UCLA Gets Shot in Arm : Bruins: Tarver’s three-point basket in the final seconds provides 76-75 victory over Oregon State.

Shon Tarver knew exactly what he would do once he got the ball with five seconds left Thursday night in UCLA’s 76-75 victory over Oregon State.

“I think you have to want the ball in that situation,” Tarver said after making a 24-foot, three-point shot to give the Bruins a much-needed victory.

“I was thinking three. I knew we needed that.”

Indeed, the Bruins (15-7, 5-5) were revived after the Pacific 10 Conference victory before 7,921 at Pauley Pavilion. The result ended a two-game losing streak, and perhaps marked the end of a slump that saw UCLA lose three of four conference games.

It also ended a two-game slump by Ed O’Bannon, a 6-foot-8 sophomore forward, who had 17 points and nine rebounds.

For Tarver, a junior guard, the game-winning basket was the most dramatic of his career, he said.

“I’ve never made a shot like that,” he said.

Tarver got the opportunity to win the game when Charles McKinney, Oregon State’s senior guard, missed the first free throw in a one-on-one situation with 12 seconds left. The Beavers had taken a 75-73 lead with 48 seconds left on Brent Barry’s three-point basket.

The Bruins had not scored for 4 minutes 32 seconds as Tyus Edney raced down the floor, looking for an open teammate.

“I knew somebody would be open,” Edney said. “I just saw Shon, and passed.”

Scott Haskin, a mobile 6-11 center, charged Tarver with raised arms.

“I knew I had to get elevation on the shot,” Tarver said. “I knew he was up there. I knew I had to follow through.”

After scoring, Tarver thought the game was over. O’Bannon hugged him at center court. But the Beavers called time out to set up a final play.

O’Bannon and Tarver knocked a length-of-the-court inbounds pass out of bounds, and the Beavers had another chance with two seconds left.

Oregon State knew what to do with the break. The Beavers devised an inbounds play for a layup by Haskin. It was sound strategy. Haskin had 24 points and 13 rebounds.

He got the ball underneath the basket and attempted a reverse layup with UCLA’s Richard Petruska closely guarding him.

Haskin’s shot hit the rim and bounced away as the buzzer sounded.

“Had we not taken care of this game, we probably would have been in real trouble in regards to the (NCAA) tournament,” UCLA Coach Jim Harrick said. “This gives us hope, life.”

It seemed as if UCLA was all but dead after a lapse that propelled Oregon State to 37-26 lead with 2:58 left in the half.

But the Bruins erased a seven-point halftime deficit when they went to a 2-3 zone to stop the Beavers’ effective inside game. Behind the passing of Barry, seeing playing his first extensive action in four games, and the layups and dunks of Haskin, Oregon State (10-9, 6-4) seemed unstoppable.

But suddenly, those uncontested layups were gone, and as a result, the Beavers had to rely on their outside shooting. Coach Jim Anderson of Oregon State could not find a reliable shooter as UCLA rallied.

With the Beavers backfiring, Edney took charge. Although 5-9, Edney challenged Oregon State’s front line successfully. He either passed for an easy layup, or stopped and made a short shot over Oregon State defenders.

UCLA built a 64-57 lead on Kevin Dempsey’s three-point basket with 9:38 left. At 5:33, UCLA led, 71-62, when Tarver scored on a layup after a pass from Edney.

But Oregon State found its range and, as UCLA is wont to do, the Bruins went cold.

That left it up to Tarver in the last five seconds.

UCLA Notes

Mitchell Butler was suffering from flu and sat out most of the second half. He played only 11 minutes. . . . Rodney Zimmerman, the Bruins’ backup center, saw limited action because of a bruised right quad muscle. . . . Oregon State players wore a patch with the initials E.K. in memory of the late Earnest Killum, who played at Lynwood High before going to Oregon State. Killum played in seven games last season before he suffered a fatal stroke while with the team in Los Angeles. While the Beavers and Bruins played at Pauley Pavilion last season, Killum was in a coma at Daniel Freeman Memorial Hospital in Inglewood. He was pronounced dead 48 hours later.

* USC BEATS OREGON

The Trojans end a three-game losing streak with a 73-67 victory over the Ducks at the Sports Arena. C2