BRUINS BACK TO SQUARE ONE UCLA CAN'T STOP STANFORD UCLA 93, STANFORD 84.

Byline: Billy Witz Staff Writer

It has come to this: the UCLA basketball team, with its worst record in a half-century, an RPI ranking hovering near 200 and a coach who is part sitting duck and part lame duck, has been dubbed the Team Nobody Wants to Play.

That's certainly the opinion of Stanford players and coaches after they walked out of Pauley Pavilion with a victory for the sixth consecutive season, 93-84, in front of 9,541 on Saturday afternoon.

``I feel like they have a chance to win the Pac-10 tournament,'' Stanford coach Mike Montgomery said without a hint of his usual sarcasm.

Echoed Cardinal forward Justin Davis: ``If they made it to the tournament, I could see them getting to the second round.''

Of the Pacific-10 Conference tournament?

``No, the NCAA Tournament,'' Davis said. ``I honestly believe that.''

And that might be the honest-to-goodness measure of the state of the program under coach Steve Lavin. The Bruins, once a threat to win championships, are now a threat to be spoilers. They are no longer feared because they might run a team out of the gym, but because they might stay in it.

The Bruins had their best weekend of the year, which proved good enough in beating No. 18 Cal in overtime Thursday and pushing No. 20 Stanford to the wire. This on their home court.

``We're capable of playing with anybody in the country,'' Lavin said.

Of course, they could soon be the Team Nobody Has to Play. For all their efforts, the Bruins are right where they started the weekend - a half-game behind Washington in the race for the eighth and final spot in the Pac-10 tournament after the Huskies beat Oregon. And with just four games left, including the season finale against Washington, time is running out.

UCLA (6-17, 3-11) did so many things well Saturday. It got a career day from new-found point guard Ray Young, who tied a career-high with 22 points on just eight shots, had five assists and made all five of his 3-pointers. The Bruins also got 27 points from Jason Kapono, stayed with the Cardinal on the glass and held the foul-prone Davis, who had 41 points and 24 rebounds his past two games, to one basket and four boards.

They also rallied from 13 points down in the first half to take the lead and crawled back from a 10-point deficit in the second half to get even.

And yet it wasn't enough.

After the Bruins were within 77-76 on Dijon Thompson's 3-pointer with 5:14 left, Stanford scored seven consecutive points on its next three possessions and never was threatened.

Stanford shot 60.4 percent from the field and exceeded its season-high point total by nine.

``On the defensive end of the floor, we couldn't get the big stop or string of stops that would have allowed us to get over the hump,'' Lavin said. ``We did a very poor job of tagging their shooters.''

Julius Barnes, a senior from Rowland Heights, had a triumphant return home with 27 points and seven assists in 40 minutes and Matt Lottich, whotook four stitches and a numbing shot in his upper lip after catching an elbow from Young, added 20 points. They combined to hit 9 of 14 3-pointers.

``For them to shoot 60 percent doesn't say a whole lot about our defense,'' said Kapono, who struggled with Lottich before being replaced by Thompson.

On the three possessions that determined the game, Stanford got the ball in the post to Davis for his only basket, a long 3-pointer from Barnes and a runner in the lane from Josh Childress. On its three possessions, the Bruins netted two missed shots by Thompson, a missed follow by Andre Patterson, two missed free throws by Ryan Hollins and a turnover by Thompson.

That brief stretch, like the two games between the teams, are a microcosm of the differences between Stanford and UCLA, and their seasons. The Bruins, who lost 52-51 at Maples Pavilion last month when T.J. Cummings missed a layup at the buzzer, don't make the little plays while the Cardinal do.

The Cardinal made 17 consecutive free throws and turned the ball over just six times in the second half.

While UCLA has had to replace Dan Gadzuric, Matt Barnes and Billy Knight, Stanford lost Casey Jacobsen, Curtis Borchardt and Teyo Johnson. Moreover, neither team has a true point guard.

And yet, Stanford - picked seventh in the Pac-10 preseason poll - sits at 21-6 overall and 12-3 in the Pac-10, still chasing first-place Arizona, while the Bruins are playing for pride.

``I'm not going to lie to you,'' Julius Barnes said. ``I'm surprised we've been able to maintain our composure the way we have. It speaks volumes for the coaching staff and the players.''

As for the Bruins?

``The biggest mystery is that their record is what it is,'' Barnes said. ``I never, ever expected UCLA to have a losing season and I don't know why they are. They definitely have talent. They're very athletic and hard to get a body on. It's way too late to save their season, but if they play the way they did today with that lineup, they could be a real threat.''

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UCLA's Ray Young, going up against Stanford's Julius Barnes, scored a career-high 22 points Saturday.

Jill Connelly/Associated Press