Two Kinds of Senior Moments

They walked into the postgame news conference flanking their coach.

Ray Young on one side, Jason Kapono on the other, Steve Lavin in the middle.

The two bookends in the sweat-drenched blue jerseys, those were the ones you had to feel for.

Unlike Lavin, they were the ones who were 100% certain before the season that this would be their last at UCLA, that not even a 12th national championship banner to hang in Pauley Pavilion could bring them back on its court again next season.

They’re done. It ends in March, not April. Didn’t even last until St. Patrick’s Day.

A stunning collapse by the Bruins, who let a 12-point lead evaporate with less than four minutes to play in the game, meant the last chapter would conclude with a 75-74 loss to Oregon in the semifinals of the Pacific 10 basketball tournament.

After the players finished on the podium, they walked back to the locker room by themselves, arm in arm. The TV cameras wanted more from Lavin. There will be more for Lavin, whose most recent late-season resuscitation will get him a look at some other school. Just not this one, not this time.

Kapono and Young walked stride for stride. If only they were always in the same step.

Why couldn’t it all come together at the right time, culminate on cue?

Kapono started so well. In his first collegiate game he scored 16 points, which would turn out to be his average for his freshman season -- the second-best freshman scoring average in UCLA history.

There was strong talk he would leave for the NBA as soon as it ended and he strongly considered it. Maybe he should have, back when his stock was higher.

Ray Young didn’t think about leaving early. He actually stayed late, redshirting his fourth year to come back as a fifth-year senior.

He began his career with a three-point night, but by the time he finished he was the most valuable player on the team, the go-to guy.

He said afterward, “I should be the man taking that shot at the end of the game,” and he was right.

After those clutch jump shots he made in the Arizona game Thursday afternoon, including the three-pointer to send it into overtime, was there anyone UCLA fans would rather have seen with the ball at that time?

So he had the ball, the game and three UCLA careers at his disposal in the final 10 seconds Friday night. He drove to his right, jumped, squared to the basket and shot.

It came up short. Short of the NCAA tournament.

It was as if fate wouldn’t let the two go out together on top.

After Kapono’s freshman year, was there any scenario that wouldn’t project Kapono as the go-to guy in his senior year -- if he stayed that long?

Instead he didn’t even get one shot in the final 10 minutes of his career. He spent 4 1/2 of those minutes on the bench; Lavin subbed for him after Kapono misfired on two shots in a single possession.

He didn’t get a single point in the second half, finishing with five points for the game -- and exactly 2,095 for his career. On its own, that’s quite an accomplishment -- Don MacLean and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar are the only two players in UCLA’s glorious history to score more. But it left him tied for third with Reggie Miller. He couldn’t get past Miller even with the entire second half at his disposal.

He came up just a little short, right? Wasn’t that how it was for him at UCLA, that he didn’t progress the way we thought he would?

Only if you limit your evaluation of Kapono to his performance on the court.

He certainly doesn’t.

“I’ve grown a lot,” Kapono said. “I’ve learned how to take the good with the bad, I’ve learned how to take the lashing when people say you’re sorry, you don’t get better, you’re slow, this and that. You just take it with a grain of salt and you go out and prove them wrong.”

Kapono has been a joy to be around for all four years, from the wide-eyed freshman to the solid perspective he offered as a senior.

“Last time you guys can quote me as a Bruin,” he said as he sat in front of his locker, and that might have made the reporters feel even sadder than he.

Kapono and Young sum up the contradiction that is Steve Lavin, who always managed a comeback for every criticism. If he didn’t improve his players -- a primary complaint -- how to explain Young?

Young came on strong, came close to saving the Bruins’ season. After assuming a new position -- point guard -- to replace the injured Cedric Bozeman, he led the Bruins in scoring (19.4 points per game) and led them to a 5-2 record over the next seven games. He thrived with the ball in his hands, enabling him to create shots for himself instead of relying on UCLA’s unpredictable offense.

He made 59% of his three-pointers over that stretch. He made four of five three-pointers Friday, seven of 10 shots overall, and scored 21 points.

And yes, he learned a lesson as well.

“Good things come to those who wait,” Young said. “You’ve got to be persistent and hopefully your hard work will pay off. You never know until you turn the corner if there’s light there.

“It’ll pay off one day. I’m happy and I’m blessed to have this streak that I had and happy that my hard work paid off.

“Hopefully we sent the young guys a message just to keep working, because you never know when it’s going to pay off.”

Lavin long ago came to terms with the end of his days at UCLA. He didn’t appear to be taking the finish for Kapono and Young as well.

“These two players represented our program extremely well during their careers, right until the very end,” Lavin said. “I just wish the outcome of this game was a positive one.”

For Kapono’s and Young’s sake, so do I.

J.A. Adande can be reached at j.a.adande@latimes.com.