Defense powers UCLA over Stanford

Don't ask Ben Howland about the way his team lit up the scoreboard.

Don't ask about the dunks and the fastbreak layups, the three-point shots.

The UCLA coach would rather talk about something else.

"I know it's boring -- I apologize -- but it's the truth," Howland said. "It all starts with our defense."

Leave it to a defense-first guy to rain on the 17th-ranked Bruins' scoring parade, a 97-63 victory over Stanford at Pauley Pavilion on Saturday afternoon.

The win followed an equally impressive performance against California on Thursday, two games in which a struggling Bruins team began attacking the basket.

The 97 points Saturday were the most scored by a Howland team in a Pacific 10 Conference game, yet even the players talked about finally understanding the effort their coach wants at the other end of the court.

"To be honest, there's no magic trick to what we've been doing the last two games," guard Darren Collison said. "We just raised our level of intensity on the defensive end."

They believe a simple equation -- turnovers equal easy baskets -- has pushed the Bruins (17-4 overall) back into a tie for first in the Pac-10 standings with a record of 7-2.

If nothing else, two big wins has brought life to a team that was licking its wounds after a loss at Washington only a week ago.

"After the Washington game, Coach told us we had to have the best practice we've ever had," center Alfred Aboya said. "That's what we did. After that, he said we had to keep it up every day."

Their new ferocity was turned loose on a couple of Bay Area teams that, while inhabiting the middle of the Pac-10 standings, suffered from obvious weaknesses.

Much like turnover-prone Cal on Thursday, Stanford (13-6, 3-6) gave the ball away too often, 19 turnovers translating into 25 points for UCLA.

At the same time, the Bruins continued pressing inside, scoring 42 points in the paint, tied for their season high.

When guard Jrue Holiday bulled down the lane, then kicked the ball to Nikola Dragovic for a three-point basket, UCLA had a 16-3 first-half run and a 13-point lead.

"We got off to a very slow start," said Coach Johnny Dawkins, who characterized his team's performance as "the most disappointing game of the season; we just did not play well in any category."

The score at halftime was 41-30.