BRUINS: `WE'RE STILL UCLA' IT COMES DOWN TO TEAM'S ATTITUDE IN FACING ARIZONA.

Byline: Billy Witz Staff Writer

One of UCLA's worst traits over the years has been its, shall we say, confidence.

The Bruins have made a habit of smugly dismissing anybody without a similar basketball pedigree - ``It's just SC,'' J.R. Henderson once noted of the crosstown rival.

Now, in a season for the ages - the dark ages - in which everything else has been turned on its head, so too has this confidence.

The inalienable belief that they're better than anyone else is no longer a bad thing when you're 8-18 and have to beat the top-ranked team in the nation - a team that's beaten you by a total of 71 points in two previous games - just to keep your season alive.

That's the position UCLA finds itself when it plays Arizona at 1 p.m. today in the first round of the Pacific-10 Conference tournament - believing it has a chance.

``We're still UCLA,'' said Ray Young, the fifth-year senior who has sparked a modest late-season run by the Bruins, who have won four of their past six games.

``Even though we're the underdog, we have guys capable of playing great basketball. The way we've been playing and the fact that it's hard to beat a team three games in a row, we know we have a chance.''

Jason Kapono, the Bruins' other senior said: ``It's a chance to shock the world. I wouldn't mind being the team criticized the first 28 games and being among the greats for the last 10.''

If the Bruins are to postpone the farewells of Young and Kapono - as well as their coach, Steve Lavin, who is expected to be fired after the season - they'll have to reverse a couple of shortcomings. In the two previous games, they turned the ball over 40 times and allowed 32 offensive rebounds.

Arizona has gone on runs of 26-2, 26-8 and 27-2 in its past three victories over UCLA. This season, the Wildcats won by 35 points at Pauley Pavilion - the Bruins' worst loss in the history of the 38-year-old building - and then by 36 in Tucson.

``We have to keep them out of transition,'' Lavin said. ``Transition defense is really set up by the way you execute offensively, so if you can put touches on the ball, get high percentage looks at the basket, get yourself to the foul line, then that goes a long way toward building your transition defense. What they prey on is quick shots and turnovers. That's going to be the key.''

CAPTION(S):

photo, 9 boxes

Photo:

Jason Kapono, center, said UCLA's game against top-ranked Arizona today is ``a chance to shock the world.''

John Lazar/Staff Photographer

Box:

(1) Team: Arizona

(2) Team: Stanford

(3) Team: California

(4) Team: Arizona State

(5) Team: Oregon

(6) Team: Oregon State

(7) Team: USC 

(8) Team: UCLA

(9) UCLA vs. ARIZONA

- Billy Witz