LOS ANGELES_Everyone knows the UCLA basketball team can score, and dish, and run through the gym as if they are flying.
But at a rollicking Pauley Pavilion that included all those things Saturday night, the Bruins proved capable of equally important attributes.
They can learn. They can grow. And yes, they can finally beat USC.
Barely two weeks after suffering their most discouraging loss of the season to the Trojans, the sixth-ranked Bruins outsmarted, outworked and outplayed them in a 102-70 victory that was even bigger than it looked.
It was as big as Coach Steve Alford's joyous stomps across the floor with every big Bruins defensive stop. It was as big as Bryce Alford's eyes on jump shots he threw in from Wilshire. It was as big as the steals and stutter-steps and alley-oop slams that fueled the Bruins' second-half rout amid wild cheers filled with wonder.
And, oh yeah, it was as large as the look of shock on a USC team not used to getting run out of its own town.
If the Bruins played like they needed this game more, well, the Bruins felt like they did.
If UCLA had lost, it would have been its fifth straight defeat to USC, the longest such streak in 74 years. It would also have come after a late January loss to the Trojans that was followed by a players-only meeting in the UCLA locker room where the Bruins vowed to start playing defense.
Was that defeat a teaching moment? Did that meeting work? It turns out, yes and yes. The Bruins have now gone 5-0 since that USC loss with wins that included a 19-point comeback in a victory over highly ranked Oregon and a win Saturday night that was wrapped in desperate relief.
You could see it written all over Alford's face when he made consecutive plays to clinch it.
With 6:54 left in the game, Alford hit a long three-pointer to give the Bruins a 15-point lead. Moments later, he was hammered on a layup yet somehow banked the ball into the basket while falling to the floor.
When he stood up, he was snarling. That's right, nice Bryce Alford was twisting his face in a Kobe Bryant jaw while slapping hands with courtside fans.
One didn't need to see the scoreboard _ which was 79-61 after his free throw _ to know the game was over. One didn't need to look at box scores to figure that Alford, who made one basket in the previous loss to USC, finished this game with redemption, eight baskets and 26 points.
But, hey, if you did want to look at the box score, in their first meeting last month at Galen Center, USC ran past UCLA with four guards and swarmed them into 17 turnovers in an eight-point victory.
This time, the Bruins ran smack over the Trojans, making more than half of their shots while holding USC to 34 percent shooting and outrebounding USC by 17 boards. Those turnovers dropped to 10, which, along with 23 assists and five players in double-figure scoring, is the definition of team win.
For the record, Alford's biggest three came with 1:59 left when he nailed a bomb that gave the Bruins 10 three-pointers and everyone in the building a chicken sandwich. He strutted a little bit after that, and who could blame him?
UCLA is now 24-3 and still leading the nation in points and assists per game. For the Trojans, it was a missed opportunity to further prove themselves nationally. Entering the night, they were off to their best start in 25 years, at 21-5, yet still unranked and uncertain of a decent tournament seeding.
Yeah, this game under these conditions would have proven a lot for the Trojans.
Pauley was filled and loud, equaling the furious emotions that filled Galen Center last month.
Caitlyn Jenner showed up and was cheered. Travis Kalanick, the UCLA graduate and co-founder of Uber, showed up and was booed. Derrick Rose of the New York Knicks also showed up and the response was like, what?
The biggest star, just like in the first meeting between these two teams and in the Dodgers home playoff games, was national anthem singer Keith Williams Jr. As always when Williams sings, the crowd roared in wonder and delight and seriously, how does he hit some of those notes?
And when the game began, the Trojans were also singing. With 7:57 left in the first half, the Trojans led 23-18. Then Isaac Hamilton hit a jumper to start UCLA on a 28-9 run to end the half with the Bruins leading, 46-34, setting the tone for the rest of the game.
The comeback was fueled with defense, Thomas Welsh blocking Chimezie Metu, Gyorgy Goloman forcing Elijah Stewart out of bounds, hands in face, help coming from everywhere.
And, of course, the comeback was also fueled with shooting, Alford hitting two three-pointers, TJ Leaf active everywhere around the basket and, finally, Lonzo Ball with his usual dramatics.
In the final seconds of the half, just past the midcourt line, Ball dribbled and dribbled and then sank one of his from-the-hip threes to end the end the half with UCLA leading by a dozen.
Of course he did. It's what he does. And for once, beating USC was something UCLA actually did, a night of growth, from the chill of late January into the oncoming heat of March.
