Bruins, Bears Resume Family Feud at Berkeley : Memories of Last Season’s Incidents Add Spice to Pac-10 Opener Tonight

Mammals from the same family and universities from the same school system, the Bruins of UCLA and the Bears of California haven’t exactly been the best of friends lately.

The last time the schools met in basketball, in the Pacific 10 tournament in March at Pauley Pavilion, Trevor Wilson of UCLA and Jon Wheeler of Cal got into a pushing match, a sidelight to the game which was aggravated when Bruin Coach Walt Hazzard tried to pin Wheeler’s arms. Hazzard’s counterpart, Lou Campanelli, answered by running from his bench before being restrained by official Charles Range. All part of UCLA’s “We ain’t no wimps campaign,” no doubt.

Or, perhaps it was a follow-up to what happened the last time UCLA came here Feb. 7. Wheeler said he was elbowed by a Bruin and threw a towel at the visitors’ bench when someone told him to get up, although the exact wording wasn’t so G-rated. Guard Pooh Richardson and assistant coach Sidney Wicks traded insults with some fans while leaving the court and, in an obviously orchestrated move, the entire Cal band wore large paper ears to taunt Reggie Miller.

So imagine what awaits the Bruins, owners of a modest two-game winning streak and a 3-4 record overall, when they open Pacific 10 Conference play tonight at 8 at Harmon Arena.

The Bears figure to be high-spirited to start with, the result of nostalgia. Tonight, there will be a salute the coach who led Cal to its only NCAA basketball title, in 1959, with the dedication of Pete Newell Court at halftime. Among those in attendance will be a representative from each of Newell’s six teams at Cal, including Darrall Imhoff, Bob Dalton, Bob McKeen, Larry Friend, Bob Blake and Earl Robinson.

For a while, at least, the 3-2 Cal team of 1987 will be forgotten and fans will be reminded of when things were good. To UCLA, however, it is another distraction they could do without.

“Right now, we’re really not burning the world up at home,” said Hazzard, whose Bruins are 3-3 at Pauley Pavilion after back-to-back wins over UC Irvine and Penn. “We have to find somewhere we can win games. We’re going to two places with two good teams and we need to play better.”

And the Berkeley crowd?

“It can effect the team they’re playing against,” he said. “Last year, we played a tough game with them (before winning, 77-72). But we got an early lead and pretty much kept it and that nullified the crowd.”

One thing the Bruins won’t have to worry about seeing is the original Cal lineup. With injuries to three freshman--center John Cart (sprained ankle), swingman Eric McDonough (leg) and forward Roy Fisher (sprained foot)--and senior forward Leonard Taylor (broken foot), the Bears have been playing with seven scholarship players and three walk-ons.

After beating Drexel and USIU last week, they are 3-2. Tonight, they will start a freshman, a sophomore, two juniors and a senior. The two youngest, freshman Ryan Drew and sophomore Keith Smith, are in the back court, where the Bruins go with a senior, Dave Immel, and a very experienced junior, Pooh Richardson. Drew replaced Bryant Walton at guard after the sophomore from Saddleback High School in Santa Ana got off to a bad start, hitting only 23% of his shots from the field going into the Drexel game, including 1 of 12 from three-point range.

Despite its problems, the entire Cal starting lineup is averaging 9.9 points or more. Smith (16.6 per game), center Hartmut Ortmann (12.4) and forward Matt Beeuwsaert (11.8), from Mater Dei High in Santa Ana and a transfer from Notre Dame, lead the way.

“All in all, we’ve got to be very pleased with the start we have had,” Campanelli said. “To be 3-2 going into the Pac-10 Conference, these kids have handled the adversity and the setbacks very well. What I like is the balanced scoring. . . . Everyone has chipped in. I think this team is developing into a nice balanced attack where you don’t have to go to one guy every single night to bail us out.”

Bruin Notes

ESPN and radio KRTH (930) will carry the game live. . . . UCLA swept the three-game series with Cal last season. . . . Bear guard Kevin Smith is the son of Greg Smith, who played for three teams in the National Basketball Assn. from 1968-76, including the Milwaukee Bucks’ championship team of 1970-71 that featured second-year pro Lew Alcindor. Greg Smith and UCLA Coach Walt Hazzard are good friends. . . . Hazzard, on the Pac-10 race: “I still feel the conference will be close and that it will be a tough fight. Arizona got off to a great start, but they have to go on the road now. It’s not going to be easy. . . . I’m a little disappointed at the development of USC. I thought they’d be further along than they are, but I still wouldn’t count them out.” Arizona, the preseason favorite by most, opened its conference schedule Sunday afternoon with a 110-71 victory over Washington at Seattle and meets Washington State Tuesday night. . . . Hazzard is 6-1 against Cal. Lou Campanelli, in his third year as Bear coach, is 1-4 against UCLA. . . . In his last three games, Bruin forward Trevor Wilson has scored 18, 21 and 25 points. He leads the team in scoring (17.0) and rebounding (9.3).