Bruins Are Trying to Get Ball Rolling

UCLA has not won consecutive games this season, and that weighs heavily on the mind of senior guard Earl Watson. The team is coming off a victory over Hawaii, so it can break the pattern with a victory tonight.

The Bruins (3-3) must win at least 17 or 18 games for a good chance of making the NCAA tournament.

“We’re looking at this as a championship game,” Watson said, without cracking a smile. “We’ve put ourselves in a hole. We’ve lost games we didn’t think we’d lose.

“Now we have to make up these games we’ve lost by winning at an Arizona or at a Stanford. That’s the monster we’ve created.”

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The Bruins already are in the process of scheduling nonconference games for next season. Generally, they play nine games--six at home, three on the road. A tournament, such as Coaches vs. Cancer or the Preseason NIT, counts as one game, regardless of how many are actually played.

On the docket for next season so far are home games against UC Irvine and Pepperdine, and a road game against Villanova. The Bruins are angling to line up another Big East opponent.

UCLA pockets between $170,000-$300,000 for a typical home game, often enough to finance one of their 19 nonrevenue sports for a season.

vs. UC Irvine, 7:30

Fox Sports Net 2

* Site--Pauley Pavilion.

* Radio--XTRA (690), KUCI-FM (88.9).

* Records--UCLA 3-3, UC Irvine 4-1.

* Update--UC Irvine is the only Southern California team--aside from USC--with more than one victory over the Bruins. The schools have split their four meetings, with UCLA winning the last one, 134-101, in the 1990 Great Alaska Shootout. UCLA sophomore Jason Kapono leads the Pacific 10 Conference in scoring, averaging 18.7 points per game. The Anteaters are led by senior forward Ben Jones, averaging 16.2 points and 4.8 rebounds.

* Tickets--(310) UCLA-WIN.