COLLINS TWINS GET SEPARATED IN A SEA OF RED.

Byline: KEVIN MODESTI

ANAHEIM - Nothing clicked for Stanford at the Pond on Saturday. Its shots went in and came out. Its passes landed in the stands. Its best attempts at defense were no match for Maryland's shooters.

And, to top off a perfectly dreadful afternoon for the Cardinal, a 87-73 loser in the NCAA West Regional final, the Collins twins' mental telepathy seemed to short-circuit.

``It makes it easier,'' Jason Collins said of dealing with disappointment, ``knowing you have a family member right here.''

``I don't think it makes it easier,'' Jarron Collins said, a couple of lockers to Jason's left. ``A loss is a loss.''

They'll work out the disagreement. The Collinses, of North Hollywood and Harvard-Westlake High in Studio City, always have worked it out during the 17-year basketball partnership that probably ended with the upset defeat that capped Jarron's senior year of college eligibility.

Harder to work out, for the twins and their teammates, will be their emotions about failing to reach the Final Four in Minneapolis when the season seemed to be set up for the university's first basketball championship since 1942.

``It's a little shocking,'' said Jason Collins, a junior because he took an injury redshirt season as a freshman. ``We knew we had a lot of talent. We knew we had as good a chance as anybody to go to the Final Four. We also know that in the tournament it's one-and-done.

``It's tough to deal with it right now. But maybe in a few days we'll reflect, and see that we accomplished a lot this year. We were ranked No. 1 for most of the season. We won the Pac-10 championship for the third straight year. We beat Duke. We have a lot to be proud of. We're a proud team.''

He sounded as if he was trying to convince himself.

Jason might have another chance to go to a Final Four. That's if he doesn't decide to follow his brother to the NBA draft in June.

Jarron had his Final Four experience when Stanford went to San Antonio and lost an overtime semifinal game to Kentucky in 1998. He'll have to be satisfied with that.

Stanford's championship prospects will never be better than they appeared this month, when it ended the regular season with a nation-best 30-2 record, seeded No. 1 in the West and allowed to play the early rounds in-state, including the regional in front of the Pond's supportive crowd.

When USC and Arizona, Pac-10 also-rans, reached the Elite Eight as well, Stanford shaped up as the team to beat.

Maryland, the West's No. 3 seed, beat the Cardinal by playing a practically perfect game.

The Collinses were supposed to present Maryland with 13 feet 11 inches of insurmountability. They'd combined for 29 points and 15 rebounds in Stanford's victory over Cincinnati here Thursday night, while nobody on the Cincinnati front line had more than 8 and 3.

But Maryland went over them, around them and through the twins. The Terrapins began the game with a 3-pointer by 6-foot-9 Terence Morris, got three 3-pointers from 6-foot-10 Tahj Holden, and wound up sinking 9 of 13 as a team while shooting 58.3 percent overall. Center Lonny Baxter dominated under the basket and scored 24.

If there was any doubt that senior point guard Michael McDonald was Stanford's weak link, Maryland's Steve Blake was quicker and more confident from the start. McDonald fouled out in the final minute.

``I've been fouling all tournament,'' McDonald said, managing a grin. ``It was kind of closure to foul out today.''

Stanford led 25-23. It gave up 16 of the next 21 points, plus the Holden 3-pointer that gave Maryland its first 10-point lead at halftime. At that point the game, and the Final Four, was out of the Cardinal's hands.

``When they're shooting like that, there's nothing you can do about it,'' said sophomore guard Casey Jacobsen, who had a 3-pointer in Stanford's 7-0 run to open the second half. ``We had fire for five minutes in the whole game. Then they started scoring again. We couldn't stop them.''

``It was a case of them making shots when they had to,'' Jarron Collins said. ``At one point Juan Dixon made a shot over Casey and me. That doesn't happen.''

At the other end of the floor, Stanford had its worst shooting game of 2000-2001 (41.1 percent). Ryan Mendez, the nation's best free-throw shooter, even missed twice from the line.

Jason Collins (12 points), guarded by Baxter, and Jarron (nine), guarded by Morris, took 13 shots between them, their fewest since Stanford's loss to UCLA in February. Each got in foul trouble early in the second half.

``We just weren't able to get the ball inside,'' Jarron said. ``What can I say? They played good defense.''

Stanford's last chance came with a little more than 3 minutes on the clock when Jacobsen stole a pass and McDonald hurried the ball across midcourt. A 3-pointer would cut Maryland's lead to seven. McDonald saw Mendez with his hand up on the left wing and threw him a fastball. It sailed into the seats.

The teammates stared at each other - and smiled in exasperation.

``We can't do anything right today,'' McDonald said he was thinking.

``You kind of hit yourself in the face and say, `We were so close to going all the way,' '' said Mendez, another of Stanford's three senior starters. ``This was the best team I've played with. But you've got to prove yourself every single night.''

The Cardinal walked to the locker room with heads bowed, smart kids trying to figure out what happened. As they passed the Stanford rooting section, the Collinses looked up. First Jarron raised his right hand and waved to the fans. Then, a couple of paces behind, Jason did the very same thing.

``Just saying goodbye,'' Jarron said. ``For the last time.'' And a week earlier than they planned.