Lavin Praised for Keeping Composure

UCLA Coach Steve Lavin is getting all sorts of strokes these days. The latest come from guard Billy Knight, whose clutch play Saturday helped the Bruins avoid getting upset by Arizona State.

“I really couldn’t tell from Lavin that he had his job on the line because his composure was real smooth,” Knight said. “The only time I knew his job was on the line was by reading all the newspapers and listening to TV. I don’t know how he did it. He just had something about him that he ignored all the pressure. He kept coaching us the same way. No changes. That was a big influence on our team when we saw that. We just wanted to play and listen to everything he says, because he’s a good coach.”

*

With their victories over the Arizona schools, the Bruins moved up to fifth in this week’s Ratings Percentage Index. Stanford is second to No. 1 North Carolina and USC is 19th.