M. hoops enters Pacific-10 stretch
Bruins open second half of conference play with game at Washington
By Scott Yamaguchi
Daily Bruin Senior Staff
The sixth-ranked UCLA men's basketball team will kick off the second half of the Pacific-10 Conference season tonight with a 7 p.m. matchup against Washington in Seattle, and despite the Huskies' 10th-place conference standing, UCLA head coach Jim Harrick is approaching this game with caution.
"Washington is always causing people problems up there," Harrick said. "They run a motion game, and Bryant Boston is a quality player I look for him to be an all-league player next year."
Boston, a 6-foot-2-inch junior guard, is averaging just under 15 points per game for the Huskies and leads his team in steals with 43.
The last time the two teams met, a 75-57 UCLA win Jan. 12 at Pauley Pavilion, Boston had 14 points and three steals. Ten of those points came in the first half, which ended with the Bruins clinging to a 28-25 lead.
"With UCLA, (we're) playing a team that I actually thought we played pretty well in the first half against put a pretty good 20 minutes together down in Pauley," Washington head coach Bob Bender said. "Their talent, and also their size, wore us down in the second half."
UCLA (14-2 overall, 7-2 in the Pac- 10) with center George Zidek at 7-0, forward, Ed O'Bannon at 6-8 and guard J.R. Henderson at 6-9 has a definite height advantage over the Huskies, whose tallest starter center David Hawken stands 6-8.
Hawken, a senior, averages just 3.5 points and 2.8 rebounds per game, but Washington does boast freshman forward Mark Sanford, also 6-8, who is averaging 12 points and 5.9 rebounds.
Since the Jan. 12 loss to UCLA, Washington (5-12, 1-8) has won just one game a 75-57 victory over Oregon State in Seattle. Nevertheless, the Huskies have turned in several strong performances.
Against Washington State Jan. 28, Washington lost a 74-73 heartbreaker in Pullman where the Cougars have yet to lose a game this season.
And last Thursday in Tempe, the Huskies forced No. 14 Arizona State into an overtime period, where the Sun Devils finally prevailed, 78-73.
At home, Washington is 5-4, and the experience gained in the first swing through the Conference can only help to improve that mark.
"The second time around the league I think will benefit us, especially the guys that have never been in the Pac-10 before," Bender said. "Now there is some familiarity with individuals and most importantly with styles of most teams."
UCLA, meanwhile, returned to form Sunday with a 92-55 drubbing of Notre Dame, and the Bruins enter tonight's game tied for first place in the Pac-10 with No. 8 Arizona.
"This is a game that we just have to go up there and play," Harrick said. "We've got to take care of business."