coming off bench to hit three 3-pointers against Arizona.