University Of California At Los Angeles

In a rare nine-figure real estate deal, the Regents of the University of California have agreed to pay $147 million over 30 years to rent a medical facility planned in Santa Monica. Developer Randy Miller hopes to begin construction on the three-story building by August. It would rise on a parking lot at 1223 16th St., across the street from the Santa Monica-UCLA Medical Center and Orthopaedic Hospital. The final cost of the 50,000-square-foot development, including land acquisition, would be about $50 million, Miller said.

The sights and sounds of relief were apparent for UCLA on Saturday. There was Reeves Nelson's exclamation-point dunk with one second left, capping the 62-52 victory over Oregon State. "It had been a frustrating game," Nelson said. "I guess I took it out on the rim." There were the hoots and hollers in the locker room at Gill Coliseum afterward, an emotional pendulum swing from Thursday's long faces after the Bruins blew a 13-point first-half lead in an overtime loss to Oregon.

The guy brought to UCLA to play point guard this season is doing fine. Jrue Holiday has started the last four games for the Philadelphia 76ers. The guy who is actually playing point guard for UCLA has had his struggles. Malcolm Lee , considered an off guard coming from Riverside North High, was one for nine shooting in a 71-66 overtime loss to Oregon on Thursday. With Jerime Anderson injured, Lee has had to handle most of the point guard duties, logging 37 minutes against Oregon's press.

UCLA spent one last stressful evening at McArthur Court. Maybe it wasn't quite like the old days. The Bruins weren't toting the No. 1 ranking into the arena and Oregon has been less "Kamikaze Kids" and more roll over and play dead this season. But once more, with feeling, there they squared off in an arena where the visitors usually shoot cold, but their locker room is always sauna-hot. By the time the Ducks scrapped out a 71-66 overtime victory, the Bruins gladly would have agreed to supervise the arena's demolition.

The guy who salvaged UCLA's season -- at least for the moment -- could be found last summer dribbling a basketball over the streets of Meknes, Morocco, looking for a place to play. Mustafa Abdul-Hamid was spending the time overseas to fulfill a requirement for his academic major, global studies. The ball was his constant companion. "It was this $100 official NCAA basketball and I was dribbling it in the oily dirt, the streets, all over," Abdul-Hamid said. "I finally found a court, ironically, in what is probably the only church in the country."

UCLA freshman forward Tyler Honeycutt was one free throw from being done in practice Monday. "I had made 79 of 99 free throws," Honeycutt said. "I just needed one more and I missed it. So I had to start all over again." Call it 15 feet to frustration. If there is a glaring weakness for the UCLA basketball team, it comes when players stand alone, unguarded. The Bruins shoot like Bob Dylan sings these days . . . poorly. UCLA has made a woeful 61% of its free throws this season, ranking them last in the Pacific 10 Conference and 323rd out of 334 Division I teams.

UCLA Coach Ben Howland said he wasn't even sure who his team was going to play next. "Oregon State, Oregon?" Howland said. Bruins forward Nikola Dragovic had the answers and the significance at his fingertips. "We need to win on the road," Dragovic said. "We have five of the next seven on the road. It's going to be tough. But I believe we'll know what kind of season we'll have once these games are over." The Bruins will toddle down the Oregon trail this week, toting along Saturday's 74-62 victory over Washington State.

UCLA seems to be getting the hang of this zone defense thing, noticeably absent during Coach Ben Howland's first four seasons in Westwood. The Bruins clamped down on Washington in the second half in Thursday night's 62-61 victory. The Huskies, who shot 58% in the first half, made only eight of 27 shots in the second half. "They came out and shot the lights out in the first half," Howland said. "Fortunately, we did a little better job in the second half." The Bruins newfound defensive identity will get another test today, when Washington State comes to Pauley Pavilion for a 1 p.m. game.

Call it senior night. UCLA would like to celebrate it against Washington at Pauley Pavilion tonight. Senior guard Michael Roll has promised the Bruins will never again put forth such an effort, or lack of effort, as was the case in Saturday's 67-46 loss to USC. Senior forward James Keefe preached unity during difficult days. And senior forward Nikola Dragovic vowed action. In games he has played this season, Dragovic has been an easy-to-read barometer on how the Bruins are faring.

UCLA guard Michael Roll was adamant that there would be no more beatings like the one USC handed the Bruins on Saturday. "We are definitely going to be a lot better from here on out," Roll said. And he can guarantee that? "I cannot," Roll said. "All I can say is it's not going to be like that anymore." Yet the trick still remains in backing that up, after a 67-46 thrashing by the Trojans. The Bruins play Washington on Thursday at Pauley Pavilion. But the intention is there after the team sat through a replay of the USC game.