CREDIT TO THE FAMILY : O'BANNON RALLIES UCLA UCLA 87 WASHINGTON 85.

Byline: Jon Wilner Daily News Staff Writer

It was unfair before. But not anymore. Not after what he did to Washington. Not after he hoisted the UCLA Bruins - his UCLA Bruins - onto his back and led them to one of their most impressive victories of the season.

Charles O'Bannon was his brother Thursday night in an 87-85 win at Washington. He was Ed O'Bannon at his very best, scoring a career-high 31 points as the Bruins rallied from a 16-point first-half deficit to clinch their third consecutive outright Pacific-10 title, before 7,836 at Edmundson Pavilion.

``Charles is clearly defining himself as the player of the year in this conference,'' Bruins coach Steve Lavin said. ``If there was a debate before, I don't think there is any now.''

As good as O'Bannon was against Stanford and Arizona last month, he was better Thursday night - making 13 of 17 shots and scoring 19 points in the second half. He also made the game's most important basket, spinning past Washington defender Donald Watts and draining a six-footer that gave UCLA a 81-78 lead with 1:40 left.

If this was O'Bannon's defining game, that was his defining play.

``It's all about confidence,'' he said after a brief chat with Seattle SuperSonics coach George Karl in the Bruins' locker room.

That's true of the Bruins, as well. With its NCAA Tournament hopes on the line, Washington played at a level reminiscent of Stanford's performance against UCLA in Maples Pavilion. The Huskies shot 64.7 percent in the first half, had 45 points in 15 minutes and 52 at halftime - only five fewer than the Cardinal.

``I started to think it was just like the Stanford game,'' UCLA forward J.R. Henderson said. ``I was like, `Here we go again. They're throwing up anything, and it's all going in.' ''

While the Bruins (20-7, 14-3) folded in the face of Stanford's onslaught, they staggered, then recovered against the Huskies in what may be the most telling example of their development this season.

``No question,'' Henderson said. ``We could have put our heads down and said, `They're playing harder than we are.' But we have that fire inside that keeps us going.''

Washington's barrage peaked with five minutes left in the half, when forward Mark Sanford grabbed a loose ball 30 feet from the basket, took one dribble and hit a off-balance 3-pointer as the shot clock expired to extend Washington's lead to 45-29.

But the Bruins didn't flinch. Their defense fueled an 11-0 surge and they headed to the locker room trailing by a manageable 52-44.

``There wasn't any doubt in anybody's mind when we were down (16) that we would come back,'' forward Kris Johnson said.

And that's why Lavin was so visibly pleased with the performance in an arena that swallowed Arizona and Stanford earlier this season. The Bruins have now won six Pac-10 road games, more than any team in the league, and have eight straight wins with one to go, Saturday at Washington State.

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Photo, Box

Photo: UCLA's Toby Bailey drives past Washington's Deon Luton for a slam dunk.

Associated Press

Box: STANDINGS - PACIFIC CONFERENCE