BARNES' NOBLE PLAY TRULY MADLY.

Byline: KEVIN MODESTI

What you see is Matt Barnes, red hot from the outside. What you don't see is Matt Barnes, simmering on the inside.

Beneath the pretty tattooed skin and the cool-blue trim of his UCLA uniform, Barnes is playing angry these days and it seems to be working for him.

``I really think that's how I play the best,'' he said.

Thursday night at the Forum, Barnes sank a school-record-tying seven 3- point shots and scored a career-high 34 points, but UCLA lost the game to USC.

Saturday afternoon at Pauley Pavilion, Barnes came right back with 27 points - making three of four 3-pointers - and this time he helped UCLA to an 87-77 victory over top-ranked Kansas.

If they'd only known what he was feeling, the 12,000-odd Bruins fans in the crowd would have said, ``Matt Barnes, you're beautiful when you're angry.''

What is the senior forward mad about?

What isn't he mad about?

To hear him tell it, and to read between the lines:

He's mad about having to crawl out of head coach Steve Lavin's doghouse over and over again.

He's mad about the ankle injuries that have limited him at times this season.

He's mad about getting less media attention than more popular teammates.

He's mad at the memory of Duke's Shane Battier guarding him from 10 feet away, daring Barnes to take jump shots during UCLA's round-of-16 loss last spring.

He's mad at the thought of being upstaged by big-name power forwards such as USC's Sam Clancy and Kansas' Drew Gooden.

And he's mad at the thought that Kansas would remember him as the guy who bricked two free throws to let the Jayhawks get away with a one-point victory over UCLA in the Coaches vs. Cancer Classic in New York early last season.

Conscientiously, he's taking all that anger and trying to channel it toward the basket.

This week, the result was 61 points over back-to-back games, the most by a Bruin since Ed O'Bannon had 65 in two games during UCLA's 1995 national-championship run.

``Personally, I've been counted out since I've been here, not getting any recognition, and that doesn't really bother me,'' Barnes said quietly in the locker room after the upset of Kansas.

Of course, seeing that he introduced the topic, it's fair to assume it does really bother him.

``That just kind of fuels my fire, makes we want to go harder,'' Barnes said. ``I had a technical foul a couple of games ago for taunting somebody. That shouldn't happen. I try to channel it in good ways.''

Though he says all the right things about the team coming first, deep down inside he views every game as one-on-one.

``Everyone else is mentioned, and that's the kind of stuff that gets me going, you know?'' Barnes said. ``When I'm going against a guy like Clancy or Drew Gooden, hearing all the stuff they do ... getting to go back at them, that feels good.

``I take it very personally. I get up for the big matchups.''

Saturday's was a very big matchup for 11th-ranked UCLA, which was trying another bounce-back after another disheartening defeat, and for Barnes, who had a chance to dazzle the 10 professional scouts in the crowd.

The victory seemed to send every UCLA student onto the court in celebration (with the obvious exception of Cory Paus).

The 10-for-14 shooting performance by Barnes might help to send him to the NBA.

Now considered a good bet to get drafted, though no lock to make an NBA roster, the 6-foot-7 Barnes had suffered from the perception that he lacked the shooting touch to play small forward.

So he spent last summer at home in the Sacramento area, working out with Chris Webber and other Kings, specifically working to diversify his game with improved outside shooting and dribble moves.

He is 19 for 38 on 3-point shots this season, after being 18 for 91 in his first three collegiate seasons.

``He's gotten way better (since high school),'' said Kansas' Gooden, who is from the same area as Barnes. ``With what he's shown the last two games, he might get to play at the next level.''

Barnes' 18 first-half points Saturday included a windmill dunk after a steal that pushed the Bruins' lead to 13.

``Trying to show the young guys I still can jump the highest,'' he said later.

Taking it personally.

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Photo:

(color) Matt Barnes, right, and T.J. Cummings celebrate the Bruins' victory over No. 1 Kansas.

Charlotte Schmid-Maybach/Staff Photographer