UCLA NOTEBOOK: SWEET HOME NEEDS TO BE SOUR TO VISITORS.

Byline: Brian Dohn Staff Writer

UCLA believes the key to the revitalization of its program, and an NCAA berth, is to make Pauley Pavilion a tough place for opponents to win.

So far so good for the Bruins, who are 8-0 at home, but perhaps the best measuring stick comes tonight when Stanford visits. Even though the Cardinal is not as strong as previous seasons, no visiting team has won with more consistency in Westwood.

Stanford is the first program to win seven in a row at Pauley Pavilion, a streak that began with the Cardinal's 84-81 win in 1998.

``One of our big goals is not to lose at home this year,'' Bruins center Michael Fey said. ``We want to keep that going as long as we can, and it's going to start (today) against Stanford. They've won the last seven years, so we're definitely going to be thinking about that.''

Last season the Bruins went 9-6 at home, including 5-4 in Pacific-10 Conference play. In 2002-03, UCLA was 5-10 at home. This season the Bruins beat Michigan and Washington at home, and there have been a handful of close games.

UCLA beat Pepperdine and Michigan by two points, defeated Washington State in double overtime and rallied from a 21-point deficit to defeat Washington.

``We set a goal to protect our home court and win every game at home this year, so whatever happened in the past doesn't really affect what this team is trying to do this year,'' UCLA freshman point guard Jordan Farmar said. ``It's a pretty astounding stat, but it doesn't affect us.''

--Matchup to watch: Arizona had success containing Dijon Thompson in the second half by guarding him with a bigger player in 6-foot-10 Ivan Radenovich.

Stanford starts 6-11 Matt Haryasz at power forward, but if Thompson makes the adjustment UCLA's coaches want, the Cardinal may be forced to go with a smaller lineup and use 6-6 Nick Robinson against Thompson.

``Whenever he has a big (man) on him, he should be facing up,'' UCLA coach Ben Howland said. ``And when he has a small (man), he can take them down low. He can hurt you in so many ways because he can take a guy who's 6-5 or 6-6 and play with his back to the basket.

``His extension on his shot is really up high and he leans back a little bit. It's really hard to get to his shot and he's perfected that. But the big guys, he's got to take them away and then drive.''

--More Mata: Howland is being challenged to find minutes for freshman center Lorenzo Mata because of the skill level and strength of some of the centers in the league. Mata had back-to-back seven-rebound performances, at Oregon State and Oregon, and scored four points and had four rebounds in 19 minutes against Washington.

However, last week at Arizona State and Arizona, Mata combined to played eight minutes.

``You're throwing him against (ASU's) Ike Diogu and (Arizona's Channing) Frye, two (future) NBA players, two seniors, two guys that are physical,'' Howland said. ``As soon as they see a freshman, it's like a shark smelling blood. I mean, they're going right after him.

``He's good, though. He has a great attitude. He's a great kid. And again, that's another coaching error. I should have played him more minutes against Arizona. He needs that experience.''

But Stanford could be another difficult matchup for Mata because of the presence of the strong, physical Little.

--Planning ahead: Stanford plans to leave its West Los Angeles hotel earlier than usual to avoid possible delays by a planned protest at the Federal building on Wilshire Boulevard. The protest is to coincide with the Presidential inauguration and could force the closure of Wilshire near Interstate 405.

Brian Dohn, [phone]

brian.dohn(at)dailynews.com

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UCLA vs. STANFORD

- Brian Dohn