BRUINS FORGET TO GO IN FOR THE KILL.

Byline: STEVE DILBECK

SAN JOSE - It was the fitting finish they didn't want, the typically infuriating end to their consistently inconsistent season.

For much of the game Thursday, UCLA looked clearly the superior team. The big boys on the block. You kept waiting for them to take care of this dirty business, to finally seize the day and move into the Elite Eight.

Even after struggling to finish the half, they came out like a confident team ready to take this ugly little game. Matt Barnes ignited them and they went up by eight. Finally, the Bruins playing as expected.

``I thought we were going to make a run and blow them out,'' said UCLA junior Jason Kapono. ``But that team was too talented. They outpowered us.''

UCLA kept letting Missouri hang around. Kept letting the Tigers remain close enough that a sudden spurt would put them back in the game.

The Tigers weren't going to keep missing all those 3-point attempts. So when Missouri hit three straight to take the lead, you could just feel it slip away.

The Bruins who had were so impressive against Cincinnati never showed in the Sweet Sixteen. There were only flashes.

Dan Gadzuric never took charge inside the way it appeared he could. Kapono again mysteriously was unable to find his shot. The Billy Knight who had destroyed Mississippi from 3-point land in the NCAA Tournament opener was a no-show. The freshmen - aside from a Cedric Bozeman spurt - who had provided such an unexpected boost in the first two tournament games went back to looking like inexperienced and overmatched kids.

Forget the 82-73 score, they should have won this game. They should have taken control, even taken it early when they were driving the lane unchallenged, controlling the boards and forcing constant Missouri misses and turnovers, making the Tigers look like some disorganized street team.

It was there to be taken, but they couldn't reel it in. It was right there within reach.

``It was,'' Bozeman said. ``This is the kind that hurts. That hurts the most. We feel like we should have won this game.''

UCLA went up by eight in the first half but no more. Then in the final three minutes of the half, the Tigers went on a 12-2 run. Rickey Paulding hit a pair of 3s and - boom - Missouri was back in it.

The Bruins, or at least Barnes, came out to start the second half like they'd got the message.

The score was tied 34-34 when the scoreboard went out. We're in the high-tech capital of the world and for several minutes they couldn't figure out to plug it back in.

When the game started going again, so did Barnes. He scored UCLA's next nine points. The Bruins had energy, the Tigers were fading, the inevitable seemed at hand.

And then came the turnovers, missed shots, blocked shots, fumbled passes, the lack of concentration. Missouri went on another run, this time a 14-4 run from which the Bruins would not recover.

``Missouri always had an answer,'' said UCLA coach Steve Lavin. ``It was kind of a game of runs. They finally made a run we didn't have an answer for.''

Gadzuric, Barnes and Knight, all seniors, went out with heads bowed. Kapono might join them by declaring early for the NBA, although this game did nothing to enhance his professional value. Their leading scorer, Kapono was just 3 of 8 from the field. A sharpshooter, he took only one 3-pointer and missed. If marked well, as he was by the Tigers, he continues to struggle to get off his own shot.

``I thought we had something good going right now,'' Kapono said.

Not good enough. Not when beaten by JaRon Rush's little brother, the recruit who got away. Kareem Rush was cool when the Tigers needed it, scoring 20 points and hitting 8 of 14 field goals.

They were beaten by a team without a point guard. Clarence Gilbert, their quasi-point, didn't have a single assist but had 23 points.

Beaten by a center, Arthur Johnson, who looked completely overmatched by Gadzuric early but gained confidence as the game went on, finishing with 14 points and 14 rebounds.

Missouri has largely lived and died by the 3-pointer all season. And after hitting only 3 of 10 in the first half, it connected on 7 of 13 3-pointers in the second half.

You let a team hang around long enough, it finds reason to believe. UCLA hit only 3 of 17 3-pointers.

``They made their 3-point shots and we didn't make our 3-pointers,'' Lavin said.

That would make it simple, but little about this UCLA team was ever simple this season. They were good enough to get here, good enough to have moved on. Infuriating to the very end.