`SELFLESS' BRUINS PICK UP MORE STEAM : UCLA 79, WASHINGTON 70.

Byline: Jon Wilner Daily News Staff Writer

The UCLA coach talked about him, the Bruins fans cheered him, the media swarmed him and the opposing coach praised him. It was Cameron Dollar here, there and everywhere Saturday at Pauley Pavilion.

Except in the UCLA locker room, where the players knew better. Sure, Dollar's career-high 16 points were the highlight. But Saturday's 79-70 victory over Washington, before 9,584 at Pauley, was much more than Dollar.

It was about the Bruins' sixth win in seven games, defending their homecourt and heading to the Bay Area 2-0 in Pacific-10 play.

It was making clutch 3-pointers and pressure free throws, playing smart with the outcome in doubt, blocking shots, deflecting passes and taking charges. Yes, taking charges.

``There were so many things (that turned the game),'' Bruins coach Steve Lavin said. ``But that's what you have with a selfless team. We're at the point where you could take the names off the back of the jerseys, and all you'd see is `UCLA.' ''

In many ways, this victory was more impressive than UCLA's domination of leg-weary Washington State on Thursday night.

The Bruins (7-3, 2-0) were stalked for 40 minutes by one of the Pac-10's up-and-comers, a Husky team with a talented, massive frontline that came within a Dollar miracle heave of upsetting UCLA in Pauley last year.

The Huskies did not yield easily this time, either. They forced UCLA to make the plays it must make in Tucson, Eugene and Stanford. The Bruins won't know how to react to a Maples Pavilion ambush Thursday night if they don't take a few punches beforehand.

``This was a good test,'' Kris Johnson said. ``It wasn't a game we dominated from the outset. It was nip and tuck all the way, and we needed a last spurt to get the win.

``But we've been in that situation before, and we know when to bring it out of ourselves, when it's time to pull away. Guys just know to play harder, to run faster. Everybody was in the huddle yelling, `Keep playing hard! Step it up a notch!' ''

It was slowing down Washington forward Mark Sanford, whose 16 first-half points kept the Huskies close until the supporting players gained confidence. (Sanford had two baskets in the second half.)

It was J.R. Henderson scoring 18 points and almost singlehandedly getting the Husky 7-footers in foul trouble.

It was five turnovers in the second half and 13 overall. For those keeping score at home, that means 29 turnovers in the last two games - or three fewer than they had against Kansas.

``It's exciting to see the players executing under pressure,'' said Lavin, who has no plans to abandon the 20-minute passing drills he recently added to the practice schedule.

It was about UCLA's best defensive series of the season that proved more important than any 3-pointer or free throw, that sparked a 9-0 surge which gave UCLA control.

``That was the game for us,'' Johnson said.

The four-play sequence began with six minutes left and the Bruins leading 63-61:

Washington worked the ball to center Todd MacCulloch in the low post. He turned for what seemed an easy layup, but Charles O'Bannon rotated from the weak side, timed his leap perfectly and rejected MacCulloch's drop shot.

For UCLA, Dollar drained a 3-pointer, and it was 66-61.

Then Johnson, sensing the need to ``run fast,'' deflected a lead pass on Washington's fast break.

At the other end, he found Dollar for another 3-pointer, and it was 69-61.

A few seconds later, Washington's Jamie Booker grabbed a loose ball and headed for the basket. But Toby Bailey stepped in front and took a charge - the first time a Bruin has done that with the game at stake in recent memory.

``I thought that was the turning point,'' Lavin said.

O'Bannon made his second defensive play of the sequence on Washington's next possession, deflecting another pass into the lane.

It quickly became a Bailey 3-pointer that extended UCLA's lead to 72-61.

``Defensively, we were everywhere,'' Henderson said. ``People were taking charges. There were a lot of deflections, a lot of steals. We were all over the floor.''

But the Huskies rallied, and UCLA's victory was not secured until Johnson made six straight free throws in the final minute.

``UCLA did the things down the stretch that made the difference,'' Washington coach Bob Bender said.

Now, can the Bruins do it on the road?

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Photo

Photo: (color) UCLA's Charles O'Bannon, left, and Washington's Jan Wooten scramble for ball lost by UCLA's Kris Johnson.

Associated Press