"Just shoot until your hand hurts."

The words rang in Billy Knight's head as he walked out to the backyard.

He'd heard his father's advice before -- ever since high school, when Bill Knight would watch every game, talk to coaches, even scout opponents.

"If you make them in practice, you'll make them in the games," he would say.

Billy Knight's mental reply: "Oh, I'll make them in the game."

Clang.

Knight is not used to missing. A "pure shooter" coming out of Los Angeles Westchester High, Knight always imagined himself lighting up the scoreboards at Pauley Pavilion. When UCLA offered him a scholarship in 1996, even as an afterthought in its second-ranked recruiting class, it seemed like a dream come true.

Four years later, Knight is still figuring out if he's living that dream or something closer to a nightmare.

He didn't redshirt and got to start a game his freshman year. The next fall, he had a season-ending groin injury. He bounced back as a redshirt sophomore, but he didn't get much playing time. He thought of transferring, but decided to stay and helped spark several historic comebacks as the Bruins fought to the Sweet 16 of the 2000 NCAA Tournament.

Suddenly, this season as a junior, he got an opportunity to start again. And just as suddenly, he was back on the bench.

In nearly three seasons playing at UCLA, Knight has started 14 games. He's never played more than 29 minutes in a game. He's never scored more than 15 points in a game.

"The remarkable thing is he's maintained a great attitude through the highs and lows of his career," Coach Steve Lavin said. "He's a big part of the heart and soul of this team."

The praise of being unselfish, last year's team award for inspiration and knowing that, no matter what, he has the respect of his teammates, has offered some consolation for Knight. It also has kept him from completely giving up.

"The coaches have always said, `Keep your head up. We're going to need you later on. Just keep practicing,' " he said. "I just decided this is going to make me work harder, even though I'm not a big star like I wanted to be."

Knight's niche has been as the Bruins' "pinch hitter." He comes off the bench and sparks UCLA's offense -- hitting momentum-building three-pointers when opponents are more concerned with guarding his teammates.

He did it last year against both California and Stanford on the road. He did it again this year when the Bruins stalled in the first half against Washington State.

"It only takes a spark to start a forest fire, and it wouldn't have happened without a spark," assistant coach Steve Spencer said. "It might be the only shot the guy hit, but it was a big-time clutch shot. Billy's done that over the course of his career -- not only hit the shots that loosen up the defense, but loosen up our team and give everybody else confidence."

Senior captain Earl Watson, Knight's roommate, said he sometimes forgets that Knight doesn't get to play as often as he'd like to, because he makes so much out of the minutes he gets.

"He's like every other person -- people get down and stuff when things don't go your way, but he always works hard," Watson said. "I get so excited when he comes in the game. Billy gets this team going. He's deadly as an outside shooter."

In his career, Knight has made 43.4 percent of his field goals (95 of 219) and 51.4 percent of his three-pointers (37 of 72).

That's why his father got such a shock, when he was sitting in the stands last month and saw his son -- usually UCLA's second best three-point shooter -- make only one of five shots from beyond the arc against UC Irvine.

"I know you're not playing that much, but your shooting is horrible. That's not Coach's fault," Bill Knight told his son after the game. "You might be mad at him for not playing you, but you still should be able to shoot."

Knight said his feeling that his UCLA career was stalling with him still mostly on the bench had reemerged -- and it was taking a toll on his shooting.

"I was just getting frustrated and thinking selfishly: `I'm not going to practice if I'm not going to play,' " Knight said. "I saw my game go down. I was down on myself. I stopped working hard and practicing on my own. I practiced just to practice. I was like, `Well, whatever, I'll eventually start again.' "

But Knight had forgotten it was his own hard work that got him into the starting lineup in the first place.

When he was thinking about tranferring in December because he wasn't playing -- and UCLA was losing -- the coaching staff sat him down for a talk. The coaches told Knight they needed more than just offense from him.

"He did a great job of looking inward and saying, `What can I do to become better?' And that's where he's just been awesome," Spencer said. "He was always a hard worker, but over the last year and a half, he's stepped it up a whole 'nother level. It's great to see. He's put on 15-20 pounds of muscle; he was working out with people on the track. He's gotten faster and stronger, and that helps with his defense. He's making himself the best possible basketball player he can be through hard work."

So, Knight found himself in the backyard of his parents' house in Ladera Heights. It was Christmas break, classes were over for the quarter and the Bruins were playing just one game a week. He went out there, every morning before practice and every night to shoot until his hand hurt.

Earlier this month, against Washington State, Knight's extra work paid off -- again. He scored 14 points in 15 minutes and sparked the Bruins' go-ahead run.

"Now, I've got it in my head to just keep shooting. It brought me success," Knight said. "It's all about working hard. I'm just going to go home and shoot on weekends and in my free time. I think I help the team out a lot being a spark off the bench -- if I'm not starting -- just playing with energy and defense. I think I can help the team out a lot, help us win."

Staff writer Aliya Saperstein can be reached by mail at P.O. Box 792, Riverside, CA, 92502, by fax at (909) 782-6009, and by e-mail at asaperstein@pe.com