Seniors O’Bannon, Edney Rule the Night for Bruins : College basketball: In farewell to Pauley Pavilion, they are offensive and defensive stars of 94-78 rout of Oregon before record crowd of 13,037.

The floor got a kiss, the nets came down, 13,037 enveloped the court, and the UCLA Bruins ended the Pauley Pavilion careers of three seniors pointing toward even larger celebrations.

Ed O’Bannon, Tyus Edney and George Zidek said goodby to the largest crowd in Pauley Pavilion history Saturday night and, in a sidelight, the top-ranked Bruins defeated No. 25 Oregon, 94-78.

O’Bannon, who suffered a career-threatening knee injury five years ago but now is a top candidate for national player of the year, scored 24 points and had the sweetest moments.

With 4:48 to play and the game in hand, Coach Jim Harrick sent omm’A Givens in for O’Bannon, who took a bow to the student section, then bent to give center court a kiss.

On the sideline, as the ovation continued, O’Bannon hugged everybody in front of him, then held trainer Tony Spino, who had worked with him during his long recovery, in a tearful embrace.

“I remember it was against Oregon four years ago when Ed played his first game after the injury,” Harrick said as O’Bannon was lifted high to take the first snips at the net. “To see it culminate like this, I’ll tell you, is a great thrill.”

Said Zidek, who was held without a point but had a grin on his face as O’Bannon came off the court for the final time: “It’s unbelievable what he came from, the real bad injury and to be all the way back.”

UCLA ended the regular season with an overall record of 25-2 and a Pacific 10 Conference record of 16-2.

Today, when the NCAA tournament pairings are announced, UCLA is expected to be seeded No. 1 in the West Regional.

The Bruin players, once the celebrating was done, made sure that their focus returned to the larger goal--advancing far in the tournament, which begins Thursday.

“We’ve been ready for this point since we lost to Tulsa last year,” said guard Cameron Dollar. “If you think this was emotional, wait until you see after the first round, after the second round, after the third round. . . .

“I think we’re ready to do something special.”

The victory in part avenged the Bruins’ disheartening Jan. 5 loss at Oregon, which was followed by the MacArthur Court crowd bursting onto the floor.

“It felt like it was in Oregon, but this time it was our fans,” Zidek said.

After the game, Harrick alluded to his team’s long wait for the tournament to start when asked about the Bruins’ at-times inconsistent play in their last two regular-season games.

“I think we’re ready to go into the tournament and play,” Harrick said. “In the back of our minds, we’ve been kind of waiting for it.”

Harrick gave much of the credit for the victory to Edney, who forced Duck point guard Kenya Wilkins into six turnovers and 0-for-10 shooting. The Bruins held Oregon to 35.4% shooting overall.

“There’s not a better defensive guard in the country,” Harrick said, noting Edney’s performances against Arizona’s Damon Stoudamire and Stanford’s Brevin Knight.

Overall, the harrying UCLA defense forced Oregon into 26 turnovers, again and again disrupting any offensive flow.

Charles O’Bannon led UCLA with 25 points, 13 coming in the first 10 minutes of the game as the Bruins built a double-digit lead.

Oregon, expected to make the NCAA tournament for the first time since 1961, fell to 19-8 overall, 11-7 in the Pac-10.

The night began warmly, with the three seniors walking out to center court to loud applause.

O’Bannon’s introduction, complete with his girlfriend, Rosa Bravo, and son, Aaron, was the high point, as he lifted his son above his head to acknowledge the roar.

Starting off with a rush of adrenaline, UCLA piled up the points in the early going, building a 32-15 lead before 10 minutes had elapsed.

But UCLA began to struggle offensively the rest of the half. At halftime, its lead was 43-30.

After seesawing in the early parts of the second half, UCLA went on a 20-8 run to take a 73-51 lead with about six minutes to play. Ed O’Bannon’s flying alley-oop dunk on a pass from Edney finished the run with a jolt.

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College Basketball

PACIFIC 10

* ARIZONA: Damon Stoudamire and Ben Davis were suspended for Arizona’s regular-season finale, a 103-98 loss to Arizona State. C7.

* USC: The Trojans ended the season with a 14-game losing streak as Oregon State won in overtime at the Sports Arena, 83-81. C7.

TOURNAMENTS

* ACC: North Carolina beat Maryland in overtime, 97-92, to advance to final against Wake Forest, a 77-68 winner over Virginia. C8.

* KANSAS: Hurl Beechum scored 25 points to help Iowa State upset second-ranked Kansas, 80-72, in the Big Eight tournament. C8.

* BIG WEST: Long Beach State defeated New Mexico State, 87-79, and Nevada beat UC Irvine, 88-69, in the semifinals. C8.