Scott Barnes

Four of the last five times Cal State Fullerton and Fresno State have met on a basketball court, the game has been decided on the last shot. Friday night's Pacific Coast Athletic Assn. semifinal matchup ran true to form on a final shot that was fired at the last possible moment. After playing a nearly flawless second half, Fullerton saw a five-point margin evaporate. Fresno State's Mitch Arnold rattled home a 15-foot jumper to tie the score, 54-54, with 10 seconds remaining.

Fresno State's Red Wave flowed through Westwood's boutiques Saturday and later took over the entire west end of Pauley Pavilion, wearing their "Now UCLA, Now U Don't" T-shirts. So much for the high points of their trip. Saturday night, UCLA gave up 10 fewer points than the No. 1 defense in the country and defeated the Bulldogs, 53-43, before a sellout crowd of 12,577, some 5,000 of whom had a long drive home. Now U can CLA in the NIT semifinals.

If you were looking for a great place to bite your nails, sweat a few bullets or even chew on a towel or two, the Forum wasn't the place to be Thursday. The Pacific Coast Athletic Assn. opened its postseason basketball tournament, but except for a few moments in the evening's finale, there wasn't too much suspense to be found in the early games.

It was business as usual last November at the Pacific Coast Athletic Assn. media day banquet: There was plenty of whining and dining. Nevada Las Vegas Coach Jerry Tarkanian was trying to quell rumors that the group of redshirts he had coming in this season regularly beat his regulars (who went 29-6 and lost to Georgetown in the Western regionals) in practice games last season. "We have the potential to be a fine team, but we have a lot of question marks.

Phylicia Rashad, who played Bill Cosby's wife on "The Cosby Show" (NBC, 1984-92) and on "Cosby" (CBS, 1996-2000), has leased a condominium in the Santa Monica area at $2,000 a month for the summer. Rashad, who lives in New York, rented the unit in preparation for her appearance in August Wilson's "Gem of the Ocean" at the Mark Taper Forum. Previews start July 19. The play will run from Aug. 1 to Sept. 7. The condominium has two bedrooms and two bathrooms in 1,100 square feet.

AFTER a wait of nearly 15 years, students at Cal State Fullerton and the arts-loving community of north Orange County can boast of a sparkling new Performing Arts Center. The attractive $48.5-million campus-based facility, designed by Pfeiffer Partners, formerly Hardy Holzman Pfeiffer Associates who created the Colburn School of Performing Arts in Los Angeles, opened with a dedication ceremony Friday morning, a gala dinner and concert Saturday, and various dance and theater events Sunday.

Leaving the way clear for government agencies to challenge the news media's fitness to hold broadcast licenses, the staff of the Federal Communications Commission Thursday dismissed a controversial CIA fairness doctrine complaint against ABC News. The FCC staff ruled in Washington that the Central Intelligence Agency had failed to establish its claim that ABC had engaged in deliberate news distortion with its story of illegal CIA activities involving a now-bankrupt Honolulu investment firm.

Given new hope by a photograph they claim proves he is still alive, the family of an American pilot presumed killed during the Vietnam War on Thursday disputed Vietnamese claims that his remains had been returned to U.S. authorities in April, 1990. The daughter of long-missing Air Force Col. John L.

For the longest time, Gary Burton's family looked just about ideal. Burton's journal charted the daily events of a proud family man: "Suzy's baseball team won district. . . . Shelly won cheerleader. Those Burton girls are the best. . . . Gave Clint my favorite T-shirt today for his first football jersey." Clinton Burton was in middle school when his father brought something new into the family home in the rural southern Oregon town of Eagle Point. Methamphetamine changed everything.

The radio advertisement told of the close-knit bond between Cedars-Sinai Medical Center and its nurses. "My mom knows how to care for people," a youngster said on the spot, which ran last month. "It's what makes her a great nurse and great mother. It's like she has two families -- one at home and one at Cedars-Sinai." But many say the family of 1,511 registered nurses has become dysfunctional of late, as rancor has grown over a vote on whether to join the California Nurses Assn.