BRUINS SIZZLE AS HUSKIES FIZZLE; BARON DAVIS IS CHEERED BY FANS IN WHAT MAY BE LAST HOME GAME : UCLA 79, WASHINGTON 62.

Byline: Jon Wilner Daily News Staff Writer

He dazzled, he dunked, he dunked again, and then sophomore guard Baron Davis waved goodbye.

After two spectacular plays, Davis asked to be removed from the final seconds of UCLA's 79-62 victory Saturday over Washington. He walked to the bench and waved his index finger in the air as UCLA students chanted ``one more year'' and 11,465 in Pauley Pavilion roared their approval. He hugged his coaches and his teammates, then turned and waved to friends and relatives across the arena.

``I was absorbing everything,'' he said.

In the locker room, with wide eyes and a playful grin, Davis refused to acknowledge what his actions indicate and everyone believes: that he has played his last game in Pauley and will enter the NBA Draft.

``If I do, this would be a great way to go out,'' he said. ``But I haven't made a decision at all.''

His teammates disagree.

``I guess I've got to search for a new roommate,'' sophomore Rico Hines said.

``Everybody knows it,'' freshman JaRon Rush said. ``This is the last time he'll play here. He wanted to go out with a bang.''

That he did - with two plays he can carry forever.

Leading a two-on-one break with 1:50 remaining, Davis maneuvered the ball as if to throw a behind-the-back pass. Instead, he pushed it all the way around and back in front of himself, faking Huskies defender Bryan Brown to Fullerton and flying in for a dunk.

A minute later, he grabbed a lead pass from Rush - a goodbye present? - and flushed a double-pump, windmill jam that would make Kobe Bryant proud.

The memorable sequence capped a 14-point, six-assist performance that, ironically, wasn't one of Davis' best. He has played like an All-American and carried the Bruins in recent weeks. Saturday, he didn't have to, for UCLA won its fourth consecutive game with a pace so frenzied it flustered the Huskies right out of their game plan.

As they did Thursday against Washington State, and will do for the duration without injured center Dan Gadzuric, the Bruins pressured Washington until it choked. UCLA dashed to an early 10-point lead, extended it to 21 midway through the second half, then repelled a brief Washington rally with seven minutes remaining.

Uncomfortable playing at warp speed, the Huskies committed 29 turnovers and shot 39.6 percent from the field. Their high-scoring guards, Senque Carey, Donald Watts and Deon Luton, were out of sync and made 10 of 31 shots. The tempo also prevented Washington from exploiting 7-foot center Todd MacCulloch, who managed a meager five shots. Big but cumbersome, MacCulloch is ineffective in chaos, and chaos was UCLA's theory.

``We turned the ball over so many times that we eliminated Todd ourselves,'' Huskies coach Bob Bender said. ``The challenge is not just to get Todd the ball, but not to turn the ball over. UCLA's trapping was not a surprise. We were prepared for that. We just handled it poorly.''

The Bruins (21-7, 11-5) were effective but not efficient. They did not repeat the deft execution and blinding ball movement of Thursday night. They were impatient, they overpenetrated, and they took wild shots - especially guard Earl Watson, whose 13 attempts were about five too many.

But pressure defense and Rush's fanatical rebounding - he had 15, a career-high and two more than MacCulloch - compensated for the mistakes. It was rec-league ragged from the start, and no one does ragged better than the Bruins.

In two games since Gadzuric's season-ending knee injury, UCLA has forced 60 turnovers.

``We got the tempo in our favor,'' Davis said. ``It's not attack, attack, attack. It's more of a baiting press. Our big guys can guard, so it doesn't matter where they are. We're creating a lot of turnovers, and we're not fouling.''

They are hobbling, however. While Jerome Moiso (11 points in 25 minutes) continues to recover from tendinitis in his feet, other Bruins are hurting.

Watson bruised a muscle in his thigh and did not play the final 10:30, although he expects to be ready for Arizona State on Thursday. And with a few seconds remaining, Rush was hit in the head and knocked unconscious. Motionless for a few minutes, he eventually walked off and, in the locker room, claimed full recovery.

CAPTION(S):

2 Photos

PHOTO (1--Color) Baron Davis might have played his last home game for the Bruins. The sophomore could declare for the NBA draft.

Victoria Arocho/Associated Press

(2) Baron Davis (airborne) fouls Washington's Thaio Green. Davis had 14 points.

John McCoy/Daily News