COLLEGE BASKETBALL / GENE WOJCIECHOWSKI : Favored Bruins Must Show It to Stewart

Whew. That was close.

For a moment there, UCLA thought it was going to face Indiana in today’s second round of the West Regional. Instead, little-regarded Missouri beat the Hoosiers, thus sparing the Bruins of the game they dreaded most and sparing news conference moderators of Indiana Coach Bob Knight, who continues his successful quest of making a fool of himself in each of the 50 states.

Anyway, now that dangerous Indiana is gone, Bruin fans are clamoring for answers. For example, who do they call about Final Four tickets? And is it best to ship fresh salmon directly from Seattle or just to take it back on the plane?

Yes, well, not so fast. Anybody who thinks UCLA dodged a red bullet when the Hoosiers were eliminated from the NCAA tournament needs an introduction to Missouri Coach Norm Stewart.

Stewart is a microbrew of Knight. Similar number of victories (660 for Stewart, 659 for Knight). Similar number of years at the same school (29 for Stewart, 24 for Knight). Similar dispositions (prickly).

About the only thing Stewart and Knight don’t have in common is success in March and early April. Knight has three national championship rings and a 41-17 tournament record. Stewart has a wedding band, a 12-14 NCAA postseason mark and not a single visit to the Final Four.

So the Bruins should rest easy, right? After all, Missouri doesn’t have a point guard. The Tigers’ two best players, guard Jason Sutherland and swingman Julian Winfield, are nursing nagging injuries. Their twin towers--and we mean this literally--of 7-footers Sammie and Simeon Haley make more turnovers than your local bakery. Forward Marlo Finner was declared ineligible about halfway through the season. Missouri lost four of its last five regular-season games. And Stewart gets past the second round of the NCAAs about twice every decade.

Stewart, 60, doesn’t dispute any of this. In fact, ask him about Sammie Haley and he happily supplies an updated progress report.

“He can catch it most of the time,” Stewart said. “He doesn’t travel with it all the time. He’s throwing it away about one-fourth of the time. He’s up about 75% from where he started.”

The same goes for the Tigers, who weren’t predicted to do much this season. Of course, the experts said that last year and Missouri reached the regional final and Stewart was named consensus national coach of the year.

This time the Tigers began the season 18-3, sneaked into the top 10 and then suffered a late mini-collapse.

“We were pretty fragile all the way through, but we found a way to win,” Stewart said.

Fragile, but not futile. The quickest way to a power-temper demonstration by Stewart is to suggest his Missouri program is a second-class citizen. Someone did just that Saturday, wondering if the Tigers would be awed by the legacy of UCLA.

Bathed in minicam lights, Stewart’s brow immediately shot downward, followed shortly thereafter by a scowl for the ages.

“We’re capable,” Stewart said icily. “I don’t think anybody’s going to be intimidated.”

This is typical Stewart. Defiant. Proud. Easily insulted.

He was the same way when doctors said he had colon cancer and a diseased gall bladder in 1989. Cancer? Him? How dare it? Didn’t it know who he was?

One day he was playing hearts on the team flight to Norman, Okla. The next he was undergoing tests galore. Stewart survived. So did his appreciation for life.

Last year Stewart helped organize a statewide fund-raising program with the American Cancer Society. This year the National Assn. of Basketball Coaches has sponsored a “Coaches vs. Cancer” campaign. Stewart said nearly $2 million is expected to be raised.

So you’ll excuse Stewart if he doesn’t genuflect when confronted with UCLA today. After disposing of one legend Friday night, Stewart would like nothing better than to send another big name packing. It would be a nice way to celebrate the 1,000th game of his coaching career.

“I know we don’t have the name that UCLA has, or Indiana,” Stewart said. “But we have a great deal of pride at Missouri. Believe it or not, we won a few ballgames over the years, beat some awfully good teams.”

UCLA isn’t one of them. Stewart is 0-2 against the Bruins, soon to be 0-3. But like most things with Stewart, it will be worth watching. It always is.