Sweetness in Seattle for the Huskies

Pac the bags.

The NCAA tournament is down to its Sweet 16, and four of them are from the Pacific 10 Conference for the second year in a row.

That’s one more team in the regional semifinals than the Atlantic Coast Conference has, one more than the Big East, two more than the Big Ten and three more than the Southeastern and the Atlantic 10.

Arizona, Stanford and UCLA had a reasonable chance to be here. And face it, ACC, the Pac-10 has produced two of the last three NCAA champions.

But Washington?

The Huskies hadn’t made the tournament since 1986 and barely slipped in this time.

They were 18-9 with a late-season victory over UCLA and became an 11th-seeded team. That means they weren’t in the top 40.

Shipped east to Washington, D.C.--maybe they simply liked the name of the town--the Huskies upset Xavier and then beat Richmond, an upset winner over South Carolina in the first round. They’ll join North Carolina, Connecticut and Michigan State in the East Regional semifinals Thursday in Greensboro, N.C.

“I was pretty confident we were going to get in, but from the committee’s comments on TV, it sounds like it was closer than I thought,� said 7-foot junior center Todd MacCulloch, who had 31 points and 18 rebounds against Richmond. “It turns out, if we hadn’t done as well against Washington State in our last game, we might not have gotten in.

“Who knows? We took advantage of that opportunity. It’s been a great ride to get where we are, and we’re not about to get off.�

Connecticut is up next for Washington, and it’s a tall order. Connecticuthas the best freshman point guard still playing in Khalid El-Amin, and a terrific scorer in sophomore swingman Richard Hamilton.

And in what could be big trouble for Washington, the other Huskies have a 6-11 center, Jake Voskuhl, to match up with MacCulloch.

MacCulloch hasn’t fared well against other big men, and Washington’s first two opponents, by the way, haven’t had one.

Sometimes, when the matchup doesn’t work, Washington Coach Bob Bender puts MacCulloch on the bench early. But he has come up big in the NCAA tournament so far.

“Obviously, we’re very excited to still be playing, yet the reality and the thing our concentration has to be directed at is getting ready for the huge challenge Connecticut presents for us,� said Bender, who has Washington back in the NCAA tournament in his fifth season as coach.

“I think UConn brings a lot of the best qualities of the teams in the Pac-10,� Bender said. “They have the quickness of Arizona and UCLA, the physical size and strength inside of Stanford, as well as the perimeter play.�

By the way, Washington was 1-5 against those teams, beating only UCLA, though the Huskies lost to Stanford at home on a last-second shot.

“We had to play Arizona twice this year, and not having success, we have seen how good that kind of guard play can be,� Bender said. “It’s the same thing with UConn. One thing the Pac-10 has given us is a very realistic understanding of the quickness in this league.�

Here’s one thing they hope isn’t giving them a realistic understanding: Connecticut 76, Stanford 56, in a February game after the Cardinal traveled cross-country--much as Washington will do for this game.

“The UConn game I remember most all season was when they were putting it to Stanford,� MacCulloch said.

Bender took the team back to Seattle after the second round so players could take care of some exams and other personal business before returning to the East Coast on Tuesday.

“We’ll probably do as much as we can to make sure the travel isn’t a factor,� Bender said. “It’s no time to be tired, this time of year. I sincerely think emotion will allow everyone to ride the wave.�

MIND BENDER

Washington has a couple of small advantages that would be easy to overlook.

One is that Washington might have the crowd in its corner in the semifinals because the Tar Heel fans will want second-seeded Connecticut to lose.

The other is Bender, well known in that part of North Carolina because he played on Duke’s 1978 Final Four team and was an assistant to Mike Krzyzewski from 1984 to ‘89, when the Blue Devils were 164-45 and went to four Final Fours.

Bender even arranged for the Huskies to practice at Cameron Indoor Stadium in Durham on Tuesday evening, something MacCulloch said is exciting for the players.

“This is the only chance you’d get to practice at Duke,� MacCulloch said. “Your only other chance would be to go play there, and that’s something that would give you a loss on your chart.�

Ask UCLA.

One more piece of mind-bender trivia: He is the only player to reach the NCAA championship game with two schools. He was on Indiana’s undefeated 1976 national championship team before transferring to Duke, which lost to Kentucky in the 1978 title game. He has been part of six Final Fours as a player or coach.

