Pac-10 Conference Notebook
by Scott Allen
Well, no team will threaten to run the table in the Pac-10 like Stanford did for most of last season after Arizona and Washington were dealt their first conference losses last weekend. Arizona State and UCLA continue to impress, Stanford got a huge lift and USC is still seeking its first win.
Team of the Week: UCLA Bruins
Ben Howland’s squad needed two overtimes to beat Washington State and overcame a 21-point deficit to upset Washington at home. It’s safe to say that both were games the Bruins would have lost last season.
Game of the Week: Stanford 87, Arizona 76
It’s hard not to put one – or both – of UCLA’s wins here, but it doesn’t get much better than Stanford-Arizona, even if one team was still looking for its first Pac-10 victory. It paled in comparison to last season’s Instant Classic between the Pac-10 rivals at Stanford – most games do – but there wasn’t a more raucous environment than Maples Pavilion on Saturday, as Chris Hernandez led the Cardinal to a much-needed victory.
Player of the Week: Ike Diogu, Arizona State
A “Player of the Week Not Named Ike Diogu” award might be in order in the coming weeks. Diogu extended his streak of 20-point games to six as Arizona State swept Stanford and California on the road for the first time in 20 years.
Freshman of the Week: Jordan Farmar, UCLA
Farmar dazzled in UCLA’s sweep of the Washington schools. The Van Nuys, Calif., native scored 32 points, grabbed 6 rebounds and, most impressively, dished out 13 assists against just two turnovers in two come-from-behind victories.
Around the Pac-10
Arizona (12-3, 2-1)
Arizona emerged from a typically difficult non-conference schedule relatively unscathed, with its only two losses coming to ACC opponents. Virginia downed the ‘Cats 78-60 in Charlottesville and then-No. 1 Wake Forest eked out a 63-60 win in the Preseason N.I.T. championship game five days later. Marquette provided a scare in Milwaukee as the Golden Eagles managed to take Arizona out of its up-tempo comfort zone. Without leading scorer Salim Stoudamire, who was suspended for the game after sulking at the end of a win over Utah a week later, Arizona prevailed 48-43.
After defeating Arizona State 97-79 in their Pac-10 opener, the Wildcats had their nine-game winning streak snapped at Stanford on Saturday, as the Cardinal shot 58 percent from the floor and slowed down Arizona’s vaunted fast-break attack in an 87-76 win. Averaging 90 points and forcing better than 20 turnovers per game in five wins before their trip to Maples Pavilion, Arizona’s first sweep on the road since the 2002-03 season seemed all but a foregone conclusion, especially given Stanford’s recent struggles. After the game, head coach Lute Olson tipped his hat to the opponent, saying the Cardinal played the best they could play, but was unhappy with the penetration his big men allowed on the defensive end.
It didn’t help that Arizona shot only 38 percent against the Cardinal, two days after shooting 54 percent in an 87-67 win at Cal. Senior Channing Frye led five Wildcats in double figures with 20 points against the Bears and sophomore point guard Mustafa Shakur finished with 10 points, seven rebounds and seven assists. Arizona has looked every bit as impressive in the early season as they were at times last year, when Andre Iguodala ruled the show in Tucson.
Up Next: Thursday vs. USC, Saturday vs. UCLA
Arizona State (14-2, 2-1)
The preseason pick to finish last in the Pac-10, Arizona State entered conference play with an 11-1 record, its best start since 1974-75. But with wins against the likes of Delaware State, Cal State Northridge and Fairleigh Dickinson, not to mention just one true road game – a nice 65-62 win at Temple – the jury was still out on the Sun Devils. A 97-79 loss against rival Arizona in Tucson offered an early verdict, but Rob Evans’ squad bounced back with its first sweep over the Bay Area schools on the road in 20 years.
On Thursday, All-American candidate Ike Diogu led the way in an 81-69 victory over Stanford with 28 points and 15 rebounds. It’s scary to think what type of numbers Ike would have finished with had he not sat for the final nine minutes of the first half with foul trouble. As he has all season, Diogu got plenty of help from his supporting cast, including senior sharpshooter Steve Moore, who added 19 points. The win snapped a 13-game losing streak against Stanford.
