Prime Time for the Bruins

Their mothers warned them about too much television. And on a cold Seattle day in early March, UCLA players watched the tube and felt like boobs.

Conference tournaments were underway nationwide. Exciting games between top teams, one after another, morning until night. The Bruins were riveted.

They also knew they were missing out.

We can’t wait until next year when we have our own conference tournament, they said, passing around popcorn.

Their TV torpor ended when they peeled themselves from the couch in time to play--big deal --a regular-season finale against last-place Washington.

No wonder UCLA lost, 96-94. And it turned out the game wasn’t meaningless. Projected as a No. 2 seed in the NCAA tournament, UCLA fell to No. 4 in the East Regional.

“At the time it was more important to [Washington] than to us, and it turned out being way more important to us,” guard Jason Kapono said.

It’s a new season, and importance should no longer be misconstrued.

That wish for a conference tournament? Granted.

The Pacific 10 will hold its first postseason tournament in 12 years March 7-9 at Staples Center.

“Last year we were upset watching other teams play in their conference tournaments, and we wanted ours too,” guard Billy Knight said. “Now we’ve got it, so we’re excited about that.”

As for a game at Washington, the Bruins also are excited about that, if only because it’s today, and the first in Pac-10 play.

The tournament pushed up regular-season conference openers from after New Year’s Day to before Christmas. In a quirk, UCLA visits Washington and Washington State this week, then resumes Pac-10 play the first week of January against the same opponents.

Considering the Washington schools were chosen to finish at the bottom of the conference in a preseason media poll, No. 19 UCLA has a terrific opportunity to start well.

Whether the Bruins are ready for the conference is another matter. Point guard Cedric Bozeman has not practiced since undergoing knee surgery the last week of November and will not play until January. Forward Matt Barnes and center Dan Gadzuric, seniors expected to make strong contributions, have been slowed by injuries.

Kapono and Knight, in fact, have been the only consistent performers for a Bruin team picked to win the conference. However, the players are itching for Pac-10 games after a ho-hum 5-2 start that includes losses to mid-majors Ball State and Pepperdine and narrow victories over UC Irvine and UC Riverside.

“It will be good to get on the road and play conference games at this point,” Knight said. “We haven’t had opposing fans yelling at us yet.”

They’ll be subjected to more than crowd hostility at Washington (6-3), which appears far better than preseason projections. The Huskies lost four starters from last season’s 10-20 team, but maybe that was for the best.

Less is more for 6-foot-11 center David Dixon, whose production has increased after his weight dropped from 300 to 270 pounds.

And if enigmatic transfer forward Doug Wrenn can stay out of trouble--he won’t start against UCLA as a disciplinary measure--the Huskies could win more than they lose.

Washington State (4-4) has lost 17 in a row to UCLA, but Saturday the Cougars will have the services of their best player, Mike Bush, who also is a receiver on the football team preparing for the Sun Bowl. Bush, who averaged 16 points last season, has started four games.

More severe tests await UCLA after the four games against the Washington schools. Every Pac-10 team except Washington State has a winning record, and conference teams are a combined 52-23.

Although powers Arizona and Stanford lost key players and 11 Pac-10 products were drafted by the NBA, coaches believe the conference again will be strong, a sentiment validated by the early scores.

“I think the league is going to be really tough again,” Arizona Coach Lute Olson said. “Sometimes I don’t know what we have to do out there to prove that. Somewhere, somebody has to take a look at what the facts have been around here.”

Four of the five Pac-10 teams to reach the NCAA tournament last season advanced to the round of 16, and Arizona, Stanford and USC reached regional finals. UCLA, USC and Arizona all lost to eventual champion Duke.

Arizona (5-2) replaced four starters and began the season unranked. With point guard Jason Gardner and forwards Luke Walton and Rick Anderson the only seasoned players, the Wildcats beat Maryland, Florida, Illinois, Texas and Purdue. Nobody has played a tougher schedule, and Arizona has climbed to No. 11. “There’s no question we’ve exceeded our expectations, if you look at the murderous schedule we’ve gone through,” Olson said.

No. 13 Stanford (5-1) has played a succession of patsies.

Texas was the exception, and All-American Casey Jacobson made only three of 17 shots in an overtime loss.

But no one expects the Cardinal to be anything less than a contender.

“The only thing we know for sure is that Arizona is playing the best basketball in the conference and Stanford is a force again,” UCLA Coach Steve Lavin said. “After that it’s up for grabs. USC, Oregon, Cal and us have had good wins and surprising losses.”

The Trojans (6-2) were defeated by Pepperdine, but then so was UCLA. Coach Henry Bibby has used 10 starters and seven lineups and complains about a lack of leadership, but veterans Sam Clancy, David Bluthenthal and Brandon Granville anchor a team boosted by the emergence of Errick Craven and Desmon Farmer.

Oregon (6-3) is giving up 13 fewer points a game than at this time a year ago. Coach Ernie Kent added a former women’s assistant, Fred Litzenberger, to teach defense. “The character and chemistry of this team is such that it has allowed good defense to become a motivating factor,” Kent said. “Everyone can see that our defense is what gets us in transition and sets up a lot of our offense.”

California (6-1) lost to South Florida, but expect the Bears to be 9-1 when they open Pac-10 play at Stanford on Jan. 4. Forward Joe Shipp--one of four returning starters--has emerged as a sharpshooter, leading Cal in scoring five times and making a team-record nine three-pointers in a 97-75 victory over Fresno State.

The top eight teams will play in the conference tournament and the winner gains an automatic NCAA tournament berth. And although preseason projections had Washington and Washington State missing out, UCLA must not overlook them.

At least the TV shouldn’t be a distraction.

“There aren’t any good games on during the day this time of year,” Knight said.