Bruins Are Wary Despite Washington’s Poor Record

It was not with glee that UCLA Coach Walt Hazzard anticipated this week’s basketball trip to, as he put it, “the Great Northwest.” He’s taking his Bruins to play tonight at Washington and Saturday afternoon at Washington State, and they’re walking into a couple of tough situations.

Both Washington and Washington State have losing records, but are capable of upsetting the Bruins and setting back their quest for a strong finish and a good seeding into the Pacific 10 Conference tournament.

Washington (7-16 overall, 3-11 in Pac-10 play) has lost its last two and six of its last seven. But Hazzard can’t heave a sigh of relief because the team the last-place Huskies beat was second-place Stanford in overtime, 84-82, last Saturday. And Stanford barely got past Washington State, 51-50, last Thursday.

See the problem?

And although UCLA did beat Washington at Pauley Pavilion earlier this season, UCLA has lost its last four games at Hec Edmundson Pavilion in Seattle. Hazzard’s teams have yet to win on that court. This season the Huskies are 5-6 at home, 1-9 on the road and 1-1 on neutral courts.

Hazzard said: “The University of Washington is a young team, but they seem to play well at home . . . They’re a very dangerous team.”

With four conference games left, second place is still open to several teams. UCLA (12-13 overall) is tied for fourth with Oregon with an 8-6 record in the Pac-10.

Bruin Notes

UCLA’s game tonight at Seattle will not be televised, but will be broadcast at 7:30 p.m. by KMPC radio (710 AM). . . . The last time these teams met, Jan. 30, UCLA beat Washington, 78-71. But that was after blowing an 11-point halftime lead. . . . Andy Russo is in his third year as Husky coach and is 3-3 against UCLA. . . . Washington has played with 11 different lineups this season. The one that the Bruins expect to see tonight includes 6-foot 6-inch sophomore Jeff Sanor at forward. Sanor came off the bench to lead the Huskies with 20 points in the last game against the Bruins. The Huskies’ leading scorer is 6-7 center Mark West, who averages 14.7 points.