Pit or Pendulum Time for UCLA Starts at Oregon

In the first game of what should be a revealing stretch for UCLA’s basketball team, the Bruins will play Oregon tonight in a Pacific 10 Conference game at the pit, otherwise known as McArthur Court.

The Bruins, who will meet Oregon State Sunday at Corvallis, Ore., will play 6 of 8 games this month on the road.

And they will do so, Coach Jim Harrick said Wednesday, with a new face in their starting lineup.

Freshman Darrick Martin, who played more as the Bruins’ sixth man than sophomore starter Kevin Williams, will replace Williams as Pooh Richardson’s backcourt running mate.

The move has been anticipated since the start of the season, although the unheralded Williams has been surprisingly efficient.

Lately, though, Williams hasn’t been as steady--he has 10 turnovers in UCLA’s last 4 games--and he is less athletic and less creative offensively than Martin, who was among the most heavily recruited guards in the country last year as a senior at St. Anthony High in Long Beach.

“I think Martin gives us a little more passing, a little more ballhandling and a little more offense--probably a little less defense, but I’m not sure about that yet,” Harrick said. “He does create things--sometimes it’s not good--but he creates things. He makes things happen.”

As UCLA, 7-2 overall and 2-0 in the Pac-10, prepares to meet an Oregon team that is 5-5 but has yet to play a conference game, Harrick said he is looking for more focus from the Bruins. He said they have been inconsistent and, at times, too individualistic.

“Sometimes, we get away from what we do best: playing together, sharing the ball and being a team on defense,” Harrick said.

“I want to see us get back the intensity we had in the week that we went to Miami and BYU and in the week we beat Cal and Stanford. I thought our defense was just superb those 4 nights and, consequently, our offense was excellent because we executed and we were poised.”

Among the Bruins’ most inconsistent players has been center Kevin Walker, who has been unable to shake a shooting slump.

After averaging 16 points and shooting 55% through UCLA’s first 4 games, Walker has made only 11 of 41 shots and his average has dropped to 10.1.