First Test Too Tough for Bruins : College basketball: UCLA loses opener to Santa Clara, 78-69, at Maui Invitational.

In a dinky gym thick with noise and humidity, the defending national champions turned into the upended national champions Monday night.

Looking impatient and playing disjointedly, UCLA kicked off its 1995-96 season against Santa Clara in the first round of the Maui Invitational with a stunning 78-69 defeat before 2,400.

Before the season, the Bruins faced a host of questions about their relative youth and inexperience. Throughout the game Monday night, all the nightmare scenarios came to bear.

Particularly troublesome for the Bruins, their veteran players were as skittish as their young players. Guards Cameron Dollar and Toby Bailey were almost nonexistent offensively and turned the ball over consistently, leading to Santa Clara’s 60-49 lead with 7:13 remaining. Dollar fouled out with 1:31 to play and did not score.

It was UCLA’s first opening-game loss since a defeat by North Carolina in the 1985-86 season under Walt Hazzard.

Although the Bruins at times ran effectively, their halfcourt offense was a jumble.

The Bruins had 11 first-half turnovers.

The last Bruin lead came early in the first half, but Santa Clara pulled ahead for good, 49-47, with 12 minutes to play in the game. From there, it was a flurry of wild UCLA shots and frustrated attempts at a half-court offense.

Meanwhile, Santa Clara continued to find open spaces in the Bruin defense and hit open shot after open shot to pull away.

Days before the loss, Bruin Coach Jim Harrick recognized the huge voids left by departed seniors Ed O’Bannon, George Zidek and Tyus Edney and the relative inexperience of those replacing them, said any forecasts of success are guesswork.

And though he did not predict a loss to Santa Clara, the Bruin weaknesses were not a mystery.

“I think [the No. 4 preseason ranking is] more coming off of last year’s performance than it is anything they’re looking at this year,” Harrick said. “I think there’s a lot of speculation of what we can do.

“There’s not a lot of speculation of what Villanova, Kansas and Kentucky can do. Because they’ve had guys on the firing line before. I think ours is an anticipation that we can do it rather than, ‘We know they can do it.’ ”

Said assistant coach Lorenzo Romar: “I think [the ranking] pays tribute to the job Coach Harrick has done. This is a program now that’s going to be there. I think that’s how it’s viewed: ‘Well, UCLA, when it’s all said and done, they’re going to be there come tournament time.’ ”

But will the Bruins get there fast enough to survive a strong early schedule?

Santa Clara, led by potential All-America guard Steve Nash, was only the first test. With an early-season schedule loaded with traps and challenges, UCLA will be pushed fast and furiously.

In addition to the Maui tournament, UCLA will have a Wooden Classic meeting against Maryland, and trips to Kansas, Notre Dame and Nevada Las Vegas before Christmas.

On its way to a 25-2 regular season, UCLA went 6-0 in a less difficult nonconference schedule last year.

“I like that it’s tough,” said junior point guard Dollar. “If we’re sluggish or if we’re lackadaisical, you’ll find out early. . . . Once you find out what you have, you go from there, change it around or keep it like it is or take it up a notch and just work with the team.”

The hard schedule, Romar says, is the best way to evaluate untested players such as sophomores omm’A Givens and Kris Johnson, and freshmen Jelani McCoy and Brandon Loyd.