COLLEGE BASKETBALL / NCAA MEN’S TOURNAMENT : Dog-Gone Defense by UCLA : West: The intensity level is high in an 86-67 victory over Mississippi State, propelling the Bruins into the regional final.

Challenged, chastised and more than a little embarrassed by their recent near-elimination experience, the UCLA Bruins responded to Coach Jim Harrick’s hectoring Thursday by manhandling Mississippi State, 86-67.

Then, as if their play hadn’t already heralded their sense of casual confidence, Charles O’Bannon and George Zidek scrawled a message on a board for all to see in the postgame locker room.

“1 more 2 the 4.”

One more victory and their March on (Seattle) Washington will be complete.

The victory before 14,399 at the Oakland Coliseum Arena lifted top-ranked UCLA into the West Regional final for the second time in Jim Harrick’s seven-year tenure. In 1991-92, Indiana defeated the Bruins, 106-79, in the West final.

Saturday, UCLA faces Connecticut for a berth in the Final Four in Seattle, which would be the Bruins’ first since 1980.

Thursday, it was UCLA’s crash-course defense--if you can’t go around it, go through it--that dominated play in a near-perfect Bruin first half, forcing the Bulldogs into 32.1% field-goal shooting and giving the Bruins a 21-point halftime lead.

Ed O’Bannon, who led UCLA (28-2, with 16 consecutive victories) with 21 points, 14 of those coming in the first half, credited Harrick’s heated words and antics for igniting the Bruins after Sunday’s sluggish one-point victory over Missouri.

“I’ve never seen him come down on anybody like he did on us last practice,” O’Bannon said. “He got into us, and he expects us to respond. It kind of lit a fire.”

At Tuesday’s Pauley Pavilion workout and beyond, Harrick ripped the players for failing to defend Missouri’s outside shooters, O’Bannon said, reminding them that it has been furious defense that has triggered UCLA’s triumphant season.

Harrick made his point, then UCLA proceeded to make a Mississippi State team with regular-season victories over Kentucky and Arkansas on its resume look like, well, Florida International.

“I told the players (that) when you get this far along, only one team’s going to be happy at the end of the season, and that’s the team that wins the national championship,” Mississippi State Coach Richard Williams said. “UCLA could very well be that team.”

Down low, it was sumo wrestling, 7-foot center Zidek successfully nudging 6-11 Bulldog low-post ace Erick Dampier away from the blocks and limiting him to four shots and 11 points.

Out on the perimeter, the Bruins engaged in a slightly less bruising contest, as Tyus Edney, Toby Bailey and Cameron Dollar buzzed over, around and often right through every screen presented to them, hounding the Bulldogs into an 0-for-11 performance from three-point distance in the first half. In the game, Bulldog top scorer Darryl Wilson had 22 points, but was only five of 14 from three-point distance, most during garbage time.

Down court, after long rebounds or Bulldog turnovers, it was UCLA rim-dancing time.

On offense, Edney, who had 10 points and eight assists, seemed to set the tone by reverse-dribbling straight at Dampier early in the game, drawing a foul then looping a short left-handed shot into the basket. After the play, Edney pumped his fists and exhorted his teammates.

“That’s the way we like to play, we like to have fun,” said Bailey, who finished off a few breaks with flying slams. “And I think we stopped doing that in the beginning of this tournament, stopped having fun.

“Our coach told us that we have to go out here and have fun. That’s the only way we’re going to make it to the finals.”

The real fun began with 8:57 remaining in the half, when UCLA was leading, 18-15, after missing some fast-break chances. Because of matchup problems when Ed O’Bannon was playing center, Williams went to a zone, and the Bruins went nuclear, taking off on a 22-4 run to close the half with a 40-19 edge.

During that span, O’Bannon stepped out to hit two three-pointers, laid in an alley-oop from Edney and sank a leaning 10-footer in the final seconds. When the buzzer went off, the UCLA bench sprinted out to center court in a mini-celebration.

“We were excited that our first half was a complete, 180-degree turnaround from last first half,” said O’Bannon, referring to Sunday’s eight-point deficit against Missouri.

Though the Bulldogs (22-8) made it respectable--and even forced Harrick to reinsert Edney and Ed O’Bannon late in the game--with a run of three-pointers that eventually closed the gap to 13 with 1:25 left--UCLA never really was in jeopardy after lengthening the lead to 30 eight minutes into the second half.

Their biggest lead was 36, which the Bruins held twice.

All in all, the Bruins said, it was enough to banish the Missouri misery.

“We were too mechanical last time,” forward Charles O’Bannon said. “We wanted to come out and play loose and have fun. Not necessarily like in the streets, but have fun.

“It cleaned out the memories that we had.”