Life after UCLA intriguing
 

SEATTLE - What happens against UCLA today at Hec Edmundson Pavilion might mean less to the Washington men's basketball team than what happens across the state in Pullman.

Regardless of who wins today's 11 a.m. nationally televised game, the second-ranked Bruins (26-3, 15-2 Pacific-10 Conference) go into next week's league tournament as the No. 1 seed and the Huskies (17-12, 7-10) as the No. 7 seed.

And while Washington knows it plays last-place Arizona State in the first round, who the Huskies play in the quarterfinals of the tournament is up in the air.

Washington State, which lost to UCLA on Thursday to give the Bruins the Pac-10 regular-season title, is a game in front of USC in the standings. But if the Trojans beat the Cougars today, they move into second because they hold the tiebreaker over WSU. Whoever finishes second meets the winner of the Washington-Arizona State game in the quarterfinals.

Initially, it might seem obvious that Washington would rather play USC in the tournament than Washington State. The Cougars defeated the Huskies twice this season and have proven to be a difficult matchup. Washington defeated the Trojans by 15 on Thursday and took them to double-overtime before losing in Los Angeles in the Pac-10 opener this season. But given that the Pac-10 Tournament is at the Staples Center in LA, a matchup with USC could be tough as well because the tournament location gives the Trojans a home-city advantage.

"When it comes to any type of tournament or postseason play, it's all about matchups," UW coach Lorenzo Romar said. "There are some years when the chance to finish sixth or eighth, or third or fifth, maybe it works out in your favor to finish lower because of a matchup."

Regardless of who Washington plays, though, the Huskies would like to build on the bit of momentum it got in the win over USC. They put forth one of their better games of the season against the Trojans, getting good outside shooting coupled with strong inside play and, most importantly, limited their turnovers.

Of course, doing it against USC and doing it against UCLA will be two different things. The Bruins, regarded as one of the favorites to win the national title, are one of the country's best defensive teams. The Bruins haven't allowed more than 75 points in a game this season and are holding teams to 43.2 percent shooting and 60.1 points while forcing almost 16 turnovers a game. Washington actually shot 50.9 percent in a 96-74 loss to the Bruins on Dec. 31, but also turned the ball over 22 times and allowed UCLA to shoot 59.7 percent.

Romar said the Bruins are so good on defense because, like Washington State, they have a lot of defensive play-makers on the team.

"They are very disciplined," Romar said. "You rarely see them out of position, you rarely see them leave their feet. ... (Luc Richard) Mbah a Moute can guard any position on the floor and sometimes he can guard two or three players at once. Aaron Afflalo is strong defending and Darren Collison is very good at hawking the ball and playing the lanes. Lorenzo Mata is a very good shot blocker. ... They're really solid."

UCLA isn't so bad on offense, either.

Afflalo, a 6-foot-5 junior guard, is a leading candidate for Pac-10 Player of the Year and averages 17.3 points and makes 39.4 percent of his 3-pointers. He had 27 points in the earlier win over the Huskies.

Sophomore forward Josh Shipp averages 13.3 points and Mbah a Moute, a 6-8 forward, averages 8.7 points and 7.8 rebounds.

But Collison, a 6-1 sophomore, has been the real trigger for the UCLA offense. A year ago, he backed up Jordan Farmar at the point for the Bruins, averaging 5.5 points and shooting 40 percent from the field and 32.8 percent on 3-pointers. This season, Collison averages 12.6 points and 6.0 assists, is shooting nearly 52 percent overall and 47.7 percent on 3-pointers. He had 15 points and 12 assists in the first meeting with the Huskies.

"He was a pretty good shooter last year but he's become a very good shooter because of the hard work he put in," UCLA coach Ben Howland said. "You can't play off of him. You give him any opening from three, he's going to knock it down. ... If you have to go up and guard him, it creates a lot for others."

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