Washington State at UCLA : Cougars (0-19) Seek First Win at Pauley

That supposed basketball afterthought from the Great Northwest, Washington State, scheduled to be only a bearer of good tidings this season, arrives in Pauley Pavilion tonight with a 10-2 record, a nine-game winning streak and something less gracious in mind than the usual bombing by the Bruins. The Cougars would like to beat UCLA in Los Angeles, which they have failed to do in 28 tries, or at Pauley, where they’re a fast 0-19, foiled by one demon or another, striped or otherwise. At Pauley in 1978, in a game still discussed in Pullman, Wash., the Cougars led with 10 seconds left, 59-58, and were at the free throw line when the officiating crew of Charlie Range and Tom Harrington got them for a lane violation. That was on a good free throw that would have made it 60-58, Cougars. After that, UCLA’s David Greenwood dunked the rebound of a miss by Gig Sims for a 60-59 victory and then-Washington State Coach George Raveling said, “Even the Good Lord wouldn’t convince me the game wasn’t stolen from us.” UCLA Coach Gary Cunningham, no peer in the verve department, responded: “I think we were very fortunate . . . “ Several thousand bon mots later, Raveling left for Iowa, to be succeeded by Len Stevens, whose conference debut last season was 4-14. Then his leading scorer, 6-8 forward Ricky Brown, transferred to South Alabama. Last in the conference last season, the Cougars were consensus picks for a repeat. Since the start of practice, Stevens has also lost the incumbent point guard, senior Chris Winkler, who separated a shoulder inner-tubing down a snow-covered hill, plus two of his most promising freshmen, 6-6 John Hodges and 6-8 Bryan Quinnett. What should have followed was disaster, right? Wrong. After starting 1-2, Washington State has won nine straight, including victories over Cal and Stanford last week at Pullman. There also was an upset of then-unbeaten Nebraska, in Lincoln, and another at Montana, where the home team had lost only 22 times previously, since opening its facility in the mid-1970s. The Cougars are led, as are so many teams UCLA faces, by two Southern California players, 6-7 forward Joe Wallace from Santa Clara High in Oxnard and 6-3 guard Keith Morrison, who played on Kevin Holmes’ Cleveland High team. Wallace is leading Pacific 10 scorers with an overall average of 21.5 points a game and is shooting 56.5%. Morrison, the new point guard, is second on the team in scoring, is shooting 51.6% and leads the team in assists, rebounds and steals. There is a 7-foot center, Todd Anderson, though at his listed weight of 201 pounds, he’ll give away 22 to Brad Wright. The Bruins would still seem to retain the advantages of depth, overall athleticism and the good old home court, but they have yet to make it work against quality opposition, except in a rally. UCLA hasn’t yet beaten a winning team this season. In recent games, they chased a 9-1 team, Oregon State, through a tight second half at Corvallis, and came from 22-4 behind to overhaul 7-7 Oregon. At 7:30 tonight, everyone gets his chance.