A Little Shot of Confidence

The spell was broken, the losing streak ending at nine games. So during the flight home from Washington, the Bruins dared talk of a hopeful future.

The 71-70 nonconference victory over Georgetown on Saturday will not help UCLA get into the Pacific 10 Conference tournament. But it allowed the players to believe that something can be salvaged from a nightmare season.

“It got the monkey off our back,” Andre Patterson said. “We know we can beat the top four teams in the Pac-10. We can do something in the tournament.

“But we have to get in. We have Arizona on Thursday and that’s all we can think about now.”

The top eight teams make the three-day tournament, held at Staples Center beginning March 13. UCLA, 5-14 overall, is in ninth place in the Pac-10 at 2-8, a half-game behind Washington, which lost in overtime to Arizona and Arizona State last week.

The Bruins beat the Huskies, 77-67, at Seattle on Jan. 2.

“We’ve played reasonably well four games in a row and in five of six,” Jason Kapono said. “We just couldn’t find a way to win. Now maybe we can go forward with some positive momentum.”

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Moments before UCLA began its last possession trailing, 70-69, with 33 seconds to play, assistant Gerald Madkins suggested to Coach Steve Lavin that Cedric Bozeman be replaced by Dijon Thompson because Bozeman is a poor free-throw shooter.

Lavin stayed with Bozeman, telling Madkins, “I want to build his confidence.”

UCLA has had difficulty getting high-percentage shots with games on the line, and this possession was no different. Kapono and Patterson each dribbled around the perimeter nervously, then Bozeman lost the ball while penetrating the key. He picked it up and was fouled by Tony Bethel with 4.9 seconds left.

“Usually you don’t get a call that late, but he hacked me pretty good,” said Bozeman, who made both free throws.

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Patterson saw his father, Andre Sr., for the first time since the sophomore forward had his eligibility restored in December. Andre Sr., who grew up in Washington, flew in from Fort Wayne, Ind., and joined a large group of family and friends at the MCI Center.

“I haven’t seen Pops since I was in trouble,” Patterson said. “Man, I miss him.”

Andre Sr. was chosen for a halftime promotion sponsored by the D.C. lottery and won $533. He was placed in a booth outfitted with air jets and had one minute to grab bills of various denominations swirling around him.

“Pops hit the lottery,” Patterson said. “Winning this game felt like we all hit the lottery.”