CAL WINS ITS THIRD STRAIGHT AT PAULEY PAVILION 1/28/95 By MARK ALESIA Los Angeles Daily News WESTWOOD, Calif. -- To understand what made California's players tick in Saturday's upset over UCLA, you had to hear their ticked-off coach in the postgame news conference. Unprompted by a question, Todd Bozeman accused the Bruins, and UCLA coach Jim Harrick in particular, of disrespecting his team by not staying off the floor at Pauley Pavilion until the end of Cal's practice Friday. To UCLA, which practiced after the Bears, it was business as usual being turned into a disingenuous motivational ploy. Either way, it worked. The Bears became the only Pacific-10 Conference team to win three games in a row at Pauley Pavilion, taking a 14-point lead in the first half and holding on for a 100-93 victory over fourth-ranked UCLA. ''We had the court until 3 o'clock, and they came out at 2:45 like it didn't matter if we were even there,'' said Cal senior Monty Buckley, describing the scene at practice. ''They were talking and clapping, and Harrick just walked on the court. We took note of that.'' UCLA assistant coach Steve Lavin, who Bozeman also named during his postgame rant, said he and Harrick were simply walking from their office to the locker room as they always do. Bruins senior Ed O'Bannon said the players didn't do anything provocative as they sat in the baseline bleachers. ''There was no disrespect on our side,'' said O'Bannon, who had a team-high 23 points. ''This is our gym. We usually start practice at 2:50. Everybody gets fired up for different reasons. Who cares?'' UCLA (12-2, 6-2) and Cal (11-5, 3-4) were fired up for the game, with extracurricular pushing, shoving and talking, and two technical fouls. ''We hate losing to Cal more than any team in the Pac-10,'' UCLA guard Toby Bailey said. ''It's personal rivalries we have -- and what they did last year.'' The Bears, who swept UCLA last season, including a victory that toppled the Bruins from the No.1 ranking, needed a spark. They started the season 7-0 befo re losing five of eight going into Saturday's game. ''We're rivals, no question, because of recruiting,'' Lavin said. ''We've been in on kids they got. They've been in on kids we got. And they've been beating us on our home floor.'' Two of those kids were Cal freshmen from Southern California, forward Tremaine Fowlkes, who had a game-high 24 points, and guard Jelani Gardner, who added 18. With Cal ahead 68-66, Fowlkes scored nine straight points, giving the Bears a 77-66 lead with 7:17 left. UCLA never came any closer than five points the rest of the game. Five of Fowlkes' points during the run came against UCLA's Ed O'Bannon, who was playing with four fouls. With 11:45 left, O'Bannon charged into Buckley for his fourth foul. When he returned with 9:20 left, surprisingly early, Cal guard Randy Duck got Fowlkes' attention, held up four fingers and gestured to O'Bannon. Fowlkes got the message. He dunked as O'Bannon stood still helplessly. Then Fowlkes, a 27 percent shooter from 3-point range going into the game, hit a 3-pointer from the key. UCLA moved Charles O'Bannon onto Fowlkes and, with O'Bannon playing aggressive defense, Fowlkes made a hook shot. The run left some wondering why Ed O'Bannon was back in the game so early. ''If I'm going to get beat, I'm going to get beat with him on the floor,'' Harrick said. ''I don't think that hurt us more than the 3-point shots they made or the foul shots they made that they haven't been making.'' The Bears shot 74 percent from the free-throw line, up from 59 percent going into the game. UCLA appeared to have a prime chance to turn the momentum after Tyus Edney made his 190th career steal, setting the school record, and made a layup, cutting Cal's lead to 79-71 with 5:04 left. After the play, Duck shoved UCLA's Cameron Dollar and was called for a technical foul. But Edney made only one of the free throws, and, on UCLA's ensuing possession, Gardner stole Charles O'Bannon's pass as the shot clock was running out. Gardner took off for a layup and Edney was called for an intentional foul. After Gardner made both free throws, Cal failed to score on the ensuing possession, but UCLA's short-lived momentum ended. It didn't help the Bruins that their bench contributed only three points in the game and zero in the second half. ''I thought we were just a step slow,'' Harrick said. ''We didn't have quite the energy level we've had. Sometimes during the season, you're going to run into that. But they played very, very well. Every time they needed a basket, they got it.'' There appeared to be little warmth between Harrick and Bozeman. Appearing at the postgame news conference before Bozeman, Harrick, asked about Cal's zone defense, made a reference to the Bears' previous coach. ''It's what Lou Campanelli did,'' Harrick said. ''Same kind of zone Lou Campanelli used.'' Bozeman, who took a swipe at a Cal State Northridge administrator in Sunday's game at CSUN after an argument over Bozeman's contention that security was inadequete, said he didn't confront UCLA's coaches Friday about what happened at practice. ''Never have I ever seen it before, and I didn't say anything because I already had one incident in L.A. and I didn't want to have another,'' Bozeman said. Lavin said he heard Cal's coaches were upset after one of them talked to UCLA assistant coach Mark Gottfried before the game. Harrick wasn't available for comment after his news conference. ''Tremaine and Jelani were more of a factor than me walking through practice,'' Lavin said. ''Cal's hustling and playing great defense and beating us down the floor in transition were more of a factor than coach Harrick or me.''