UCLA With the Cream; USC Fails to Rise : Bruins: Defense, rebounding and running game are the keys for Harrick’s No. 4-ranked team.

Now that they’re 14-1, fresh from holding the No. 1 ranking at least for a week and looking for the most part as smooth as Ed O’Bannon’s shaved head, UCLA probably ought to go ahead and ask itself one very sensitive question:

Will success spoil the Bruins?

Hey, it could happen. Take for instance Jim Harrick. Normally, the UCLA coach appears at his weekly news conference wearing shorts, sneakers and a jacket, looking as if he had just lettered in water polo. This week, Harrick showed up in slacks, shiny black shoes, a gray checked jacket and a stylish black T-shirt, as if he had just stepped out of the green room for a guest spot on Letterman.

Actually, make that Roy Firestone’s show on ESPN.

Joked Firestone: “He was trying to look stylish, but I don’t think that word is in his dictionary.”

And so it goes for Harrick and UCLA. You know you’ve made it when they start poking fun at you.

With a straight face, Harrick offered his assessment of tonight’s game at Pauley Pavilion against USC and the one Saturday afternoon in South Bend, Ind., against Notre Dame.

“It’s another difficult week for us . . . but they all are,” he said.

Excuse me, but what has been so difficult about this season? Even after Sunday’s 85-70 loss to California, the Bruins are still outscoring the other teams by 17 points a game, outrebounding them by eight, blocking three times as many shots and looking very much like a team destined for something big by tournament time.

The Bruins are the best-shooting team in the Pacific 10 Conference, which they also lead in rebounding and rebounding margin, and have held opponents to a lower shooting percentage than any other team.

A year ago at this time, the Bruins were 11-4, Charles O’Bannon was in high school and George Zidek had 18 field goals, 41 fewer than he has now.

There is nothing like the present at UCLA, at least in modern times, which began after John Wooden’s 10th and last NCAA title in 1975. Most likely, Harrick is correct when he says the games will be tougher and the results a lot closer the rest of the way in the Pac-10 race, but the Bruins might be more prepared for the test because they’re a lot further along than most people figured they would be.

Last week, after the Bruins defeated Arizona and Arizona State, UCLA earned its first No. 1 ranking in 11 years. They’re down to No. 4 now, after the defeat by Cal.

Harrick said that’s probably about right, even if he never saw it coming. “I didn’t think we were probably good enough to be No. 1 in the country at any time of the year, or be 14-1,” he said. “But it’s been a pleasant surprise.”

So what has gone right for UCLA? “Defense, rebounding and the running game,” Harrick said. “The defense hasn’t been great all the time, but it has been consistent. Those three things are probably the reason we are where we are right now.”

If Tyus Edney is responsible for running the fast break, the rebounding and defensive burdens are more evenly distributed, but mostly they belong as part of the O’Bannon factor. Charles has given a flair to the Bruins, which might be as important as his ability to run the floor, block shots and defend in the front court.

Still, it is Ed O’Bannon who has stepped up to become the key Bruin. Against Cal, he matched his season high with 24 points. He also had 19 rebounds, the most by any UCLA player in 14 years.

Ed O’Bannon has gone over 20 points seven times this season and is third in the Pac-10 in scoring, rebounding and blocked shots.

Unofficially, he also is first at UCLA in leadership, which pleases his coach to no end. Said Harrick: “Ed O’Bannon is all about winning.”

Ed O’Bannon said that just about sums it up. After the California game, he was asked if the pressure of the No. 1 ranking was off as a result of the defeat.

“It’s going to continue on Thursday,” he said. “I’ll say it again, we’re going to come out and play as hard as we possibly can, whether we are No. 1 or No. 101.”

As for the fallout from losing to Cal, USC’s George Raveling said UCLA might wind up benefiting from it. “It could be a blessing in disguise, take a little bit of pressure off and lessen people’s expectations of them,” Raveling said. “I tend to think Jim might be a little bit relieved.”

Well, no he isn’t.

“Make no mistake about it, I’d rather win than lose, have the ball than not have the ball, take the last shot than not take the last shot,” Harrick said. “I never ever thought we would go undefeated, but I’ll take where we are right now.”

Who wouldn’t?