BRUINS OPEN PAC-10 WITH VICTORY UCLA BEATS WASHINGTON DESPITE BLOWING BIG LEAD UCLA 77, WASHINGTON 67.

Byline: Billy Witz Staff Writer

SEATTLE - UCLA opened the Pacific-10 Conference season Thursday night with a 77-67 victory over Washington, but if you didn't see it - and since it wasn't on TV, not many did - you wouldn't believe it.

The Bruins won despite blowing a 17-point lead and committing an astounding 29 turnovers. But the most unbelievable aspect of their victory wasn't what they did to give the game away - it's what they did to win it. They played great defense.

Whether it was the man-to-man they took out of mothballs for most of the game or the zone they used in situations, the Bruins moved their feet, moved their lips and moved into the New Year feeling much better.

After losing five of their first seven games and three in a row, the Bruins - at least until Saturday - sit atop the Pac-10 standings.

``Even though we made some mistakes, we played through some situations where things didn't go well, we kept competing,'' UCLA coach Steve Lavin said. ``We kept our heads up when things didn't go well. When you've taken the floor nine times (including exhibitions) and won twice, you could easily feel like, `Uh oh, here it comes again.' ''

And that's exactly the way the Bruins did feel after blowing a 17-point lead. When Washington got even, first at 39 and then at 41, there were a few queasy stomachs on the Bruins' bench.

``It was a natural feeling to get nervous,'' said Dijon Thompson, who played 25 minutes on a sore knee and reported no swelling.

What carried the Bruins through was their defense. Clinging to a 47-45 lead, the Bruins (3-5, 1-0) held the Huskies (5-5, 0-1) without a field goal for 4 1/2 minutes.

When Washington finally made a basket, the Bruins had concluded a game-turning 14-1 run. When T.J. Cummings sank two free throws with 7:48 to play, the 17-point lead had been restored, 65-48.

``We want to win the Pac-10, and the way you do that is by playing defense,'' said forward Andre Patterson, who had 12 points, 12 rebounds and five blocks. ``Collectively, this was the best defense we've played all year.''

UCLA assistant coach Gerald Madkins, who put together the scouting report on the Huskies, designed it to take advantage of Washington's three-guard lineup.

``We felt like we were longer than they were, and if we played zone, it would give their shorter guards some opportunities to get open looks,'' Madkins said. ``We tried it early and it went well, so we stuck with it.''

The Huskies missed 22 of their first 27 shots and shot just 33 percent for the game. After Curtis Allen hit a 3-pointer two minutes into the game, the Huskies didn't make another shot beyond three feet of the basket until the second half.

The Bruins denied the pass back to the high post - a staple of the Huskies offense - and shut off the strong-side block, willing to concede cross-court skip passes. When the Huskies missed contested shots inside, the Bruins cleaned up on the glass, outrebounding them 44-30.

``We made them a one-on-one team, and with our high hands, they didn't get many good looks,'' said Madkins, noting that the Bruins blocked a season-high eight shots. ``At times during the year, they haven't all been together for one reason or another. Tonight, they were all tuned in. They followed the scouting report exactly. It was a beautiful thing.''

The same could not be said for the Bruins' ability to handle the ball.

The 29 turnovers came against the Huskies' full-court press, half-court defense and sometimes against nobody at all.

The mistakes allowed the Huskies to crawl back in the game. They rallied within 69-63 on Nate Robinson's 3-pointer from the corner with 3:00 left, but sandwiched around a missed 3-pointer by Allen, Thompson - left alone - buried a jumper and Cummings hit two more free throws to seal the win.