To fully appreciate the significance of UCLA’s
come-from-behind victory this past Saturday against crosstown rival
USC, it’s important to understand what it means to the Bruins
themselves.
“A season-saving win,” junior Michael Fey called it
on Tuesday. And then he caught himself.
“As long as we build on it both games this weekend,”
he added.
That’s the challenge for the Bruins as they prepare for a
two-game road trip that begins tonight at Washington State and
concludes Saturday afternoon against first-place Washington.
The UCLA players have been eager to label the 18-point
second-half comeback against the Trojans as a turning point in
their season. Yet, unless the Bruins can build on that momentum
this weekend during one of their toughest road trips of the season,
they admit that effort could be for naught.
“That game in general saved the season,” redshirt
sophomore forward Matt McKinney said.
“It would have been a really bad loss. With that loss
against USC, we’d know it would be pretty tough (to make an
NCAA Tournament run). With a win we know we have a very good
chance.”
That UCLA is even in the NCAA Tournament picture as it enters
the second half of conference play is largely due to
Saturday’s victory. Had the Bruins not beaten the Trojans, it
would have been their fourth loss in a row and would have left them
within one game of last place in the Pac-10 standings.
Instead, UCLA (11-6, 5-4 Pac-10) is alone in fourth place and
could separate itself from the pack with a strong showing beginning
tonight against the Cougars (9-9, 4-5).
“We have to go up there and play against a good team on
their home floor that’s very disciplined and tough,”
coach Ben Howland said. “It’s going to be a hard
game.”
Even more difficult than usual, perhaps, because Washington
State should be overflowing with confidence after its most
significant victory in coach Dick Bennett’s two-year tenure.
The Cougars, known for their patient, methodical style, stunned
conference heavyweight Arizona on Saturday, recording their first
victory against the Wildcats since 1986.
That doesn’t mean that sleepy Palouse has taken notice. No
fans met the Cougars at the airport after the victory, Bennett
said, and Washington State isn’t expecting a huge spike in
attendance tonight, though the school averages a conference-low
4,000 fans per game.
It won’t be such a snooze-fest for the Bruins on Saturday
at sold-out Hec Edmundson Pavilion, where the 13th-ranked Huskies
(17-3, 7-2) will be looking to exact some revenge after
UCLA’s 95-86 upset victory at Pauley Pavilion last month.
“They’ll definitely be gunning for us,” guard
Brian Morrison, a Seattle native, said. “They feel like they
should have won that first game here.”
The Bruins, meanwhile, feel that they turned the corner this
past Saturday against USC, and they’ll be looking to prove it
starting tonight.
“It showed a lot of courage on our team to come back the
way we did,” Fey said. “But we still have more to
prove.”