[0] IT'S THE BRUINS' KNIGHT 3-POINTER AT THE BUZZER SAVES VICTORY, STUNS USC UCLA 67, USC 65.

Byline: Billy Witz Staff Writer

For three and a half years, he was an afterthought at the end of the bench. For the past year he was a member of the supporting cast, his name on the playbill but rarely in the limelight.

On Wednesday night, Billy Knight was the man. No, make that THE man.

Knight's desperation 3-pointer at the buzzer saved UCLA from an epic collapse and lifted the Bruins to a 67-65 victory over USC and himself into UCLA lore.

USC, which rallied from an 11-point deficit in the final six minutes, took a 65-64 lead when guard Brandon Granville sank a pair of free throws with 33.9 seconds left.

The Bruins, who hadn't scored since Knight's free throws with 3:22 to play, brought the ball up court and frantically ran around in some semblance of an offense for 20 seconds. Then, freshman guard Cedric Bozeman drove the lane and threw up a wild shot that missed. The rebound bounced into the hands of center Dan Gadzuric, whose follow shot was no good.

The rebound from that landed on the floor next to Granville, who couldn't pick it up. Gadzuric grabbed it but found himself trapped under the basket with nowhere to go. As the clock reached three seconds, Gadzuric threw a bounce pass back to Knight on the far wing.

Knight gathered the ball on the bounce and effortlessly flicked it toward the net.

The ball sailed through without hitting the rim, just as the buzzer sounded, and sent the normally placid Knight sprinting off toward the far end of the court with his teammates furiously chasing him.

Knight, who was mobbed by his teammates, was indistinguishable in the pile other than his forefinger extending toward the sky.

He then hopped on top of the scorer's table and thrust his index fingers in the air.

Knight's shot saved UCLA the embarrassment of blowing a double-digit lead and getting swept by USC for the first time since 1992 and only the third time since 1942.

It also kept UCLA's hopes alive in the Pacific-10 Conference race, pushing the Bruins (16-6, 8-4) into a third-place tie with the Trojans (16-6, 8-4).

Jason Kapono scored 26 points to lead the Bruins and Knight had 14. Sam Clancy scored 24 points for the Trojans, who shot just 38.7 percent.

The Bruins appeared to have the game in hand with a 58-47 lead, but they didn't run an offense the final six minutes. They simply ran the shot clock down and hoped to get fouled. Bozeman, a liability because he has made just 4 of 16 free throws this season, went to the bench at the four-minute mark after making 1 of 2 free throws.

Instead, the Bruins tried to get by with Kapono, Knight and Matt Barnes handling the ball. The result was a flurry of turnovers and desperation shots as the shot clock ran down.

UCLA didn't make a field goal in the 6 1/2 minutes before the end and didn't score until the buzzer after Knight's two free throws with 3:22 left. It was much like how the Trojans played for much of the second half. USC, after leading 39-30, scored just eight points in the first 14 minutes of the second half. It was enough to turn a six-point halftime lead into an 11-point deficit.

The Bruins, who vowed to be firmer on the boards after surrendering 24 offensive rebounds against the Trojans last month, were more like infirm. They were outrebounded 19-12 in the first half and once again stood around and watched the Trojans get loose balls off the glass.

Clancy had three offensive rebounds - or as many as the entire UCLA team - in the first half.

Clancy, who made 8 of 12 shots from the field in the first half, scored 17 points and had nine rebounds at the break. He did it making but one jump shot, instead grabbing rebounds, beating the Bruins down court on breaks or getting the ball in the post.

The Trojans also got a big boost from little-used guard Gennaro Busterna. The senior, who had scored all 11 of his career points before Wednesday night in the blowout loss at Arizona, scored eight points, including a pair of 3-pointers, and had two steals in the first half.

The Trojans led 39-33 at halftime and the Bruins were fortunate it wasn't worse.

In addition to being dominated on the boards, the Bruins missed the front end of three one-and-ones and turned the ball over 10 times.

The Bruins watched USC go on an 8-0 run that ended when Barnes tossed in a double-clutch jumper at the buzzer to narrow the deficit to six. It was UCLA's only basket in the final 4:41 of the first half.

The Bruins came out of the locker room with noticeably more energy, particularly on defense.

They held USC to one field goal in the first 8 1/2 minutes of the second half and forced six turnovers. When Knight, after a turnover by Robert Hutchinson, hit a transition jumper, the Bruins were ahead 44-42. When Barnes hit a 3-pointer off the break, UCLA had its biggest lead to that point, 52-45, with 11:29 left.

The Bruins built the lead to 59-48 when Kapono hit a transition 3- pointer then picked up a loose ball and put it in with just over seven minutes left to play.

CAPTION(S):

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Photo:

(color) UCLA's Dan Gadzuric, whose pass led to the game-winner, slams the ball in the first half.

Hans Gutknecht/Staff Photographer

Box:

GAME RECAP