UCLA KEY TO GAME: NOT SENIOR DAY FOR UCLA GADZURIC, KNIGHT, BARNES, HINES MISS LAST OPPORTUNITY.

Byline: Michael A. Anastasi Sports Editor 

SAN JOSE - Few UCLA teams have had as much unquestioned promise as this one. Promise, ultimately, the Bruins betrayed.

Unquestionably led by the most talented, and outwardly mature, group of seniors since on the 1995 national championship team, these enigmatic Bruins knew that another Sweet 16 appearance saved face but proved nothing.

Thursday's 82-73 loss to Missouri proved everything - that the Bruins never were as good as they believed.

And in the end it was their seniors who failed them.

``I'm proud but not satisfied,'' Dan Gadzuric said. ``I'm proud of what we've done to get here.''

Although junior Jason Kapono led the Bruins in scoring this season, the seniors - Gadzuric, the center, guard Billy Knight, and forwards Matt Barnes and Rico Hines - always have been the emotional center of this club.

As well they should. Hines and Knight came from a 1997 recruiting class deemed second-best in the nation. Gadzuric and Barnes' class of '98 was No. 1. And for the past three seasons, Bruins fans have been waiting for the payoff.

It appeared it might finally come Thursday, despite a miserable opening period. ``We just shot the ball a little too quick in the first half,'' Bruins coach Steve Lavin said.

Trailing by two at halftime, the Bruins rallied behind Barnes, who himself outscored Missouri 9-0 beginning with a lay-up just three minutes into the second period.

It was of course Barnes, who in last weekend's upset of No. 1-seeded Cincinnati scored all 17 of his points in the second half, to spark the Bruins, and sparking UCLA is what he did again Thursday.

By the end of the run, Barnes had the Bruins on an emotional high they eventually exploited into an eight-point lead. When Barnes' no-look, backward shovel pass to Knight led to an easy layup and a 49-41 lead, the game was the Bruins' to take.

Missouri's Kareem Rush began hitting 3-pointers and slicing into UCLA's lead, however, and when Barnes made a layup at 10:05 to give UCLA a three-point lead, it was his final basket of the game.

Barnes finished with 23 points, 11 rebounds and four assists - but was scoreless when it counted.

Gadzuric, whose career-high 26 points and 13 rebounds had carried the Bruins against Cincinnati, scored only 11 against Missouri, hitting only 4 of 9 shots.

Knight scored 16 points but missed all four of his 3-pointers, and the Bruins shot a dismal 3 of 17 from long range. Missouri hit 10 of 23.

Knight, Barnes and Gadzuric together accounted for half of UCLA's total offense this season. Hines, who sat out Thursday after tearing cartilage in his knee last weekend, accounted for at least half of the Bruins' toughness. Despite Hines' average of 1.1 points, the Bruins were 10-2 in games in which he started.

``I play for people like Rico,'' sophomore T.J. Cummings said. ``He's taught me so much. And Matt, Billy and Dan - we want to go out there and respect these guys.''

In the first half, the seniors alternately ignited and stifled the Bruins' defense.

Barnes made just 3 of 9 shots, Gadzuric and Knight 2 of 6. While Missouri itself flailed, missing 7 of 10 3-pointers, UCLA shot just 31 percent despite ample open looks.

The Bruins clearly were the more athletic team, and seemingly could have staked themselves to a sizable lead with ease. Yet the seniors failed to take advantage of the opportunities - as happened so many times this season - and Barnes didn't have enough help in the second half.

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THURSDAY'S GAMES AT A GLANCE