CRAZY UCLA SEASON GETS CRAZIER.

Byline: ERIC SONDHEIMER

In this strange and unpredictable UCLA basketball season that started with a firing and almost ended Thursday in bitter defeat, the Bruins incredibly are alive because of a maddening game by even March Madness standards.

Down by 16 points three minutes into the second half and getting shots rejected into their faces, the Bruins dug deep into their basketball hearts to pull out a 74-73 overtime victory over Iowa State in the Midwest Regional semifinal before 29,231 at the Alamodome.

Call it resiliency, call it courage under fire, call it a simple refusal to lose, but neither team wanted to leave this huge arena in defeat. Not until 15 minutes past midnight, after the Bruins had survived a 34-point outburst by Iowa State's Dedric Willoughby and after Cameron Dollar had made like Tyus Edney - again - could a sense of normalcy return.

What can Dollar do for an encore? Two years ago, he took over for an injured Edney and led the Bruins past Arkansas in the NCAA championship game. On Thursday, with his teammates reeling from a brilliant game plan by Iowa State coach Tim Floyd, Dollar used his hustle and sheer determination to get the Bruins in high gear.

Then he took over in a performance that will be long remembered in Bruins history. He scored baskets twice at the end of regulation on clutch shots that couldn't be missed. Then after ex-Cleveland High star Shawn Bankhead scored what could have been the game-winner with 10 seconds left in overtime, Dollar got the ball back, darted toward the basket and made a short bank shot with 1.9 seconds left.

He finished with a career-high 20 points. The whole game was on his shoulders because Iowa State's Floyd decided to dare Dollar to beat the Cyclones. He had defenders play off him and challenge him to shoot.

It left the Bruins out of sync on offense as they fell behind by 12 points at halftime. They lost their patience and forgot about the lessons learned early in the season.

But then Dollar hit back-to-back 3-pointers five minutes into the second half. He hustled and dived on the floor. He inspired his teammates to battle back.

``We just keep finding ways to overcome adversity,'' Bruins coach Steve Lavin said.

In this crazy season, it's about time for Lavin to hire an agent. Every win gets him closer to a deodorant commercial. Every victory strengthens the seal of approval on a book deal.

And what a book the Bruins' season will make. The only problem is the book title keeps changing.

Back in November, during the chaotic aftermath of the Jim Harrick firing, the title was, ``A Season on the Blink.''

On Jan. 9, after the humiliating 48-point loss to Stanford, the title had become, ``Westwood Blues.''

In February, when Charles O'Bannon started making Bruins fans forget that he was Ed's little brother, the title became, ``The Second Son Also Rises.''

Now, with the Bruins moving closer to the once unthinkable - a Final Four berth - the title has changed to ``A UCLA Hoop Fantasy.''

If UCLA somehow wins it all, the final book title has to be, ``Touched by a Bruin Angel.''

But don't go making those reservations for Indianapolis just yet. The Bruins' Regional final opponent on Saturday is top-seeded Minnesota, which survived a 90-84 double-overtime thriller against Clemson.

Thousands of rabid Minnesota fans have abandoned their 47-degree temperatures and converged on this sun-drenched city to give the Golden Gophers their own noisy home-court advantage.

It's the Pac-10 vs. the Big Ten, just like a Rose Bowl game. There's just as much at stake.

What the Bruins have going for them is the same kind of special chemistry that propelled them to an NCAA title in 1995.