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The Bruins returned to Westwood the other night, which from a fan’s perspective, is pretty unsettling. Just think about them facing the Arizona schools later this week in Pauley Pavilion. Talk about an intimidating atmosphere.

Obviously, it’d be nicer if this team kept on traveling.

For all the hoopla there is about home court advantage in college basketball, UCLA seems more comfortable in airport terminals, hotel lobbies, and oh yeah, just about every opposing arena it steps foot in.

With their convincing win over Oregon State in Corvallis, the Bruins improved to 5-0 in road games this year. That mark doesn’t include a less impressive 2-1 record at neutral sites, where the environment apparently isn’t hostile enough.

“Sometimes when you go home you can let outside things affect you because you have everybody behind you,” sophomore guard Arron Afflalo said. “But when you’re on the road, it’s just your team. They got your back and that’s it.”

Three of the Bruins’ best performances this year – against Michigan, Arizona, and Oregon State – have all come away from home. Back in December, they drained an energized Ann Arbor crowd that had been supercharged about the Wolverines’ undefeated start. A couple of weeks ago in Tucson, they deflated Wildcat fans who had been far more accustomed to getting stung by cacti than by Bruin basketball. And on Saturday, they gave the Beaver student section about as much to cheer about as the local weather forecast.

“We like the road,” senior Cedric Bozeman said. “We like the challenge. It’s a hostile environment and we like taking crowds out of it. We bond together.”

All that bonding has helped establish the Bruins as the class of the Pac-10, a position they’d undoubtedly retain if they didn’t have to return to Pauley. Unfortunately, the Bruins still have four home games left on the schedule, and recent history suggests that means two more losses.

UCLA has only managed a split in each of its last three home series. Certainly, a good amount of that can be attributed to the quality of two of the opponents – Washington and West Virginia. That aside, the Bruins looked utterly lousy for an entire half in each of those contests. And their third home loss of the year, to Cal, was arguably their ugliest effort of the season. So much for the comfort and familiarity of home.

That’s not to say there’s some kind of voodoo curse linking the Den’s presence to horrific Bruin shooting displays. Nevertheless, UCLA’s head-scratching home and away records may be more than just a product of bad luck and good fortune.

The make-up of Ben Howland’s squad is particularly resistant to the normal pitfalls that road games present. Crowds are most effective at disrupting an opponent’s offensive rhythm, oftentimes getting into players’ heads and forcing them to make poor decisions. This widely held belief isn’t particularly applicable to the Bruins, who turn the ball over and struggle to score regardless of where they play.

Fans have far less impact rattling another team’s defense, which just so happens to be the Bruins’ overwhelming strength. During defensive sets, UCLA doesn’t have to contend with constant noise or nagging heckles. Its biggest obstacle is a shot-clock operator, who freezes time for the home team. And that simply doesn’t happen very often.

Perhaps Afflalo’s earlier comment adequately explains his team’s relative struggles at Pauley. The easiest solution in that case would be for the Bruins to play the remainder of their home schedule in an empty gym so there are no “outside things” to serve as distractions.

It’s an option that doesn’t make much sense at first glance. Then again, neither does the idea of a team possessing road-court advantage.

E-mail Finley at afinley@media.ucla.edu.