Healthy or Not, WAC Gets Going, : College basketball: With three head coaches on the mend, four conference games will be played tonight.

By CURT HOLBREICH

Jan. 4, 1990 12 AM PT

TIMES STAFF WRITER

SAN DIEGO —

The Western Athletic Conference season does not get under way until tonight, but the preseason already has taken a toll on the coaches.

Three of the conference’s nine coaches have developed medical problems. Two have been forced from the bench, one for the season.

Rick Majerus, Utah’s first-year coach, is out for the season after heart bypass surgery. Texas El Paso’s Don Haskins is out indefinitely with a severe case of laryngitis. And Brigham Young’s Roger Reid has been slowed by a degenerative hip condition that forces him to walk with a cane and coach standing up.

And the real pressure is just beginning. The WAC begins its 28th season tonight with games at four sites, including San Diego State (8-5) playing host to Utah at the San Diego Sports Arena at 7:30.

The conference has just completed six weeks of nonconference play in which eight teams had winning records, and Air Force managed to stay within a game of .500. Defending champion Colorado State and Hawaii, last year’s most improved team, are off to the best starts. But Texas El Paso and New Mexico, which finished one-two in a preseason poll of conference media, are not far behind.

“It looks to me that Colorado State has congealed into a very, very efficient basketball team offensively and defensively,” SDSU Coach Jim Brandenburg said. “Just based on what I have seen, Colorado State has the chance to become the most consistent team game in and game out in the WAC, just like last year. But in a one-game series, like the WAC tournament, I’ll still take UTEP, because they have that tremendous strength, size and depth inside.”

That tournament, to be played this year at UTEP, is nine weeks away. The 16-game conference season is first. Here’s a look at the eight teams the Aztecs will face on the way:

AIR FORCE (5-6)

Teams are catching on about how to defend high-scoring guard Raymond Dudley, and that is making life tough for the Falcons, who have lost three in a row. Teams are using box-and-one defenses to slow Dudley down, and they are working. While he still leads the conference in scoring (22.8 points per game), his shooting percentage has dropped to 38%. Junior forward Dale French (14.5 points per game) is the team’s second-leading scorer, but without much other experience up front, Air Force is struggling.

BRIGHAM YOUNG (9-2)

The Cougars have responded well in their first year under Reid, with only road losses at Penn State (82-72) and Cal (85-63) spoiling their record. Senior forward Andy Toolson and junior point guard Marty Haws have picked up the scoring slack for departed Michael Smith, a first-round draft choice by the Boston Celtics. Toolson is averaging 21.0 points and Haws 20.8. Depth, especially in the front court, is a problem. The starting five is averaging between 23.3 and 35 minutes per game.

COLORADO STATE (10-2)

The defending champion Rams are off to another strong start under Coach Boyd Grant and forward Mike Mitchell, a transfer from Grant’s previous coaching stop at Fresno State. Mitchell, a 6-foot-8 senior, leads the team in scoring (21.7 points per game) and rebounding (7.0). Colorado State has won five in a row, including a 78-67 victory over North Carolina in Denver last week. Strong defense remains a Grant hallmark. The Rams are holding opponents to 39% shooting from the field.

HAWAII (11-2)

Hawaii is off to its best start since it won 13 of 15 to open the 1981-82 season. The Rainbows’ 10-game winning streak was ended in an 87-75 loss to No. 13 Duke in the finals of the Rainbow tournament last week. Senior guard Chris Gaines, who missed last year’s conference season because of academic problems, has returned in a strong way and leads the team in scoring (19.5-point average). Clifford Beaubrun, a junior transfer from Dade (Fla.) Community College, has taken over at center for departed Reggie Cross, second-round draft choice of Philadelphia 76ers, and responded by leading the team in rebounding (6.2 per game).

NEW MEXICO (8-4)

Since a 78-49 collapse at Louisville, in which they led after the first half but were outscored, 41-9, to start the second, the Lobos have won five in a row at home. Luc Longley, a 7-2 junior center, leads in scoring (18.5-point average) and rebounding (9.2), but Coach Dave Bliss would like him to shoot more than the 12 shots he is averaging. Injuries slowed the Lobos early. Forward Kurt Miller missed the first two games because of two broken bones in his hand, and guard Rob Robbins (16.3 points per game) has been playing his way back from arthroscopic knee surgery in October.

TEXAS EL PASO (7-4)

The Miners have struggled a bit early and are off to their first 7-4 start since the 1978-79 season. They are 3-1 under assistant Norm Ellenberger, the former New Mexico coach who has taken over for ailing Don Haskins. But perhaps more than Haskins, the Miners miss point guard Tim Hardaway, now with the Golden State Warriors. UTEP still is looking for a set lineup. Eight players have started at least once, and only forward Antonio Davis has started all 11 games. Davis and senior center Greg Foster are tied for the team lead in scoring with a 12.2-point average.

UTAH (7-4)

The Utes no sooner began to adjust to Majerus than he was hospitalized for heart surgery and replaced for the rest of the season by assistant Joe Cravens. Utah is 3-2 since Cravens took over before a Dec. 16 victory at Weber State. Josh Grant leads in scoring (18.4-point average) and rebounding (9.1). Senior forward Keith Chapman (13.5-point average) and senior guard Tommy Connor (12.1), back after sitting out last season because of back surgery, also average double figures. The Utes are shooting 45% from three-point range.

WYOMING (7-4)

Wyoming has won seven its past eight games after losing its first three. The Cowboys have the youngest starting lineup in the conference with four sophomores and a senior but have more height than a year ago. Sophomore power forward Reginald Slater leads in scoring (15.0-point average) and rebounding (11.8). The Cowboys are holding teams to 41.1% shooting but are shooting only 46.0% themselves, plus 60.1% from the free-throw line. They also are averaging 17.9 turnovers.

WAC SCHEDULE

Jan. 4--BYU at Hawaii; Colorado State at UTEP; Wyoming at New Mexico; Utah at SDSU.

Jan. 6--Colorado State at New Mexico; BYU at SDSU; Utah at Hawaii; Wyoming at UTEP.

Jan. 11--Hawaii at Air Force; UTEP at BYU; New Mexico at Utah; SDSU at Wyoming.

Jan. 13--UTEP at Utah; SDSU at Air Force; New Mexico at BYU; Hawaii at Colorado State.

Jan. 15--Colorado State at Wyoming.

Jan. 18--BYU at Air Force; UTEP at Hawaii; New Mexico at SDSU; Utah at Wyoming.

Jan. 20--BYU at Wyoming; New Mexico at Hawaii; Utah at Colorado State; UTEP at SDSU.

Jan. 22--Air Force at Colorado State.

Jan. 25--Air Force at UTEP; Utah at BYU; SDSU at Hawaii.

Jan. 27--Air Force at New Mexico; Colorado State at BYU; Wyoming at Hawaii.

Jan. 29--Colorado State at Utah; Wyoming at SDSU.