NCAA CHAMPIONSHIP GAME / UCLA 89, ARKANSAS 78 : A Big Return From Dollar : UCLA: Guard steps into Edney’s shoes and fills them perfectly, even though the statistics won’t necessarily show it.

He turned the ball over the first time he touched it, almost had to take himself out of the game because of cramps and scored his only basket with 54 seconds left in the game.

What would the UCLA Bruins have done without Cameron Dollar?

File his performance in the Bruins’ 89-78 victory over Arkansas Monday night under “statistics lie” and “Great Efforts in NCAA tournament history.”

His line score: six points, four fouls, three rebounds.

His impact: Without Dollar, UCLA loses the national championship.

With star guard Tyus Edney reduced to bench ornament early, it was difficult to blame Arkansas for what everyone in the country thought: Uh oh.

Before the game, Bruin forward Charles O’Bannon said on separate occasions that Edney was the “key to the ignition” and the “head to our body. Cut the head off, and the body dies.”

The Bruins lost Edney, unable to compete because of a sprained wrist, with 17:23 left in the first half, never to return.

The Arkansas guards must have been in hog heaven.

“Maybe they thought that,” Dollar said, sizing up the situation later. “Their All-American guard goes out. If I was on the other team, it would make me more confident.”

What Dollar did was worth a million dollars. With Edney out, Dollar was the only guard UCLA had to run the team and break the Razorbacks’ full-court press.

So what happens? Dollar, a sophomore from Atlanta, subs in for Edney with the world watching and is promptly stripped of the ball by Clint McDaniel, who scores a layup.

“After the steal, I was thinking about the big shoes I had to fill,” Dollar said.

Luckily for UCLA, Dollar regrouped and played a spectacular game, given the pressure.

Dollar played 36 intense minutes, ran the offense calmly and finished with eight assists, four steals and only three turnovers.

It was more minutes than he had played in a game all season.

When his legs started cramping up with 11 minutes left, Dollar looked over at the bench. The bench looked back.

What could UCLA Coach Jim Harrick do?

Like a miler on the bell lap, Dollar started doing a psych job on himself.

“I said ‘I’ve got to get to five minutes,’ ” he remembered later. “I thought I’d be OK at five minutes. That’s the time you have to suck it up.”

Dollar also remembered every “gut-check” adage ever uttered by a coach and why he ran all those wind sprints last July.

“There’s a saying, ‘The time will come when winter asks you what you’ve been doing all summer,’ ” Dollar said.

He remembered lessons learned. In January, subbing for an ill Edney against USC, Dollar played a less-than-inspiring 32 minutes.

Afterward, he reviewed the film and gave himself a “thumbs down.”

“I was hesitant, I wasn’t pushing the ball,” Dollar said.

Against Arkansas, with Edney acting as the trainer in his corner, Dollar kept the Razorback guards on their heels.

“They had two senior guards in backcourt, from a national championship team,” he said. “I think they thought I’d be hesitant to push.”

But Dollar pushed.

During timeouts, Edney did all the talking.

“He said everything to me,” Dollar said. “He said, ‘Keep taking the ball to the hole, keep attacking, keep doing what you’re doing.’ ”

Dollar said he knew Edney’s injury, suffered in Saturday’s victory over Oklahoma State, was worse than advertised.

It was clear from the start that Edney was not going to be effective.

“I could tell,” Dollar said. “But I didn’t want my mind to tell me. But I knew it was for the duration.”

His heart sank.

“He got us here,” Dollar said. “He’s the man. It was hard to swallow. But he led us with the fire in his eyes.”

After the game, Dollar sat on his stool, his T-shirt soaked with the spray of postgame beverage shower.

“It’s funny,” he said. “Sometimes something happens and pushes you in the spotlight. When opportunity knocks, you’d better be able to answer. Thank God I was able to answer.”

Dollar then had another thought.

“I’m exhausted,” he said, “but it’s the greatest feeling of exhaustion you could ever have.”