HUSKIES IMPROVE, BUT NOT ENOUGH TO BEAT CAL 1/7/95 By THERESA SMITH McClatchy News Service SEATTLE -- Disappointed Washington players don't agree that their loss to 17th-ranked California on Saturday seemed less painful because they played better. The Huskies committed fewer turnovers (13) and hit a higher percentage of their shots (41.9 percent) than in their last two losses, but they couldn't make the defensive plays during the second half of a 84-76 loss before 5,337 in Hec Edmundson Pavilion. Cal (8-2, 1-1 Pacific-10 Conference) led by as many as 21 points with 14:23 left in the game, but the Huskies pared the lead to 12 and seven several times and to six in the last 27 seconds. ''I'm proud of our kids,'' UW coach Bob Bender said. ''We didn't play real well the whole game, but at least we kept fighting. That's been missing a little bit, that kind of emotion and toughness. ... As I told the team, I'm not down, they can't be down ... there's a whole lot of basketball to be played.'' Bryant Boston, who recovered from a 2-for-10 first-half shooting performance to hit 4-for-8 shots in the second, was inconsolable after the Huskies' third consecutive loss dropped them to 4-6, 0-2. ''A loss always hurts, no matter how you play,'' Boston said. Cal forwards Monty Buckley and Tony Gonzalez put the hurt on the Huskies, foiling UW's rallies with timely plays. En route to a 26-point, nine-rebound performance, Buckley drained a 3-pointer with 8:35 left to end a spree that drew the UW within 12, 65-53. ''Buck's our leader,'' Cal coach Todd Bozeman said. ''That's his job. He definitely came through for us.'' The Huskies rallied again, cutting the lead to seven, 76-69, with just more than two minutes left. The UW's 7-0 run included a resounding dunk by Jamie Booker. But Cal ended a three-minute scoring drought with a basket by Gonzalez, a 6-foot-6, 235-pound freshman who plays tight end for the Cal football team. UW forward Mark Sanford, already saddled with four fouls, seemingly made no contact on the play, yet was whistled for the foul and forced to watch the final 1:42 from the bench. From his vantage point, the Huskies drew no closer than six points. Cal's K.J. Roberts, formerly of Kent-Meridian High, ended it with two free throws to wrap up a 77 percent (31-for-40) free-throw shooting mark for the Pac-10's worst free-throw shooting team. Just two days ago, Cal shot 38 percent from the line in a 83-71 loss to Washington State. ''The free throws were definitely a big, big difference in the game,'' said Bozeman, whose team shot 24 more free throws than the Huskies. Washington was forced to chase the Bears down the stretch because of a defensive lapse late in the first half that turned a close game into a Cal cushion. With the Huskies trailing, 23-21, Cal reeled off eight consecutive points on fastbreak baskets. ''We have to rotate,'' UW guard Jason Hamilton said. ''We practice those rotations every day. We knew what they were going to do, yet we let them do it.'' Except for that stretch, the Huskies were competitive and three of their number -- Sanford, Mike Amos and Booker -- gained a confidence boost despite the loss. Sanford scored 11 points, grabbed six rebounds, and played several error-free stretches. The key, according to the freshman from San Diego, was extra practice time. Along with the UW's practice Friday, he had a private practice with Bender, and he and teammate Michael McClain had a practice session of their own. ''I did that a lot in high school,'' Sanford said. ''I talked to my brother (Thursday) and he reminded me of the things I did to earn a college scholarship -- going to the gym. Then I heard Magic Johnson say that players work real hard to get to the NBA and then they relax, so I thought that's what I did after I got my scholarship.'' Amos scored a season-high 19 points on 9-for-13 shooting and brought down eight rebounds, but he doesn't believe his offense keys the Huskies. ''Jason Hamilton and Bryant Boston were just setting me up for easy layups,'' he said. ''I've got to set more screens for them. It seems like when Jason Hamilton and Bryant Boston have a great game, we win. Games when I've done so-so or poor in scoring, we've won.'' Booker emerged from a season-long 26 percent shooting slump to score a career-high 16 points -- 13 above his average -- on two dunks, two 3-pointers, a tip-in, and two free throws. ''The first dunk got my confidence going,'' Booker said of a fast break breakaway off a pass from McClain with 13:35 to go. ''I think Coach (Bender) has been waiting for this to come out.'' NOTES -- Cal forward Ryan Jamison injured his left ankle five minutes into the first half and was held out the rest of the game. He is questionable for the Bears' game Thursday against Arizona. ... Bears forward Alfred Grigsby, who has been playing at partial speed while recovering from nagging hamstring and back injuries, did not play because of hamstring pain. Grigsby, who redshirted last season because of the injuries, is averaging 9.6 points.