UCLA hammers Stanford despite

Five into UCLA's Pac-10 opener against Stanford on Thursday, there were more starting players sitting on the Bruins' bench then running around on the court.

Cedric Bozeman was in street clothes, a sling covering his injured left shoulder.

Beside him sat Michael Fey and his injured right ankle; next to him Ryan Hollins and his strained groin. Jordan Farmar was in uniform but locked to the bench with two fouls. So was Lorenzo Mata.

In other words, not quite the scenario the Bruins envisioned against a conference opponent that's owned them the last six meetings.

So why was everybody smiling so much at Pauley Pavilion?

The Bruins, growing more resilient with every new disheartening MRI result plopped onto Ben Howland's desk, took apart Stanford 71-54 in one of their most dominant Pac-10 performances in years.

The win was the eighth consecutive for No. 11 UCLA (11-1, 1-0) and gives the Bruins their best start since their 1994-1995 NCAA Championship team. That team started 12-1, a record UCLA can match with a win today against Cal.

"This was a great win for this team," Howland said.

Stanford, picked to finish second in the Pac-10 by conference coaches, had beaten UCLA six straight times and eight of the last 10.

The Cardinal (4-5, 0-1) had not lost to the Bruins at Pauley Pavilion since 1996-1997.

"I wasn't too familiar with all that, I just knew they beat us two straight," said sophomore Arron Afflalo, who tied his career high with 23 points. "I just wanted the win."

So did Josh Shipp, although simply making it to the court was his first priority. Shipp played for the first time this year after spending the past 14 weeks recovering from hip surgery. He finished with 11 points in 29 minutes, scoring the first three points of the game on a breakaway layup on which he was fouled.

"It felt good just to get out there and play," Shipp said.

Howland agreed.

"To not play or do anything for as long as he did and to go out there and play the way he did was just spectacular," Howland said. "It was a miraculous performance."

The win was impressive on any level, but even more so considering big men Fey and Hollins were sidelined with injuries and the versatile Bozeman learned earlier in the day he's out at least three weeks with torn cartilage in his left shoulder.

Bozeman all of last season with a knee injury, and if the latest setback requires surgery he could miss the remainder of the year.

Of course, even in victory there was some bad news for the Bruins on the injury front: Farmar and Ryan Wright both suffered ankle sprains, leaving their status for Saturday's game against Cal in doubt.

Whatthe Bruins lacked in personnel against Stanford they made up for with a ballhawking defense that harassed the Cardinal into 29.2 percent shooting (14 of 48) and 13 turnovers, with many of the misses and turnovers converted into points on the other end.

Stanfordmissed 12 first shots from the field, resulting in an 18-1 UCLA lead.

The Cardinal never got closer than 13 points the rest of the half and trailed by as many as 24 points in the second half.

The key was a series of traps and double-teams that confused a typically disciplined Stanford offense.

The defense was spearheaded by Farmar and Afflalo.

"Theirdefensive leadership was critical," Howland said.

The Bruinswere just as effective on offense, shooting 50.9 percent from the field.

The loss of Fey and Hollins -- the Bruins' two most experienced frontcourt players -- was adequately absorbed by the combination of Luc Richard Mbah A Moute, Mata, Ryan Wright, and Alfred Aboyo.