Steve Lavin Returns to UCLA to Sound of Silence

LOS ANGELES -- It's not like Steve Lavin hasn't been back to Pauley Pavilion in the last eight years. He just hasn't done it as the opposing coach.

The man who could never quite do it right when he was the UCLA coach from 1996-2003 returned to the scene of his alleged crimes against Bruin basketball Saturday morning.

But apparently, at 10 a.m on a sunny California morning seven years after Lavin left, everybody in Westwood played it cool. The boos did not rain, the jeers weren't even close to deafening.

Is it possible that UCLA fans are, dare we say, over it?

The hostility never showed up, but after a slow start, UCLA finally did.

The Bruins beat the visiting Red Storm on the boards, had a huge advantage at the free-throw line and rallied from a slow start to defeat St. John's 66-59.

Reeves Nelson hit a fall-away 3-pointer with 34 seconds to go to close out what is a respectable non-conference win for a Bruins team looking to solidify its NCAA prospects. UCLA improved to 16-7.

"This is an important win for our team," said UCLA coach Ben Howland, whose young team has won 13 of its last 16.

A mid-morning tip-off for national TV didn't quite fill Pauley Pavilion for Lavin's return.

In fact, Lavin ended up on the opposing bench while fans were still moving to their seats and it was a surprisingly quiet entrance. Lavin was hugging old friends behind the bench and it was all very cordial. He was not introduced when his team's starting lineup was announced to the crowd.

It wasn't until the student yell leader took the court with a microphone that Lavin's presence was acknowledged.

"You know who's back today," the yell leader said. "Let's show Steve Lavin what it's like to lose at Pauley Pavilion."

Most of the UCLA players -- not to mention the students -- were in middle school when Lavin left UCLA after failing to add a title to the Bruins' total.

"There were a lot of friendly faces," Lavin said. "It was a little surreal walking into the opposing locker room. It did take me a moment. Coach (Gene) Keady reminded me that we were the team in red.

"Once the game started, I was extremely focused on the task at hand. I lost myself in the competition."

Lavin said he wasn't paying much attention to his reception, which was by all standards, pretty cordial. Lavin was waving and smiling at UCLA fans during his postgame interview, shaking hands and hugging on his way out of the locker room.

"It was calm, cool and collected," said St. John's guard Dwight Hardy, who scored a career-high 32 points in the losing effort. "I didn't hear anybody say anything today."

Lavin was 32 when he got the UCLA job back in 1996, following Jim Harrick and the program's first losing season in 55 years. Lavin went 145-78 in seven seasons.

But UCLA fans and faithful were never quite satisfied with the brash, young head coach. His teams were too inconsistent, there were too many ups and downs. And he didn't win a title, or even get to a Final Four.

Lavin led UCLA to the Elite Eight in his first season and five more Sweet 16s.

He was fired in 2003 after a 10-19 season and spent seven years as an analyst with ESPN. That job brought him back to UCLA a handful of times over the years, but he was wearing headphones to drown out the boos.

Lavin has made two trips with the Red Storm to California this season.

He opened the season at St. Mary's in Northern California. Back in November, Lavin might not have been sure what he had beyond a lot of senior experience.

Now he knows he has a team equally capable of beating then-No. 3 Duke by 15 points or losing to St. Bonaventure and Fordham.

St. John's (13-9) jumped on the Bruins quickly, forcing UCLA coach Ben Howland to call timeout twice in the first seven-plus minutes and down by early margins of 9-2 and 13-4. But the Bruins went on a 7-0 run to get within 13-11.

Turnovers hurt UCLA early, but reserve wing Tyler Lamb gave the Bruins their first lead, 22-21, with a 3-pointer at 3:47 and UCLA held on for a 29-26 lead at halftime.

UCLA lead by as many as 10 points in the second half, but the Red Storm rallied to within 62-59 with just under two minutes to go. Nelson's 3-pointer sealed the win, making up for six late missed free-throws by the Bruins. UCLA was 27 of 41 from the line. St. John's just 5 of 7. The Bruins finished with a 40-28 rebounding margin.

Joshua Smith led UCLA with 19 points. Reeves Nelson pulled down a career-high 17 rebounds.

'We beat two really good teams (this week) with USC and St. John's," Nelson said. "We are going to keep working because we are not where we want to me," Nelson said.