BRUINS PICK UP THE PACE UCLA ROARS PAST WSU UCLA 75, WASH. ST. 57.

Byline: Billy Witz Staff Writer

The kings of self-affirmation never doubted themselves. Not after the shameful losses to Cal State Northridge and Georgia Tech or the embarassingly narrow wins over UC Irvine and UC Santa Barbara.

The UCLA basketball team, which insisted for much of the past two months that the sky was not falling, has finally gotten around to raising the roof - if not expectations.

The Bruins posted their second consecutive runaway victory, a 75-57 waxing of Washington State before 6,892 Saturday at Pauley Pavilion.

It was the 43rd consecutive win over the Cougars in Los Angeles, a place where they have never beaten UCLA.

The Bruins (7-4, 2-0), who have won five of their past six, are now in first place in the Pacific-10 Conference, along with Stanford and USC, the latter whom they play host to Thursday night.

That the Bruins are in first place on the backs of victories over the teams picked to finish ninth and 10th in the Pac-10 isn't worth being encouraged about. The way they won is.

For the second game in a row, the Bruins broke with tradition and didn't play with their food before eating it.

Their press flustered the visitors early and the Bruins, who jumped to an 18-point halftime lead, never let Washington State mount a serious challenge.

``They're usually not upbeat to play Washington State,'' said Cougars senior point guard Cedric Clark. ``They did a good job of not playing the program and playing the players.''

When Washington State got within 53-42 on a three-point play by Chatsworth High's Eddie Miller with 9:08 to play, the Bruins turned up the defensive pressure.

Washington State (6-5, 0-2) coughed the ball up on its next four possessions, the Bruins upped the lead to 20 with a 9-0 run, and that was that.

The Bruins could also take comfort in Saturday's win because for the first time this season they got big contributions from the bench.

Billy Knight hit 3 of 4 3-pointers and had a season-high 14 points and T.J. Cummings came off the bench to make 5 of 6 shots, score 11 points and grab five rebounds.

Ray Young, who had missed 27 of his last 29 3-pointers and the win over Washington with a sprained left foot, made the only shot he took, a 3-pointer that put the Bruins ahead for good. Ryan Bailey also made his only shot and his drive to the basket led to Cummings' layup just before the halftime buzzer.

The Bruins made 16 of 22 shots in the first half and their hot hand proved to be contagious. Michael Welch, a sophomore from Simi Valley, won a year's tuition and books by hitting four shots - including one from half court - during a halftime contest.

As far as UCLA coach Steve Lavin was concerned, however, the play of the bench (which outscored the Cougars, 34-17) was one of the few bright spots.

``When you shoot 72 percent in the first half, it's fool's gold,'' Lavin said. ``When you shoot like that it gives you a false sense of security. If we play like we did today on the road, it's a loss at Arizona or Arizona State. We aren't playing on all cylinders.''

Yet the Bruins, who had runs of 10-0, 9-0 and 9-0 on the strength of their press, have made significant strides in improving their team defense. They held both Washington schools under 40-percent shooting.

Earl Watson, who led the Bruins with 16 points and had six assists, two steals and one turnover, may have made his greatest contribution on defense. He was effective in forcing Washington State's best player, Mike Bush, into a 7-for-16 shooting day.

Bush scored seven points in helping the Cougars to an 11-7 lead, then was held to nine the rest of the way.

It was also comforting that the Bruins could win so easily without par performances from Jason Kapono and Dan Gadzuric, who combined for 12 points. Kapono made just 2 of 8 shots and Gadzuric, who grabbed 12 rebounds, had six turnovers.

``Everybody's exhausted right now and that's great,'' Watson said. ``The effort's there now. We're not getting cheated. We're going out trying to dominate.''

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Photo: Matt Barnes of UCLA shoots over Washington State's Francisco Little during the Bruins' 43rd consecutive homecourt victory over the Cougars.

Tina Burch/Staff Photographer