Beavers Wake Up MacLean : UCLA: He gets an elbow from Alibegovic, but Oregon State takes one on the chin, 87-56.

It was pay-back time Saturday for UCLA, which avenged last month’s heartbreaking double-overtime loss to Oregon State by defeating the Beavers, 87-56, in front of 10,618 at Pauley Pavilion.

As usual, much of the damage was inflicted by Don MacLean, who followed a passive, almost disinterested performance against Oregon Thursday night by scoring 28 points to lead an inspired effort by the Bruins, who ran their winning streak to three games while improving to 20-7 overall and 8-6 in the Pacific 10 Conference.

In three seasons at UCLA, MacLean has never scored fewer than 25 points in six games against the Beavers, averaging 27.3 points and 8.3 rebounds while making 60.4% of his shots and 83.7% of his free throws.

But after a week in which an eye injury kept him out of a game, and his sometimes less-than-exemplary on-court behavior came under close scrutiny, MacLean seemed preoccupied against Oregon.

He returned to form against Oregon State, making nine of 16 shots and all nine of his free throws, most of them after taking an elbow to the chin from Oregon State’s Teo Alibegovic less than two minutes into the game.

“I was feeling out of it a little bit,” MacLean said of his 17-point effort against Oregon. “I had some things on my mind. Basketball hasn’t been No. 1 on my mind for about a week or so. It’s just personal things. But I feel better now, and I’m ready to finish off the season strong.”

Not feeling so good was Alibegovic, a physical 6-foot-9 senior forward from Ljubljana, Yugoslavia, who claimed that he never hit MacLean, although television replays indicated he did.

“I play hard,” said Alibegovic, whose nose was broken by a MacLean elbow in a game at UCLA two years ago. “I always play hard . . . especially against guys with no class like MacLean.

“He has to learn that we are Yugoslavs, not Iraqis. He was calling me Iraqi, telling me I did not belong in the USA.”

Not so, MacLean said.

“An Iraqi?” MacLean said, laughing loudly. “My response is that I can’t even understand half the things he says, so I don’t even want to get into it. He elbowed me and now he’s going off on me. He just gets so flustered when he plays against me. He just completely loses his head.”

Alibegovic and his teammates lost the game in the last 10 minutes, when UCLA outscored the Beavers, 34-8.

Against the worst road team in the Pac-10--Oregon State (13-11, 7-7) is 1-9 on the road--UCLA led, 53-48, before Darrick Martin made a three-point shot with 9:57 left to start a 10-0 run by the Bruins. The 93-second blitz also included a steal and two assists by Martin.

It was capped by Tracy Murray, whose three-point play was part of a 27-point, 10-rebound effort by the sophomore forward.

It was painful to watch for Oregon State Coach Jim Anderson, whose aching back already had him in so much pain that he was taken on and off the court in a wheelchair. Anderson, 53, is scheduled to undergo surgery Monday in Corvallis, Ore., to repair a herniated disk.

“They get a gap of 10 to 15 points and they just build on it,” said Anderson, whose team had stayed close by dictating a deliberate pace. “We had to pick it up a little bit to try to get back into it, and when you’re not shooting a high percentage, it just spirals.”

Although it fell into an 11-2 hole at the start after UCLA took advantage of Alibegovic’s flagrant foul against MacLean by scoring five points--two on free throws by MacLean and the others on a three-point shot by Murray--Oregon State rallied to open a 24-20 lead with 5:36 left in the half.

But after MacLean ran over Beaver defender Kevin Harris on his way to a layup, ending a 6 1/2-minute scoring drought by UCLA, Anderson protested and drew a technical foul.

“I’ve been here many, many times and sometimes you have to make a little noise or you don’t get treated very well,” Anderson said. “When you don’t think the calls are the same on both ends, somebody has to stick up for your team and that’s what I tried to do.”

MacLean’s two free throws completed a four-point play, starting a 13-2 run by the Bruins, who never trailed again.

Bruin Notes

Teo Alibegovic on Don MacLean: “Throughout the whole game, he was calling me names. I hope someone comes out and shows him what real toughness is. The rest of the UCLA players are beautiful guys, and they’ll play much better when Don is gone. Hopefully, he’ll go to the pros next year.”

UCLA Coach Jim Harrick said he spoke Friday with MacLean. Said Harrick: “I told him, ‘Forget the past. You built your grave and sometimes you have to sleep in it, but let’s put it in the past. Get your tenacity back and let’s go on.’ I thought he was back today, no question. He played with poise. He took a real shot in the mouth, stepped up and let his play do his talking.”

As they passed in a hallway after Thursday night’s game, Harrick said to Oregon Coach Don Monson, “Beat Arizona,” to which Monson replied, good-naturedly: “You’re about the eighth person who’s said that to me since the game ended. You beat Arizona.” Said Harrick: “I tried.” . . . Oregon will play Arizona twice in its last three games.

UCLA’s proposed trip to Italy this summer has been shelved. School officials discovered that an NCAA rule prohibits teams from making such trips in the summer after a season in which they play in Alaska or Hawaii. UCLA won the Great Alaska Shootout last November.

* USC WINS: The Trojans keep their postseason hopes alive with an 84-71 victory over Oregon. C8