UCLA Has Answer for No. 1 Question : Bruins: They beat Washington State, 82-61. Madkins says consistency needed by a top-ranked team isn’t there yet.

In the past five days, top-ranked Duke, second-ranked Oklahoma State, third-ranked Kansas and fifth-ranked Arkansas all lost.

So, who’s No. 1?

The only team among the top five that made it through the week unbeaten was fourth-ranked UCLA, which improved to 17-1 and maintained its share of the Pacific 10 Conference lead by defeating Washington State, 82-61, Saturday before a sellout crowd of 12,041 at Pauley Pavilion.

But do the Bruins deserve consideration for the top spot?

“I don’t think we’ve been playing well enough to get it,” said senior guard Gerald Madkins, who scored 11 points, made three of five three-point shots and had six assists. “We may think we deserve it, but we haven’t been a consistent team, night in and night out, and I think a No. 1 team has to be consistent.”

UCLA took a 21-8 lead as the Cougars missed eight of their first 10 shots, and never trailed. The Bruins reached the midpoint of the Pac-10 race with an 8-1 record.

Washington State Coach Kelvin Sampson was suitably impressed, but not enough to put the Bruins ahead of a defending national champion.

“Probably not,” Sampson said. “Duke probably should be No. 1. Any team that loses its point guard and wins at LSU (as the Blue Devils did Saturday on national television), I think they should be No. 1. (But) if I was a betting man, I’d say UCLA will beat them (March 1 at Pauley Pavilion). They’re going to have a hard time coming in here and winning.

“UCLA just puts the fear of God into you defensively. They don’t have any apparent weaknesses. When Madkins hits the three, you might as well pull down the latch and nail it down. Where do you attack them?”

Sampson said that the Cougars, winless in all 36 of their games against the Bruins in the Southland, simply were overmatched.

“Against UCLA, we’d have to play not necessarily a perfect game, but damn close to it,” he said. “I mean, look at USC (which defeated UCLA, 86-82, two weeks ago). Did USC play almost perfect? There’s no such thing as a perfect game, but USC came about as close as they could and they won by four.

“That’s the way you almost have to play against UCLA. Let’s say they have two guys who don’t play well. So what? Five other guys could score 30 if they wanted. Let’s say we have two or three guys who don’t play well.

“Better pull that latch down.”

The Bruins matched a season high by making nine three-point shots, in 18 attempts, but Sampson kept his team in a zone defense to the end.

UCLA Coach Jim Harrick seemed to question the strategy, suggesting that Sampson was fooled by UCLA’s lack of success against USC’s zone.

“As a coach, you can watch too much tape,” Harrick said.

Said Sampson: “We don’t have the personnel to do this and that against UCLA. We’re a pretty good defensive team, but when Tracy Murray starts pulling up from 25 feet and hits, it doesn’t matter what defense you’re in.”

The Bruins opened a 43-33 halftime lead and extended it to 23 points late in the game as they outshot the Cougars, 56% to 37%, during the second half.

Murray scored 20 points, making three of seven three-point shots and moving past Pooh Richardson into 10th place on UCLA’s all-time scoring list.

Still waiting to ascend to the top of the list is senior forward Don MacLean, who scored 19 points and led UCLA with 10 rebounds. MacLean, who made four of seven shots and all 10 of his free throws, needs 19 points to replace Lew Alcindor, now Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, as the Bruins’ all-time scoring leader.

Bruin Notes

In eight games against Washington State, Gerald Madkins has averaged 11.3 points, making 15 of 26 three-point shots, 32 of 48 shots overall. . . . Don MacLean has made all but one of his last 36 free throws. . . . Ed O’Bannon played a season-high 14 minutes, made two of three shots and scored a season-high six points after taking a season-high six rebounds Thursday night against Washington. His three-point play with 1:09 to play--a driving layup and a free throw--was one of the game’s highlights. “I haven’t seen anybody get that high since Marques Johnson,” UCLA Coach Jim Harrick said.

Washington State is the only Pac-10 team that has not defeated UCLA since Harrick took over as the Bruins’ coach before the 1988-89 season. . . . Through the Daily Bruin, UCLA’s student newspaper, Harrick chastised UCLA students for their off-color chants directed at USC during last month’s 86-82 loss to the Trojans. “I know USC brings out the worst in all of us,” Harrick said, “but I hope we would not be vulgar.”