Bruins Avoid 0-2 Pac-10 Start : College basketball: After trailing at halftime, UCLA scores 52 points in the second half to defeat Oregon State, 87-78.

No, this one would have been worse.

Currently measuring their conference performances by increments of embarrassment, the UCLA Bruins found themselves collapsing toward complete humiliation Saturday afternoon before pulling out an 87-78 victory over Oregon State.

After a herky-jerky first half that echoed the Bruins’ directionless play two days earlier, the unheralded Beavers led UCLA, 41-35, and the bad memories of Oregon’s emotional upset Thursday came easily.

What if the Bruins lost both games?

“It could have been bad, to tell you the truth,” said freshman swingman J.R. Henderson, who got the first start of his career Saturday and responded with a season-high 16 points and solid defense on Beaver star Brent Barry.

“Our confidence would have been way down--just shot.”

But gradually regaining their composure before 8,013 at Gill Coliseum, the Bruins, facing the prospect of losing their first two conference games, reversed their crash course, made 17 of 24 shots from the field in the second half and outlasted the outmanned Beavers despite a career-high 31 points by forward Mustapha Hoff.

Oregon State, which beat USC in overtime Thursday, seemed to wear down late in the game, after opening with a level of energy that masked UCLA’s edge in talent.

“I’ve watched all of Oregon State’s games,” UCLA Coach Jim Harrick said, “and certainly that’s without a doubt the finest game they’ve played.”

The Beavers are 4-7, 1-1 in the Pacific 10; UCLA is 7-1, 1-1.

In the wake of Harrick’s two-technical foul tantrum Thursday, the Beavers were also the beneficiaries of the officials’ whistle: 11 fouls were called on UCLA before the first was called on Oregon State, and the Beavers had 13 free throws in the first half to two for the Bruins.

At halftime, the buzzards circled.

“It was beginning to feel a little like halftime of the Oregon game,” Henderson said. “Heads started going down a little bit, guys were frustrated.

“But by the end of halftime, I saw guys’ heads come back up, and I knew we weren’t going to lose another game. Nothing was really said, it was just understood that this was not going to be like the last one.”

In Thursday’s loss, UCLA failed to score a basket in the last five minutes of the game, looking frayed and panicked under the Ducks’ pressure defense. Saturday against the Beavers, UCLA scored 52 points in the second half.

In the Bruins’ previous three halves of conference play, they had not scored more than 38. But in the second half Saturday, point guard Tyus Edney scored 13 of his team-high 23 points, Henderson scored 13 of his 16, and Ed O’Bannon scored 14 of his 18.

“We just figured that if we could hit the glass like we can and stay in control on offense, things would be fine,” O’Bannon said. “We didn’t do that all game against Oregon, and we didn’t do it the first half today.”

In a long-awaited move, Harrick inserted Henderson into the starting lineup ahead of Cameron Dollar, who had started the previous seven games, but did not score (and committed three turnovers) against Oregon.

Henderson made several key baskets in each half, but it was his position defense against Barry that impressed Harrick the most.

“I asked J.R. at practice, I said, ‘J.R., can you guard Brent Barry?’ And he said, ‘Coach, I can guard anybody,’ ” Harrick said. “And it was really unfair of me to ask him to guard Barry, but he went out there, worked hard, guarded him and really didn’t give him any baskets in the first half.

“That’s maybe as good as anybody can do against Barry.”

Barry made three three-point baskets in the first half, but those came on inbounds plays, when the Bruins were in a zone, and Barry went long periods without even touching the ball against Henderson’s denying defense.

Barry, averaging 19 points before Saturday, scored 17 on only eight shots.

“Tell you the truth, I never saw him play before until today,” Henderson said of Barry. “I just have a lot of confidence in my ability to guard anybody. I went out there and just tried to deny him the ball.”

Harrick said that the main reason he started the 6-foot-9 Henderson was to step up the Bruins’ rebounding--they surrendered 25 offensive rebounds Thursday. Henderson had six rebounds Saturday, and Oregon State had only six offensive rebounds.

“I don’t get nervous that much,” Henderson said of getting the starting nod. “Of course, it’s a big deal, but it’s not like I’m going to go out all nervous and shaky.”

* More on UCLA Basketball: If you follow UCLA basketball and want to review the Bruins’ season to date, you can read features, game stories and notes that have appeared in The Times this season on TimesLink.