UCLA Has First Test of Stature : College basketball: Without Ed O’Bannon, Edney and Zidek, Bruins open at Maui Invitational.

Ready or not, steady or not, in a dinky gym thick with noise and humidity, UCLA’s basketball Bruins began defending themselves, their ranking and last season’s national title Monday night.

Facing a host of new questions, the Bruins, who lost Ed O’Bannon, Tyus Edney and George Zidek to the NBA, but gained a new set of goals, kicked off the 1995-96 season late Monday night against Santa Clara, the West Coast Conference champion last season, in the Maui Invitational.

The preseason Associated Press poll predicted a possible Final Four berth for the Bruins, ranking them fourth in the nation, behind Kentucky, Kansas and Villanova.

But Coach Jim Harrick, noting the huge voids left by the departed seniors and the relative inexperience of those replacing them, says any forecasts of sweeping success this year are sheer guesswork.

“I think [the 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 a possible matchup today against Villanova and maybe North Carolina on Wednesday in the tournament final, 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 Cameron 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.

A struggle or two, even a loss or two, Romar says, is what an inexperienced team needs.

“When I talked to people about it, they said, ‘Boy, what a difficult time with a young team,’ ” Romar said. “But I like it. Because if we were to lose some games early, we’re going to learn from them.

“We’re going up against the best competition early on. For a young team, that’s going to help them mature. Whatever happens, we’re going to get better because of this schedule--as opposed to playing a very light schedule and having a false sense of accomplishment as we go into conference.”