IT'S UCLA AT THE FINISH ADD ANOTHER CLOSE-CALL WIN UCLA 82, ASU 79.

Byline: Billy Witz Staff Writer

TEMPE, Ariz. - Billy Knight looked up into the cheap seats, shook his head and sighed as he walked off the court. The rest of the UCLA basketball team followed him off - and there wasn't a smile among the bunch.

The No. 9-ranked Bruins walked off winners Thursday night with an 82-79 victory over Arizona State before 9,013 at Wells Fargo Arena, but it sure didn't look like it. And it sure didn't feel like it.

The Bruins didn't so much snatch a road victory as spare themselves a disaster. They nearly blew an eight-point lead in the final 39.1 seconds and didn't seal the win until an ofalance 3-pointer by Arizona State guard Curtis Millage ticked the iron just before the buzzer sounded.

``Just another UCLA-style game,'' Knight said of the team's latest frantic finish. ``Man, we almost lost it. I don't know what it is with us.''

The victory was UCLA's 11th in 12 games and with USC's loss at Arizona moves the Bruins (13-3, 5-1) into a first-place tie in the Pac-10 with the Trojans and Oregon.

Knight scored a team-high 21 points, Jason Kapono added 20, and Matt Barnes contributed 19 points and a team-high nine rebounds. The Bruins, who built a 14-point lead midway through the second half, also outrebounded the Sun Devils 50-35.

Yet, thanks to their late-game meltdown, two footnotes turned out to be the difference. Arizona State center Chad Prewitt, all alone under the basket, accidentally tipped in a missed shot by T.J. Cummings with 6:57 left and then Arizona State was assessed a technical foul in the final minute when fans threw coins on the court to protest an official's call.

Earlier in the half, after fans had thrown pizza on the court - ``I think it was Canadian bacon,'' said UCLA coach Steve Lavin - fans were warned that if anything else were thrown on the court, it would result in a technical foul against ASU (10-6, 3-4).

Nevertheless, Arizona State coach Rob Evans was upset that it did.

``That technical shouldn't happen,'' Evans said. ``When the game is close, you let the players decide things. They never told me to quiet the crowd and I would have liked to seen us finish without the technical.''

Kapono, who was fouled on the play in question, sank all four free throws to put UCLA ahead 80-72 with 39.1 seconds left.

``That was a tough call,'' said Barnes, who pointed out the coins to the officials. ``It was tough for them to come back from that.''

But the Sun Devils did. After making just two of their first 21 3-pointers, they began raining them in. Millage, who made all three of his in the final 2 1/2 minutes, sank one from the wing to make it 80-75. ASU immediately fouled Barnes, who made 1 of 2 with 30 seconds left.

But Prewitt, who led ASU with 22 points and eight rebounds, grabbed an offensive rebound and fouled out UCLA center Dan Gadzuric with 20.3 seconds left. Prewitt and Kapono traded free throws and UCLA led 82-76 with 15 seconds left.

Then it got interesting. The Sun Devils rushed the ball downcourt and Prewitt, trailing the play, hit a 25-foot 3-pointer and ASU immediately fouled Cedric Bozeman with 8.9 seconds left. With the crowd roaring, the UCLA freshman missed both free throws.

``It's tough, but I like that situation,'' said Bozeman, who started in place of Rico Hines, who did not dress because of a concussion. ``I should have knocked them down.''

On the second miss, Barnes bullied Justin Allen for the rebound, but his follow shot missed. Knight then tied up Prewitt for the rebound and UCLA got the ball on alternating possessions with 6.2 seconds left.

Bozeman, after calling timeout when he couldn't inbound the ball, finally got it in to Kapono, who was double-teamed in the corner and stripped by Millage, who raced upcourt. He had Allen wide open on the wing to his left, but he double-clutched and tried to lean into Knight.

``Thank God it didn't go in,'' Kapono said. ``Or we'd still be playing.''

The Bruins missed four of their final six free throws, committed two of their 18 turnovers in the final 61 seconds and were lucky not to have made more.

``We're fortunate to get out of here with a win,'' said Kapono before heading to the bus and a two-hour drive to Tucson for Saturday's game with Arizona. ``We felt the tension at the end. We were sloppy, but I'd rather get out of here with an ugly win than a pretty loss.''

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Photo:

UCLA's Billy Knight, left, goes around ASU's Tommy Smith, right and Chad Prewitt.

Roy Dabner/Associated Press