It was more of the same for the Sun Devils on Saturday, as Diogu scored a game-high 25 points and pulled down seven boards in a 79-70 victory at Haas Pavilion. Arizona State trailed at the half but used a 12-0 run midway through the second half to claim the lead for good. Sophomore Kevin Kruger contributed 11 points in 28 minutes off the bench.
Up Next: Thursday vs. UCLA, Saturday vs. USC
California (8-6, 1-3)
The Bears ended their non-conference schedule on a three-game winning streak, including a 61-58 win over Pepperdine to capture the Golden Bear Classic. After earning a split in their Pac-10 opening trip to Washington, Cal was swept by the Arizona schools.
Cal hung tight with Arizona for a little over one half Thursday night, scoring the first six points of the second frame to take a 40-38 lead. But the Wildcats scored the game’s next 11 points as part of an 18-4 run to seize control. The Bears boast the Pac-10’s second best scoring defense but couldn’t stop five Wildcats from reaching double figures. Richard Midgley scored 14 points, but just two after halftime and Rod Benson added 13 and Dominic McGuire 12 in defeat.
The Bears have missed reigning Pac-10 Freshman of the Year Leon Powe all season, but perhaps never more so than in Saturday’s 79-70 loss to Arizona State. The Bears had no answer for Ike Diogu, who had his sixth-straight 20-point game. Benson had 15 points and eight rebounds for the Bears and walk-on Martin Smith scored a career-high 12 points to go along with seven assists. Smith’s career day could not offset the loss of Midgley, who was limited to just six minutes with a sprained right shoulder.
Up Next: Saturday vs. Stanford
Oregon (10-2, 2-1)
The Ducks split with the L.A. schools on the first weekend of Pac-10 play, falling to UCLA 70-62 for the first time in Eugene since 2001. Oregon’s only other loss came to No. 1 Illinois in Chicago, but its biggest non-conference win came at Fresno State, which is to say Ernie Kent’s squad has some work to do before it starts talking about an NCAA bid.
A 73-64 win over much-improved Oregon State Saturday was a good start. Sophomore point guard Aaron Brooks scored a game-high 24 points on 9-for-15 shooting and Oregon dominated the glass, 39-17. Freshmen Bryce Taylor and Malik Hairston have combined to average more than 23 points per game their first season in Eugene. Brooks has been the key to Oregon’s hot start, however, averaging 17.5 points per game, a full 10 more than last season. He also boasts a healthy 2-to-1 assist-to-turnover ratio.
Up Next: Thursday at Washington, Saturday at Washington State
Oregon State (10-4, 2-1)
The Beavers are two wins shy of matching last year’s victory total and with a sweep of the Los Angeles schools to open Pac-10 play, coach Jay John’s squad proved its non-conference success was no fluke, albeit against a soft schedule.
David Lucas received his first start since returning from toe surgery against the Ducks led the Beavers with 15 points in their 73-64 loss. In five games, Lucas has averaged 13.2 points and 4.0 rebounds in just over 20 minutes per game. The senior was an all-conference selection last season after averaging 17.2 points and 6.9 rebounds per game. Lucas’ return should only help freshman Aleksander Cuic, who is averaging a team-best 13.9 points and 5.4 rebounds per game. J.S. Nash, Chris Stephens and Nick Dewitz are also averaging double-figures for the Beavers.
Up Next: Thursday at Washington State, Saturday at Washington
Stanford (7-7, 1-3)
Stanford lost four players in the offseason to graduation or the NBA. The Cardinal also lost Hall of Fame head coach Mike Montgomery. First year head coach Trent Johnson lost three more players in the span of eight days last week, with Evan Moore and Mark Bradford leaving the team to concentrate solely on football and redshirt freshman Tim Morris being declared academically ineligible by the NCAA. Morris’ loss left Stanford with eight healthy – that’s including oft-injured point guard Chris Hernandez – scholarship players.
