Washington State has detractors to silence

So Washington State was picked to finish 10th in the Pacific 10 Conference. The Cougars have a new coach, a legacy hire, in Tony Bennett, son of highly respected and retired Dick Bennett. They have a team, as guard Derrick Low says, “that is not as athletic and talented as some other teams in the league.”

Tonight, the Cougars (11-1) get to open Pac-10 play at Pauley Pavilion against top-ranked UCLA (11-0). The Bruins seem ready. They happily stepped up a notch in competition and demolished Michigan on Saturday. But the Cougars are ready too.

“We’re happy to be off to this start,” Coach Ben Howland said. “It’s always better to win than to lose and we are here with the big bull’s-eye on our chest when we’re ranked as high as we are and undefeated. But it’s a new season. We’re 0-0 now.”

Said Low: “It’s not often you get to play the No. 1-ranked team in the nation. So it’s an honor to play them. We’re ready to come toe to toe with them now, though. Why not?”

When Howland was talking about opponents such as Oakland and Sam Houston State, who put the brakes on UCLA’s speed and turned games into walkathons, it was a way to prepare for Washington State, he said.

It is the Bruins’ task to open the season with the fiendishly difficult double of playing deliberate and sound Washington State and then re-upping for a pulsating full-court battle against Washington on Sunday.

Under Tony Bennett, whose father perfected the torture that was 58-56-type games, the Cougars score a little more this season but the fundamental philosophy is the same.

“Every player loves to play at warp speed,” Low said. “We love to play at warp speed. But our physical talent level doesn’t allow that. So we play good, solid fundamental man-to-man defense and we try to keep our possessions long.”

Howland said playing the Cougars would be like playing a more talented Sam Houston State.

“They all move without the ball, they can all shoot, dribble, pass,” Howland said. “They have a good feel for themselves and what they can do.”

Low, who sat out eight games last season because of a broken foot, leads the Cougars in scoring at 15 points per game.

Bennett said it’s not a matter of whether he or his players would prefer playing a more up-tempo style.

“We have to know who we are,” he said. “For us to get out and run with teams, that’s foolish. To get going up and down in some racehorse game? That would be dumb.”

The Cougars upset 18th-ranked Gonzaga, 77-67, Dec. 5 in Pullman, Wash., and beat San Diego State, an NCAA tournament team last season, 64-54 on Friday.

Washington State is off to its best start in 15 years, and as to the accuracy of the preseason poll where Washington State was picked to finish last in the Pac-10, Howland rolled his eyes.

“Who voted on that, the media?” Howland said.

Well, yes.

“That didn’t bother me,” Bennett said. “We finished last a year ago and had everybody back.”

Low, point guard Kyle Weaver and 6-foot-10 junior forward Robbie Cowgill have started every game, and senior forward Ivory Clark has been contributing.

The Cougars won’t try to run the shot clock to its last 10 seconds every time now.

“We can take a good shot earlier,” Low said.

TONIGHT

vs. Washington State, 7:30

FSN Prime Ticket

Site -- Pauley Pavilion.

Radio -- 570.

Records -- UCLA 11-0, Washington State 11-1.

Update -- The top-ranked Bruins are 126-3 at Pauley when they are No. 1 and are 61-3 against Washington State when ranked. UCLA is 89-13 against the Cougars but has won three of the last four games by no more than three points.

diane.pucin@latimes.com