Boston University to Challenge UCLA Tonight : Harrick’s Unbeaten Bruins Expected to Make Tiny Terriers Victim No. 4

Jim Harrick, who often professed at Pepperdine that it was “mighty fine at the ‘Dine,” is finding it pretty good in the ‘Wood, too.

Harrick’s UCLA basketball team may not yet be the toast of Westwood, whose demanding denizens still aspire to victories over more worthy opponents, but the Bruins are 3-0 and on the verge of breaking into the top 20.

Last week, they swept a 2-game trip to Miami and Brigham Young. This week, they finished 21st in the voting for the Associated Press poll.

After opening the season with an 84-62 rout of Texas Tech at Pauley Pavilion, UCLA won at Miami, 91-66, and then at BYU, 97-87.

“Our team has developed maybe a little bit quicker than I anticipated,” Harrick said Tuesday. “I’m not quite sure of the caliber of the teams we’ve beaten, but the style in which we’ve beaten them has been impressive.”

The rest of the nation will have a chance to check out the seemingly revitalized Bruins, who were 16-14 last season, when ESPN televises their game against Boston University tonight at Pauley Pavilion.

Boston was 23-8 last season, won the ECAC North Atlantic Conference tournament, qualified for the National Collegiate Athletic Assn. tournament and was promptly knocked out by Duke, 85-69.

The Terriers, who are on their way to Hawaii for a tournament this weekend, have won 3 straight games since losing in their opener at Indiana State, 88-87, on a night when Eddie Bird, Larry’s brother, burned them for 39 points.

And Boston believes it has one of the best backcourts in New England in seniors Jeff Timberlake and Tony DaCosta. Timberlake, a 6-foot 2-inch senior, is averaging 20.3 points a game and scored a career-high 24 Monday night in an 81-69 victory over Bowling Green.

The Terriers, though, are not a big team--they start a 6-4 forward--and are not expected to provide much of a test for the Bruins. So, UCLA may not get an accurate reading on its strength until it plays North Carolina Dec. 17 at Chapel Hill, N.C.

But, so far at least, Harrick likes what he has seen.

Guard Pooh Richardson has 29 assists and only 3 turnovers; Kevin Walker is shooting 55.9% from the floor and averaging 16 points; Trevor Wilson is averaging 16.7 points and 10.3 rebounds, and freshman Don MacLean has been better than almost anybody had anticipated, shooting 66.7% and averaging 22.3 points and 9.3 rebounds.

“He’s really given a boost to our team and made our front line very formidable,” Harrick said of MacLean, who has been UCLA’s leading scorer in all 3 games.

Harrick said MacLean has benefited from the high-post, balanced-court offense, which creates pick and rebound opportunities for the 6-10 forward.

“Our offense is suited very nicely to Don MacLean,” Harrick said. “We’ll get him the ball and he’ll make it. If he played on a passing-game team, he would still be good--don’t get me wrong. But he wouldn’t be quite as effective trying to create his own shot.”

As it is, though, he appears to be leading UCLA back to the top 20.

Bruin Notes

In trying to make a point last week about the coachability of Kevin Williams, who has unexpectedly developed into a starter this season, UCLA Coach Jim Harrick said affectionately of the sophomore guard: “He does exactly what the coach says. He’s like my dog at home.” Harrick apologized Tuesday for the comment, which some construed as racist. Williams is black. “Kevin Williams has probably been our most pleasant surprise of the young season and I am sorry if anything I said about him was construed to be anything but complimentary,” Harrick said in a prepared statement.

While in Miami, the Bruins watched the winless Miami Heat of the National Basketball Assn. run through a practice. “I think they got a bigger thrill out of seeing their cars in the parking lot than they did in seeing them practice,” Harrick said. . . . All-American J.R. Reid of North Carolina, who has been out since Oct. 28 with a stress fracture in his right foot, was given permission by doctors Tuesday to walk through practice with the Tar Heels and may be able to return in time for the Dec. 17 game against UCLA.

Boston Coach Mike Jarvis, whose 65-31 record includes a 75-53 victory over USC last season, was Patrick Ewing’s coach at Rindge and Latin High School in Cambridge, Mass. . . . After tonight, UCLA will not play for 10 days because of final exams next week.