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.