It Could Have Been a Big One : College basketball: Today’s UCLA-Duke game has become merely another game between good teams.

A month ago, today’s UCLA-Duke matchup at Pauley Pavilion loomed as the game of the year in college basketball.

No. 1 vs. No. 2.

East vs. West.

A battle of unbeatens.

Now, it’s merely another challenge for Duke, which has been ranked No. 1 all season but has not been at full strength since Feb. 5, when point guard Bobby Hurley suffered a broken right foot during a 75-73 loss to North Carolina.

Sidelined for five games, including a 72-68 loss to Wake Forest last Sunday, Hurley returned Wednesday night, getting nine assists during a 76-67 victory over Virginia at Durham, N.C.

But, on the day before Hurley returned, Grant Hill suffered an ankle injury during practice.

The versatile Hill, who is Duke’s No. 3 scorer and No. 2 rebounder and was Hurley’s replacement at point guard, is expected to be sidelined for two to four weeks.

So, this is not the same Duke team that opened the season with 17 consecutive victories, averaging 94.5 points while outscoring its opponents by more than 25 points.

“He pretty much does everything for us,” Hurley said of Hill, who averaged 16.4 points, 6.2 rebounds and 5.6 assists while Hurley was sidelined. “You can’t fill that void. You can only try to patch the holes up a little bit.”

The Blue Devils (22-2) will attempt to do so against a fourth-ranked UCLA team that has not suffered any significant personnel losses while going 21-3, but has sometimes lost its way after opening the season with 14 consecutive victories.

Ranked No. 2 for several weeks, UCLA no longer holds that distinction--except in Los Angeles.

For only the second time since 1942, the Bruins were swept in a season series by USC, losing to the 13th-ranked Trojans for the second time, 83-79, Thursday night at the Sports Arena.

Five days earlier, the Bruins were outscored, 21-4, in the last 5:40 of an 84-71 loss to Notre Dame at South Bend, Ind.

“We’ve got to get it turned around,” captain and senior guard Gerald Madkins said. “Look at OSU (Oklahoma State, which is 22-5 after a 20-0 start). We don’t want to be the next OSU. They’re struggling for their lives right now, and we don’t want to get into that situation, where we’re struggling just to win a game.

“(Today’s game) will tell a huge story about our team.”

Duke feels no such urgency.

“When we play UCLA, we’re absolutely playing for nothing, except to try to win,” Coach Mike Krzyzewski said. “What are we playing for? We’re not in the same conference. To me, it’s like having a great scrimmage. It’s a great opportunity for our team.

“We’re not playing for No. 1. These are the primaries. The election is (later) in March.”

Even without Hill, who is averaging 15 points, 5.7 rebounds and 4.1 assists, Duke probably would rank among the favorites to win the NCAA championship.

The Blue Devils’ center, 6-foot-11 senior Christian Laettner, is averaging 21.1 points and 7.3 rebounds and is among the leading candidates to be voted player of the year.

Last week, Laettner’s jersey No. 32 was retired by Duke.

Hurley, on pace to replace North Carolina State’s Chris Corchiani as the NCAA’s all-time assist leader, is averaging 12.7 points and 7.6 assists.

Thomas Hill, no relation to Grant, is averaging 15.2 points. And he and Brian Davis, who averages 9.9 points, also are among the candidates to be voted defensive player of the year.

The defending national champions will concede nothing to UCLA.

“We should still be able to play great with Grant out and Bobby not at full speed,” Laettner said. “It’s always a challenge when things happen to your team. It’s a challenge we’ve been meeting the past few games. It will be exciting to see if we can play well again.”

* MIKE DOWNEY

Time to erase erroneous notions about Duke and UCLA. C3