Hernandez sat out Stanford’s 81-69 loss to Arizona State Thursday with back spasms. Junior point guard Jason Haas stepped in and did an admirable job in his third career start, but Stanford desperately missed their veteran floor general. Hernandez returned Saturday to score 23 points and record a career-high six steals, as Stanford shocked Arizona at home. Junior guard Dan Grunfeld, the Cardinal’s leading scorer this season, scored a career-high 29 points on 10-for-12 shooting and senior center Rob Little had 16 points and 12 boards. It was Stanford’s third straight victory over Arizona, which had a nine-game winning streak snapped. The Cardinal avoided their first 0-4 start in Pac-10 play since 1984 with the win.
Up Next: Saturday at Cal
UCLA (9-3, 3-1)
UCLA’s 10-point loss to Boston College in December suddenly doesn’t look so bad and the Bruins also picked up solid non-conference wins over Michigan and Pepperdine. Ben Howland’s squad has won three straight since dropping its Pac-10 opener at Oregon State. The Bruins’ most recent win, a 95-86 upset of Washington Saturday, was their biggest of the season. UCLA got 29 points from senior forward Dijon Thompson and 19 off the bench from Brian Morrison to overcome a 21-point first half deficit. Morrison was 4-of-5 from three-point range and scored eight points in the decisive final four minutes of the game. UCLA is 8-0 at Pauley Pavilion this season.
Saturday’s win overshadowed Thursday’s 80-77, two-overtime thriller against Washington State in which UCLA overcame a 17-point second half deficit. Freshman Jordan Farmar scored 17 of his 19 points after halftime and Morrison added 15. The Bruins used a 23-9 run to send the game into overtime.
Up Next: Thursday at Arizona State, Saturday at Arizona
USC (8-8, 0-4)
Off to its worst conference start since the 1990-91 season, USC interim head coach Jim Saia can take solace in the fact that Washington started 0-5 in conference play last season before turning things around and ultimately earning an NCAA bid. Or not. The Trojans shot just 34 percent in a 69-52 loss to Washington State on Saturday. That came on the heels of an 84-59 loss to Washington in which USC shot just 39 percent.
Senior center Rory O’Neil scored just three points in the two games, well below his season average of close to 10. Senior forward Jeff McMillan has also seen his production and minutes drop from last year’s levels. He was held scoreless against Washington and played just four minutes on Saturday. Errick Craven missed his fifth game with a sprained right ankle. USC’s lone bright spots this season have been sophomore guard Lodrick Stewart, who leads the team with 14.8 points per game, and freshman Gabriel Pruitt, who averages 10.5 points and 3.8 assists per game.
Up Next: Thursday at Arizona, Saturday at Arizona State
Washington (13-2, 3-1)
With non-conference wins against Utah, Oklahoma, Alabama and North Carolina State, Washington opened the Pac-10 season the way it ended last it last year, with a bunch of wins. The Huskies swept the Bay Area schools at home and won last Thursday at USC before losing a 21-point lead and the game to UCLA on Saturday. Nate Robinson scored a team-high 21 points against the Bruins, but the Washington defense allowed 53 second half points and the Bruins to shoot 10-for-19 from long range. Washington is 2-40 all-time at Pauley Pavilion and has not won there since 1987. The loss snapped a nine-game winning streak.
Tre Simmons had 22 points on Thursday to make up for an off night from Robinson (8 points on 2-for-9 shooting) in Washington’s 84-59 win over USC. The Huskies outrebounded the Trojans 40-30 and forced 20 turnovers.
Up Next: Thursday vs. Oregon, Saturday vs. Oregon State
Washington State (7-6, 2-2)
An 81-29 shellacking at Oklahoma State is a distant memory for the Cougars, who earned a split for the second consecutive weekend. Still, Dick Bennett’s squad likely headed back to Pullman feeling robbed of a potentially huge road sweep in Los Angeles, after they let a 17-point lead slip away in a double-overtime loss to UCLA on Thursday.
The Cougars rebounded with a 69-52 thrashing of USC behind 21 points from guard Jeff Varem on 10-for-13 shooting. Freshman guards Kyle Weaver and Derrick Low chipped in 10 points apiece as Washington State held the Trojans to 34 percent shooting.
Up Next: Thursday vs. Oregon State, Saturday vs. Oregon
