Bruins try to trap Cougars in Pauley

Thursday, February 25, 1999

Bruins try to trap Cougars in Pauley

MHOOPS: UCLA hopes late-season performance will lead to higher
seed

By Brent Boyd

Daily Bruin Senior Staff

The Bruins are entering the season’s stretch drive with a few
goals in mind.

"We just want to play good basketball," head coach Steve Lavin
said. "That leads to a better conference standing, better seedings,
and as a result, a better chance to do well in the Tournament."

So when the Bruins (19-7, 9-5 Pac-10) take the court tonight at
7:30 p.m. against Washington State (10-16, 4-11) and Saturday
against Washington, UCLA will be looking to maintain the momentum
generated from Sunday’s dominating win over Syracuse – and earn a
little bit more than a couple of wins.

"If we could win out our remaining four games, we could position
ourselves for a three-seed and a very unlikely chance that we could
get a two-seed," Lavin continued.

With a mathematical chance slightly higher than nil of winning
the Pac-10 title, the final four games – the Bruins travel to the
Arizona schools next week – will be used solely to determine how
much momentum UCLA will carry into next month’s NCAA Tournament and
where exactly it will be seeded.

If UCLA wins out, Lavin is right, it probably will earn a third
seed – and thus avoid any matchup with a top-seeded team until the
regional finals – and anything less would probably warrant a
fourth-seed at best.

But, Lavin knows you can only focus so much on where the NCAA
deems you belong in the tourney.

"You can’t put too much energy into what seed or region you get
and then you carry that into the Tournament and lose in the first
round," he said. "We need to put energy and emotion into things you
can control, not what you can’t – and that is to play good
basketball."

And that starts with tonight’s contest against the Cougars .

WSU stands at last place in the Pac-10 and has lost five of its
past six, and eight of its last 10. The Cougars have lost all six
of their conference road games.

But, the Bruins do not expect an easy victory. Washington State
has been know to surprise teams this season. Last week, it beat
California and gave Stanford everything it could handle in a 64-58
loss. And last month in Pullman, UCLA barely escaped with a 69-66
win.

"Well, Washington State, their record is not really indicative
of the quality of play they’ve had that year," Lavin said. "I think
they are a dangerous team and we’ll have the same concerns we had
the first time we played them … we have to be patient, play hard
and stay in our defensive stance. They do a great job in the half
court in terms of offensive execution."

In the last matchup, after UCLA had jumped to an 11-point
halftime lead, the Bruins struggled from the field – missing 23 of
35 shots in the second half – and barely held on in the final
minutes.

And things may be even tougher this time around, as the Bruins
will have to fare without the same Jerome Moiso they had last
month.

In the earlier contest, Moiso led the Bruins with nine rebounds
to go along with 14 points. However, he will not see many minutes
this time around because of his sore feet – and even if he does, he
has been ineffective as of late.

In any case, WSU ranks last in the Pac-10 at scoring defense –
it gives up 79.8 points per game – and in shooting defense –
opponents have a .473 field-goal percentage.

UCLA also has history on its side. Washington State has lost to
the Bruins 12 consecutive times and have never beaten UCLA in 42
trips to Los Angeles.

"Every year is a new year and you just have to prepare for the
current team UCLA has. They’re different from many teams we’ve
played in the past there," coach Kevin Eastman said of the streak.
"We don’t really spend much time on that."JAMIE
SCANLON-JACOBS/Daily Bruin Senior Staff

Earl Watson tries to break through the Syracuse defense in a
game last Sunday.

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