UCLA Is Simply Welp-less in 90-65 Rout by Huskies

These are not the best of times for the UCLA basketball team. In fact, the Bruins have never had a worse time on a basketball court with the University of Washington than they had on this dreary Thursday night.

Before a crowd of 7,251 at Hec Edmundson Pavilion, UCLA lost to its Pacific 10 rival, 90-65.

That’s 25 points. Until this game, the Bruins’ worst loss to the Huskies was by 22 points--103-81 in 1975.

“Of course, I’m aware that this is the worst it’s been,” UCLA Coach Walt Hazzard said. “We used to have fun up here.

“They’re catching us at a bad time, at a time when we have no strength inside.

“We’ll take the licking this time, but we’ll be back. I don’t know when, but we’ll be back. We’ll find a way to turn it around.”

UCLA’s record dropped to 6-4 overall and 1-2 in the conference. Washington’s record went to 8-7 and 2-1.

Going into the game, Washington Coach Andy Russo knew just what had to be done. His assessment of the Bruins:

“They live and die by the shot. We’re going to have to, No. 1, put good pressure on their shooters; No. 2, rebound their mistakes, their missed shots, and No. 3, really try to pound it inside against them.”

So that was just what the Huskies did.

The Bruins could not match up with Washington’s 7-foot center, Chris Welp. UCLA could only keep coming at Welp with one 6-7 player after another, hoping to get him in foul trouble. Instead, Welp kept calmly sinking the soft-touch hook shots and the short jump shots for a total of 28 points while the Bruin “big” men collected more fouls than points.

By halftime, Washington had an eight-point lead, 42-34, and center Jack Haley, forward Craig Jackson and forward Kelvin Butler all had three fouls. Butler started the second half in place of Jackson.

Again, the Bruins had to rely on outside shooting. Reggie Miller’s long-range shots have not been dropping with their usual accuracy, but guard Montel Hatcher has taken up the slack, hitting from the perimeter with some consistency.

In the first half, Hatcher made 8 of 9. In the second half, however, he made just 1 of 5 to finish with 16 points. Miller also finished with 16.

But UCLA was playing catch-up all the way. Washington played the first few minutes with a four-point margin, then gradually stretched it out.

The Bruins came out strong to start the second half and pulled within a point on a three-point play by Butler, 44-43. But the Huskies scored the next nine points to make it a safe 10-point lead.

Washington started pulling away when guard Greg Hill added some impressive outside shooting to the well-established inside game.

Russo said: “They came out and got right back in it, but our shooting stayed hot, and when they started forcing shots and our defense got better, we ended up with a pretty big win by a big margin.”

The Huskies were leading, 62-47, on Welp’s open layup off a long pass from Paul Fortier, and then frustration set in.

Bruin forward Jerald Jones clanged the rim with a dunk that bounced long, and at the other end, Hatcher was scrapping with Welp for a rebound that went out of bounds--and was ruled the Huskies’ ball.

Hatcher expressed his opinion of the call so vehemently he was hit with a quick technical foul. Welp made the shot.

It didn’t get any easier for the Bruins once the Huskies started having fun.

With everyone in the student section standing and whooping it up, Washington scored the next eight straight, too, to lead, 71-47.

The Husky lead went to 25 points before Russo cleared his bench with about five minutes left. Hazzard let everyone play, too.

Why not?

In summary, Hazzard said: “We don’t have a real leader out there at this point. You can’t expect a freshman point guard (Pooh Richardson) to take a team on the road and really take over.

“What you saw is the result of not having a senior on this team. We have no one who’s been around.

“Well (redshirt junior) Montel Hatcher has been in the program, but he’s not the leader type. He was the only player recruited that year, and now we’re paying the price.”

Bruin Notes The 25-point loss to Washington was UCLA’s worst defeat in Pac-10 competition. It was also its worse lost since its only other road game of the season, a 37-point defeat in the opener at North Carolina. . . . Washington Coach Andy Russo on UCLA forward Reggie Miller’s willingness to shoot from long range: “He’s got no conscience.” No disrespect meant. . . . The Washington crowd was on Miller from start to finish, pouring down a chorus of “Shooooooot” every time he touched the ball. He missed a little more than usual (making 8 of 17) but did manage to turn the “Shoooot” into a long “Oooooo” with a 25-footer midway through the first half. . . . Washington defensive tackle Reggie Rogers, who doubled last season as a forward-center, decided to concentrate on football and passed up the basketball season. Reggie, the younger brother of former UCLA safety Don Rogers, was in the stands, cheering on the Huskies.