SEE-THROUGH ENVELOPE

There can’t be much suspense as to who will win the Wooden Award as the nation’s best player this year: It’s North Carolina’s Antawn Jamison, although a loss to North Carolina Charlotte in the second round could have clouded the issue.

The only question is which four other players get to make the trip to Los Angeles for the banquet.

As for our own awards:

Coach of the year: Still too early to call, but the candidates are North Carolina’s Bill Guthridge, a rookie who plays a good transition game; Michigan State’s Tom Izzo, who pulled off an impressive one-day preparation for Princeton; and, if he manages to win two more games, you have to admit, we’re going to have to consider Jim Harrick. Sentimental favorite: Princeton’s Bill Carmody, who like Guthridge took the best of his mentor and has added a measure of his own intelligence and style. Carmody had a special group of players, but hopefully, he’ll get this close again.

Freshman of the year: St. Louis’ Larry Hughes, whose name one opposing coach said should be spelled “L-O-T-T-E-R-Y.� Runners-up: Connecticut’s El-Amin, UCLA’s Baron Davis, Indiana’s Luke Recker.

Surprises of the year: Three-way tie among Connecticut’s Richard Hamilton, Duke’s Roshown McLeod and Michigan State’s Mateen Cleaves.

Busts of the year: South Carolina and Clemson. Started the season in the top 10, finished it on the first-round slag heap. And since we mentioned the word bust, add Fresno State.

Issue of the year: Marijuana use. Another example of college players trying to imitate the NBA, if you believe the reports of high usage among professional players. It’s good that some schools have established drug testing and rehabilitation programs, but the number of drug-related suspensions suggests a problem, and the varying policies and enforcement levels at different schools raise interesting competitive issues.

It’s an issue the NCAA and the National Assn. of Basketball Coaches need to address.

JUST A SUGGESTION

If Jerry Tarkanian is going to continue at Fresno State after a season-long string of player suspensions and arrests that has not subsided, maybe he should make a commitment to recruit only freshmen.

Not that all transfers are trouble, but many of Fresno State’s conduct problems involved transfers, who often change schools because of other problems. Tarkanian also should make sure recruits clearly understand and accept Fresno State’s drug-testing policy--a program that is more strict than many and which should be applauded.

Recruiting transfers might have seemed like the quickest way to revive the Fresno State program, and at this stage of his career, Tarkanian isn’t into five-year plans.

But making decisions on transfers takes a keen eye and ear. Tarkanian wants to believe the best about his players, but not everyone deserves the “second chance� he has always offered.

And let’s face it, Tarkanian will buy almost anybody’s line: He says he believed Mike Wallace of “60 Minutes� when he told him he would “not be disappointed� with Sunday’s report on the Bulldogs’ problems.

Somebody please tell Tark that if Wallace is the interviewer, it’s not a positive story.

QUICK SHOTS

The South Regional is a convention of the basketball elite: UCLA, Kentucky and Duke have combined for 19 national championships and 40 Final Fours. . . . Duke has been seeded No. 1 in its region only twice before, in 1986 and ‘92, and advanced to the Final Four both times. Although Krzyzewski has been to seven Final Fours, none of his players has been to one. . . . The injury to Baron Davis will add a wistful footnote to the end of the Bruins’ season: Barring an NCAA title, there will be a question of “What if?� after their next loss. . . .

The interest in the North Carolina-North Carolina Charlotte second-round game Saturday was high in the Charlotte area: The game earned a 19 rating and a 44 share, meaning 44% of all televisions in use in Charlotte were tuned to the game--and, we’re guessing, 100% of the televisions in sports bars. Nationally, the game drew a 5.6 rating and a 15 share.

UC Santa Barbara Athletic Director Gary Cunningham is looking for a coach, and a couple of his former assistants at UCLA are in the Sweet 16: Rhode Island’s Harrick and Larry Farmer, an assistant to Harrick. . . . Early names mentioned as possible candidates to replace Jeff Jones at Virginia are Oklahoma’s Kelvin Sampson, George Washington’s Mike Jarvis, Old Dominion’s Jeff Capel and Davidson’s Bob McKillop.