Oregon State’s David Lucas earned Pac-10 Player of the Week honors and averaged 19 points a game against UCLA and USC last week.
A men’s basketball team from the state of Oregon sits atop the Pacific-10 Conference with a 2-0 record.
And no, it’s not that young, talented team from Eugene.
Oregon State opened conference play with victories against UCLA and Southern California and shares the top spot in the Pac-10 with Washington. The Beavers are off to a 10-3 start overall, their best mark after 13 games in 15 seasons.
Oregon State’s success of late can be attributed to the return of senior forward David Lucas. The Tigard High School product missed the team’s first 10 games after surgery repairing the tendon in his big right toe, but he didn’t need long to return to form. He is averaging 17 points per game since returning to action, including 19 points per Pac-10 contest.
Lucas’ 21-point effort against the Bruins and 17-point performance against the Trojans earned him Pacific-10 Conference Player of the Week honors.
“It feels great to win this award,” Lucas, the son of former Portland
Trailblazer forward Maurice Lucas, said. “It shows that I actually helped the team last week. I went two months just sitting there and watching. There was a lot of hard work in the meantime to prepare myself to play in a game. I feel so blessed and happy to be able to come back like I did.”
Along with Lucas, the Beavers have four other players averaging double figures in scoring. Sasa Cuic (14.3), Nick DeWitz (11.3), J.S. Nash (11.2) and Chris Stephens (11.2) have all put pressure on opposing defenses. With numerous scoring options, Oregon State looks to qualify for a spot in its first NCAA Tournament since the 1989-90 season.
“This team doesn’t compare to any of the others that I’ve played on,” Lucas said. “We have so much talent and experience. It’s so much fun to be on the floor with some other big men who really know what they’re doing. Sasa and Nick have really come along and are helping a lot.”
Stanford struggles
While Oregon State is off to a good start in conference play, Stanford is
off to its worst Pac-10 start since the 1990-91 season. The usually mighty Cardinal finds itself in last place after losing to Washington State (60-51) and No. 13 Washington (76-73). Stanford has only two players averaging more than 10 points per game and has stumbled out to a 6-6 overall record.
Things don’t get any easier for Stanford as it hosts Arizona State and Arizona this week before three tough road games against Cal, UCLA and USC.
Statistical leaders
Arizona State junior Ike Diogu leads the Pac-10 in scoring, averaging 22.8 points per game. The powerful Sun Devil forward is the only conference player averaging more than 20 points per game and has NBA scouts drooling. He also leads the Pac-10
in rebounding (10.3) and field
goal percentage (.628).
Washington’s Will Conroy leads the Pac-10 in assists (7.5), while
Arizona’s Salim Stoudamire is
tops in the conference with a .567 three-point shooting percentage.
