The majority of pundits across the country agree: The Pacific-10 Conference is college basketball’s toughest this season. And with five ranked teams, including No. 7 Oregon, it’s tough to argue with that. Here’s an update on the conference:
UCLA & USC
The Bruins finished their weekend with a sweep of the Arizona schools and moved up to No. 2 in the national polls, but forward Luc Richard Mbah a Moute’ CQs status is still in question for Thursday’s game against Cal after missing Saturday’s game against Arizona with a sprained right knee injury that is not considered serious.
USC’s two victories helped move the Trojans to No. 25 in the AP poll, their first national ranking since March 2002 CQ. Guard Nick Young was named the Pac-10 Player of the Week after averaging 24 points and 5.5 rebounds during the weekend CQ.
Washington State & Washington
The Cougars’ largest home crowd in 24 years helped propel them to a 75-47 win against in-state rival Washington, Washington State’s widest margin of victory in the 261-game series CQ. The 11,816 fans present was well above the 5,429 average as of Jan. 21. The loss was the worst for the Huskies since an 89-57 setback at Arizona State on Jan. 9, 2003 in coach Lorenzo Romar’s first year as head coach in Seattle CQ. The Huskies have struggled after being ranked 16th to begin the season and only have one Pac-10 victory CQ.
Stanford & California
Lawrence Hill CQ has been the Cardinal’s go-to-guy when the game is on the line. Hill dropped three three-pointers in the final 4:13 and powered Stanford to a 67-56 victory against Oregon State CQ. Hill’s 24 points were a career-high CQ and his buckets in the final minutes were added to the list of Cardinal victories including Fresno State, Virginia and Washington, where Hill’s clutch performance enabled Stanford to win the game.
Cal’s season has mirrored Stanford’s with the Bears’ ability to stay competitive with the top teams but remaining stuck in the middle of the standings. Although the Bears led by as many as 12 points during the game against No. 7 Oregon, the Bears eventually lost 92-84 CQ.
Arizona & Arizona State
Arizona, once thought to be the front-runner of the Pac-10 conference is now on a three-game losing streak after stumbling against USC and UCLA CQ. The Wildcats haven’t had such a bad conference skid since 1983-84 in coach Lute Olson’s CQ first season CQ.
Arizona State has sat at the bottom of the conference standings for the entirety of the season and remains winless in conference play. First-year coach Herb Sendek has struggled to find a way to win in Tempe after going 22-10 last year at NC State CQ.
Oregon State
The Beavers fell to 0-5 at home in conference games CQ with a narrow loss to Stanford last Saturday. Like Oregon, the road gets much tougher when Oregon State travels to face the Washington schools and the Southern California schools.
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