IT'S JUST A A CRYIN' SHAME : UCLA BEATEN AT ITS OWN GAME BY MINNESOTA IN SECOND HALF MINNESOTA 80, UCLA 72.

Byline: Jon Wilner Daily News Staff Writer

It was a firm embrace. A long embrace. Then Steve Lavin withdrew from Charles O'Bannon and walked off the court. His head was down, his nose red, his eyes full of tears.

``It hits you when you look in your players' faces and you realize it's over,'' he said. ``They were never going to quit, but you look at them and you know you have to surrender.''

No one said a word in the UCLA locker room, as players and coaches tried to absorb an 80-72 loss to Minnesota on Saturday afternoon, before 31,930 in the Alamodome. Then a strange thing happened. The players started hugging each other. Smack in the middle of their hurt, a lovefest broke out.

``Everyone was saying, `I love you, man. I love you,' '' Kris Johnson said. ``It was actually kind of weird.''

Weird ending. Weird season. Weird game.

Very weird game.

In a span of 11 second-half minutes, the elements that catapulted UCLA from the Harrick ashes to the Midwest Regional final vanished. Everything the Bruins had done right in winning 12 consecutive games and the Pacific-10 title, they did wrong. Everything that had gone their way went against them. And the wildest five-month ride of their lives ended against a team that did unto them as they had done unto others.

Rally from a second-half deficit? Minnesota did it.

Make the big shots, grab the big rebounds? Minnesota did it.

Have the energy, desire, smothering defense and precision offense to overpower your opponent down the stretch? Minnesota had it all, and that's why the Golden Gophers are in their first Final Four and the Bruins are left to ponder J.R. Henderson's foul trouble, Jelani McCoy's bruised sternum and a broken national semifinal date with Kentucky.

``Look at Kansas; we went a round further than they did,'' Lavin said of the team that whipped UCLA 3-1/2 months ago. ``We swept Arizona, and now they've got a chance to go to the Final Four. That's what makes this a great tournament. You can't control injuries. You can't control four fouls.''

UCLA's demise was not complicated. It began last week, when Xavier's Torraye Braggs elbowed McCoy in the sternum. The injury flared up late in the first half Saturday, the result of an unknown forearm, and McCoy played just three minutes of the season half.

``I was in pain and having trouble breathing,'' he said. ``I knew once I got hit, they'd have a big size advantage.''

For a time, he was not missed. His replacement, Johnson, opened the second half with a 3-pointer, and the Bruins jetted to a 48-39 lead with 14 minutes remaining. Then UCLA's bad habits returned, and the momentum shifted inexorably. Turnovers here, hurried shots there, and the offensive rhythm disappeared. The Gophers quickly closed to 50-49, and the mostly Minnesota crowd went wild.

``They were great athletes, but we knew that going in,'' Gophers forward Sam Jacobson said. ``They like to go one-on-one a lot, like Michigan, but we knew they would let us back in the game because they like to take real quick shots. They should have slowed it down, taken time off the clock and tried to get a real good shot.''

Without McCoy, Minnesota attacked the heart of UCLA's defense relentlessly, refusing to settle for anything more than a layup. Fifteen of the Gophers' 18 second-half baskets were within four feet. Just as the Bruins had dominated so many smaller opponents, they were being dominated.

``We didn't have a strong defensive presence in the middle, and they exploited that,'' Lavin said.

McCoy tried to play, could not, and watched Henderson commit his fourth foul with 4:56 remaining and the scored tied at 57-57. For the first time this season, UCLA's lack of depth became a factor. No McCoy. A tentative Henderson. Soon Minnesota's lead was 62-57 and the Bruins were reeling.

``I never thought our depth would be a problem, but it was a little bit of the problem,'' Johnson said. ``They capitalized. They're a smart team.''

O'Bannon, UCLA's best player, went 6:30 without attempting a shot. Cameron Dollar, whose transformation from an offensive liability to a scoring threat mirrored the Bruins' rise, committed two crucial turnovers in the last three minutes. Toby Bailey, who has made so many clutch baskets this season, clanked 3-pointers. Their patience evaporated. Their passing vanished.

``Once we got behind, we got away from what got us here,'' O'Bannon said.

Forced to foul, the Bruins watched Minnesota guard Bobby Jackson seal the victory with seven consecutive free throws in the final minutes.

``In the end, you feel like quitting, just stopping the game or leaving,'' Henderson said. ``You want to make the moment last, because you don't want to lose.''

An hour after the buzzer, Lavin still had tears in his eyes. But he was the only one.

Their lovefest completed, the players showed none of the anger or disbelief that engulfed the locker room after the Princeton debacle a year ago.

Although disappointed and unfulfilled - ``I expected us to go much further,'' Henderson said - they seemed strangely satisfied, as if their sense of self was no longer tied to wins and losses.

``We finally showed the nation who we are,'' Bailey said. ``We had gotten labeled as snotty-nosed prima-donnas. I'm glad that label is finally off us. You don't see any of those in here.''

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3 Photos

Photo: (1--color) ``It hits you when you look in your players' faces and you realize it's over.''

Steve Lavin

UCLA coach, weeping in the postgame press conference

(2--color) UCLA's Cameron Dollar, who committed two key turnovers in the last three minutes against Minnesota, argues a call.

(3) The Bruins' Bob Myers reaches to block a pass by the Gophers' Sam Jacobson as they roll on the floor. Jacobson finished with 14 points for the Gophers.

Associated Press