UCLA NOT IN AWE OF MERE TWO TITLES.

Byline: KAREN CROUSE

GREENSBORO, N.C. - Tobacco Road commuters, listen up. We think you need a map. You may not know it, but you're really disoriented.

We listened with bemusement Saturday as you lobbed variations of the same tired question at the UCLA men's basketball team. The ink wasn't even dry on the box score of the Bruins' 75-50 victory over Utah State when you started asking the UCLA players in so many words: Are you poor dears quaking in your Kobe sneakers at the thought of facing almighty Duke on Thursday in an NCAA Tournament third-round game in Philadelphia?

Why, it's a wonder no one in a show of Southern hospitality suggested - in a voice as sweet as the iced tea served by the gallons here, of course - that the Bruins save their time and effort for their finals this week and simply stay home.

You know, just phone in another win for deific Duke, which easily dispatched Missouri in the first second-round game played Saturday at Greensboro Coliseum.

It's no secret that anybody with family roots in these parts as deep as bedrock believes basketball is an orange sun that rises and sets only on the Tobacco Road commuter. But, really, we would have presumed you were a wee bit more worldly.

After all, omnipotent Duke left its Carolina cocoon in December to play Stanford in Oakland and - gasp! - lost, 84-83. Sure, it was the Blue Devils' first loss but nobody beat the Cardinal for another two months, until UCLA did, 79-73, on Stanford's home floor.

You see, on Thursday and Saturday nights while you are sleeping, the Pacific-10 is cultivating some pretty battle-hardened NCAA Tournament contestants.

Oh, we know it was a yawner the last time UCLA and Duke squared off, at Cameron Indoor Stadium in 1998. No need to remind us of how the Bruins, weakened by the suspension of their best player (Jelani McCoy), fell behind at the start and were lapped by the Trajan Langdon-led Blue Devils.

It wasn't basketball, we'll admit to that; it was a bloodbath. If it had been a title fight, they would have stopped it before the end of the first half. At that point Duke was ahead by 24 points, in no small part because of the Bruins' 26 percent shooting from the field.

A freshman guard played the point for UCLA in that game. It was Earl Watson's 26th collegiate start and he logged 27 minutes and finished with two points, two turnovers, one assist and one rebound.

Another freshman, Billy Knight, played three minutes. Knight and Watson are the only players on this year's UCLA team with memories long enough to recall the great Duke Debacle of 1998.

You may think that nothing ever changes, since that pretty well sums up life in these parts. But in California, nothing's static, not the ground beneath our feet or the Bruins that your godlike Blue Devils will face in an East Regional semifinal.

For what it's worth, Watson says you dismiss these Bruins at your own risk.

``We're a whole different team than we were three years ago,'' says Watson, and he's right, starting with himself.

Watson has matured so much, we wouldn't be surprised if the AARP has added him to its mailing list. Goodness knows his game has grown immeasurably. On Saturday in his 128th consecutive collegiate start, the 6-foot-1 senior contributed 16 points, nine rebounds (six on the offensive end) and three assists.

Watson's will is stronger than Duke guard Jason Williams' dodgy sprained ankle, that's for sure. And there's something else you Tobacco Road commuters ought to know about him. After playing pick-up ball the past three summers with everyone from Magic Johnson to Chris Webber, Watson fears no player.

Not even divine Duke's heavenly Shane Battier.

Battier has been a participant in, what, four Sweet 16s? That doesn't impress Watson much. But then, this is his third trip to the regional semifinals.

``Duke's like any other team to me,'' Watson says, growing a bit impatient with your concern for how the Bruins will survive the perfect storm that is Duke. ``They're great. They have a lot of tradition. But you don't go to UCLA and say, `I want to play Duke really bad.' ''

In case you've never been west of the Mississippi River, you should know there are 12 national-championship banners hanging in Pauley Pavilion's rafters. How many does Duke have, two?

``We're UCLA,'' Watson says, taking offense to your implication that the Bruins are chopped liver while Duke is chipped barbecue beef. ``We carry a lot of tradition. We carry a legacy. We have a lot of pride.''

In other words, ``Not only do we have to face (Duke),'' Watson says, ``but they have to face us.''

``It's going to be a battle,'' Watson predicts. ``It's going to be a war.''

Tobacco Road commuters, consider yourselves warned. A blowout is no guarantee when dynamic Duke and that nice little team from the West Coast collide.

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Photo: Dan Gadzuric (50) grabs a rebound in front of Billy Knight (3) and Utah State's Shawn Daniels. The Bruins move on to face Duke in Philadelphia.

Gerry Broome/Associated Press