BRUINS' PROGRESS IS HARD TO STOMACH UC RIVERSIDE PUSHES UCLA TO LIMIT UCLA 65, UC RIVERSIDE 50.

Byline: Billy Witz Staff Writer

So this is progress.

Or that's what UCLA will have to call its 65-50 win over UC Riverside before 6,704 fans Wednesday night at Pauley Pavilion.

The Bruins, coming off a loss to Pepperdine and sitting at 2-2, were happy to get any kind of a victory. That it came against the winless Highlanders - who are in their first season of Division I basketball, came into the game as 29-point underdogs and had an RPI ranking of 280 (among 321 teams) - isn't important.

``We've got a long way to go, but we'll take the win,'' said UCLA coach Steve Lavin. ``There were some positive steps. Are we there yet? Absolutely not.''

The Bruins, who found themselves tied at the half, turned the game early in the second half when the Highlanders went stone cold from the field.

After Jason Perkins hit a 3-pointer to put Riverside ahead 35-33, Kapono answered with a 3-pointer at the other end to give UCLA the lead for good.

After Lloyd Cook hit a pair of free throws to pull Riverside within 38-37 with 14:43 left in the game, the Highlanders didn't score for another 7:13. When they did, they were down 17 points.

Matt Barnes started the 16-0 run with a three-point play and Kapono hit a long 3-pointer to put UCLA ahead 46-37. The Bruins extended the lead when Kapono grabbed two offensive rebounds off missed free throws by Gadzuric and converted them into baskets.

The Bruins, who played with more energy in the second half - it wasn't hard after the first half - finally took advantage of their size and athletic advantage on the boards. Riverside, who had one starter taller than 6-foot-5, was overwhelmed, giving up 17 offensive rebounds in the second half and 23 for the game.

The Bruins took away Riverside's best player, center Vili Morton, its leading scorer and rebounder. He had one point and six rebounds before fouling out. The Highlanders also received nothing from their next-best player, Mark Miller - last season's leading scorer. He was scoreless and rebound-less, turned the ball over three times and was 0 for 7 from the field in 13 minutes.

Still, this was not one to remember for the Bruins.

Dan Gadzuric, who decided not to jump to the NBA last spring, is playing his way out of the CBA draft. After averaging 3.5 rebounds and 3.5 assists in the first four games, he did better on the stat sheet, scoring 11 point and grabbing 10 rebounds.

Yet, instead of dominating the smallish Highlanders, he shot two air balls, missed an uncontested tomahawk dunk and had a team-high four turnovers.

Rico Hines, who started in place of the injured Cedric Bozeman, continued his season-long scoring drought - and that's not a figure of speech. Hines, who has played 84 minutes this season, has yet to score a point.

The 6-foot-5 senior hustled and contributed three steals and five rebounds, but he was 0 for 5 from the field and turned the ball over three times. He's now 0 for 12 from the field for the season.

As poorly as the Bruins played against Pepperdine, they were much worse in the first half Wednesday.

Riverside shot just 33 percent from the field, went seven minutes without scoring, missed 4 of 9 free throws and were outrebounded 22-18. Yet, the Bruins were lucky to be tied at halftime 28-28.

The opening sequence of the game was as good an example of how it went for the Bruins. Gadzuric won the opening tap and two Bruins watched the ball go out of bounds.

On their first possession, the Bruins fed the ball into Gadzuric, who turned and fired up a jumper that hit. ... nothing. On the Bruins' next possession, Rico Hines tried to penetrate the Highlanders' zone, came to a jump stop and traveled.

It took the Bruins' 4:43 to score their first basket - a tip-in by Gadzuric.

The Bruins' looked discombobulated on offense, trying forward Jason Kapono, wing Dijon Thompson and seldom-used backup Ryan Walcott at point guard - none of whom were effective. The Bruins had two assists in the first half and neither were from their set offense.

Kapono initiating the offense early but rarely got his hands on the ball again. He took just two shots in the first nine minutes and didn't score his first basket until 11:31 was left in the half. Walcott, in three minutes, had an outlet pass go off his hands and out of bounds, and threw the ball out of bounds as Kapono cut to the basket.

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Photo:

UCLA guard Billy Knight, here blocking a layup by Jason Perkins, and his teammates had to work to beat UC Riverside.

John Hayes/Associated Press