Lavin’s Final Act at Pauley Turns Out to Be a Winner

An hour before tipoff, UCLA basketball Coach Steve Lavin walked by himself into Pauley Pavilion.

One last time.

Lavin stopped and talked to a man wearing a UCLA jacket.

One last time.

Lavin came into Pauley. He was shaking hands, patting backs, stopping to chat with a group of fans.

One last time.

Lavin stood at attention, facing the American flag during the national anthem.

One last time.

He clapped and cheered as each Bruin player was introduced.

One last time.

He took off his suit jacket, folded it neatly, dropped to one knee in front of the UCLA bench at Pauley.

One last time.

Lavin twisted and turned his head in anguish as Washington’s Will Conroy scored on a layup ... and Washington’s Nate Robinson scored on a layup ... and Robinson scored on another layup ... and Bobby Jones too. Another layup.

One last time, one last time, one last time, one last time.

A never-ending procession of one last times at Pauley Pavilion.

The last time a Lavin team would play no defense at Pauley; the last time a Lavin team would fall behind by double digits, then play scatterball with lots of running around in a frenzy, tossing up off-balance, miracle shots to catch up, to go ahead, to squander almost all its lead, to sprint ahead for good.

One last time.

One last time for Lavin to look around and see -- empty seats, empty seats close to the bench where the big spenders reside, to see empty seats in the middle of Pauley where the good fans, the loyal fans, the students and the faithful alumni sit, to see empty seats, more empty than filled, around the top of Pauley, where the casual basketball fan used to want to buy a ticket to see good basketball.

It’s over for Lavin at Pauley, but the coach didn’t want to speak of last times.

The Bruins survived to play one more game. They have more talent, by a truck full, than Washington and it was, finally, impossible for all that talent to lose a game at Pauley against a team that started four freshmen and a sophomore. They beat the Huskies, 83-72, and now will play No. 1 Arizona on Thursday in the first round of the Pacific 10 Conference tournament.

A loss would have been the end of this season, this miserable slow walk through confusion and conjecture, casual losses, hard-fought losses, silly losses, bad losses, good losses, but too many losses.

An end to Lavin’s career Saturday night in front of those empty seats, in front of the empty eyes of those who did come, might have been welcomed. One last loss, one last time.

But kids with talent sometimes can’t help themselves.

So Lavin will hear “U ... C ... L ... A, U ... C ... L ... A, UCLA fight, fight, fight,” one more time.

For all his flaws as a basketball coach, his inability to find his own system, to coach any particular style, his resistance to hiring an older, experienced assistant coach to teach him, his failure to draw the best from young men, to teach them to grow and improve as players, Lavin shouldn’t be criticized for how he has handled his last, mostly lame-duck, season.

He has continually smiled, occasionally poked fun at himself, always praised the institution of UCLA basketball and sincerely expressed his appreciation for being given the opportunity to coach the Bruins.

“It’s rare in any organization,” Lavin said after the game, “that you start as a volunteer assistant, move up to No. 3 assistant, to No. 2, to No. 1, to interim head coach, to permanent head coach, to fired head coach.”

Lavin wasn’t kidding at this moment. He seemed seriously grateful for his imminent firing because it meant he had been given a chance.

He expressed regret for “not hanging that 12th [national championship] banner here,” and for what he called an “extremely disappointing regular season,” one the likes of which, Lavin said, “hasn’t been seen around here since before Thomas Edison invented the light bulb and George Washington crossed the Delaware.” And he smiled.

Lavin did his postgame radio show from Pauley.

One last time.

A gathering of perhaps 100 friends and fans waited until he was finished, then they stood and applauded Lavin. Lavin signed autographs, then went to do a TV spot, then knelt on the court under a basket to sign more autographs.

It was not his job to be nostalgic on this night, he said. It was senior night and it was his job, he said, to stay calm and help Ray Young and Jason Kapono play through all their emotions and win a game. One last time.

“I feel really good,” Lavin said. “I’ve spent 12 years here, nearly a third of my life. I really grew up professionally here and you usually don’t have that opportunity in this business. So I’m grateful and thankful for this incredible run.”

An hour after the game, Lavin was still on the court, still signing autographs, lingering.

One last time.

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Diane Pucin can be reached at diane.pucin@latimes.com.