DEFENSE ELICITS TWIN-GE OF ANGER.

Byline: Karen Crouse

It used to be the only time Jarron Collins' name came before his twin brother Jason's was in alphabetical listings.

Jason was born eight minutes before Jarron and pretty much remained the pacesetter throughout the twins' high school years at Harvard-Westlake High. It was Jason who led the Wolverines in scoring during their consecutive state Division III championship seasons, Jason who earned Division III Player of the Year honors, Jason who started on a prestigious California all-star squad.

Jason, Jason, Jason!

Jarron had every right to feel like Jan Brady in hightops. He had the game to be a king anywhere but in his own castle.

It looked like it would be more of the same story when the twins enrolled at Stanford in the fall of 1997. But you know what they say: Every sibling has his day.

As if anybody needed further proof that Jarron is his own manchild, the younger twin thoroughly frustrated the best player on the second-best team in the country Saturday at the Pond.

Jarron held Auburn forward Chris Porter without a basket in the second half of No. 9 Stanford's 67-58 win over the Tigers at the Wooden Classic.

Jarron's defense on Porter was tighter than a Tupperware seal, which explains why Porter shot as if there was a lid on the basket. He missed five field-goal attempts in the second half and had more fouls (three) in his final 15 minutes than points (two, on his only trip to the foul line).

Jarron, a jokester, has been known to pour a bucket of ice on some poor, unsuspecting freshman who has his back turned in the shower. He came out dead serious against Auburn and gave Porter a different kind of cold jolt, one that was just as numbing.

So jarring was Jarron's presence, Porter could have been forgiven for seeing double down low even when Jason was resting on the bench. Porter's patience went the way of his shot shortly after he picked up his third foul, on Jarron, with 3:33 left. Jarron, cool as an ocean breeze, made both foul shots to put the Cardinal ahead 54-53.

On Auburn's ensuing position, Jarron stymied Porter in the paint and Porter responded with a sharp blow to Jarron's face. It would have been called simple assault on the street, but the men in stripes called nothing and so Jarron, showing admirable self control, turned impassively and ran upcourt.

``Things weren't going Porter's way,'' said Jason, proving he is a master of understatement on top of everything else.

Never mind one game going badly, Jason knows about entire seasons going awry. Saturday marked his 13th appearance in a Cardinal uniform in three years. He was sidelined for the season with torn cartilage in his left knee after his first game as a freshman and suffered a season-ending right-wrist injury last December in the seventh game of his second stab at being a freshman.

For the Collinses, about the only silver lining in the cloud that hung over Jason's head his first two years in college was Jarron got the chance to step out from his beloved twin's shadow.

``I think that might be a little true,'' Jason said. ``In high school I scored more points. With me getting hurt, it's Jarron's turn to be more of a scorer. He's become very comfortable in that role.''

Indeed, Jarron is the leading scorer for the unbeaten Cardinal (5-0). He took home MVP honors from a tournament in New York City earlier this month after collecting 28 points and 16 rebounds in victories over Duke and Iowa. Against Auburn, Jarron finished with 13 points and six rebounds, both right around his season average. Jason added 12 points and 10 rebounds.

Afterward, Tigers coach Cliff Ellis had the dazed look of a pedestrian who didn't catch the license plate of the sedan that struck him, shifted into reverse and hit him again.

``The Collins twins are very, very strong and solid,'' he said.

Yes they are. And just think how very, very strong and solid Stanford will be when Mark Madsen, its All-America prospect at forward, returns from a right-hamstring injury. It's enough to make opposing Pacific-10 coaches weep, none more so than UCLA's Steve Lavin.

The Collins twins once expressed a keen interest in attending UCLA. They were dined, if not wined, by Lavin's predecessor, Jim Harrick. It was a meal that will go down in infamy as Harrick lied in his retelling of the night on his expense report, setting off the chain of events that led to his firing.

``Once in a blue moon, someone will bring that up,'' Jason said. ``But we've moved on.''

Onward, upward and outward, that's the Collinses' motto. As complementary as bookends on the court, they are competitive off it.

They vie for the best grade-point average - ``We definitely try to see who can be the better student,'' Jason said.

They race home after practice, not to hit the books but to continue their Nintendo wars.

They're one of a kind, these two.