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Early blockbuster in men's hoops
There is already a ton of excitement in the Pac-10 hoops races. New ASU men's coach Herb Sendek has the Devils off to a 3-0 start, Arizona fell at home (to Oregon 84-74) and lost last night at ASU, and USC stumbled twice on the road. The big heavyweights, UCLA and Washington State, meet Saturday.UCLA is 14-1 heading into tonight's game against Washington while WSU is 13-0 as it arrives at USC's Galen Center. On Saturday, they'll bang heads in Pauley Pavilion. The Bruins have been sparked by freshman sensation Kevin Love, who nicely complements returning talent Josh Shipp and Darren Collison. Wazzu has followed up last year's success with a spotless season so far. Kyle Weaver leads the Cougs and Hawaiian Derrick Low, who chose the school without visiting Pullman, is one of the league's best point guards. No venue is daunting to defensively tough WSU, which could pull the upset in Westwood.
Other throwdowns on the agenda this weekend include challenging road trips for Stanford and Cal. Both need to walk away from Corvallis with a win over woeful OSU (whose ledger includes a 62-60 loss to Alaska-Fairbanks and home defeats by 79-62 to Tennessee Tech and 60-59 to Montana State). Both SU and UC would love to pull out a win in Eugene, too, against Ernie Kent's tough but inconsistent Ducks. Oregon enjoyed an upset win in Tucson but lost in Tempe against up-and-coming ASU. This is an important trip for the Bay Area schools.
On the women's side, Stanford lost two in a row in L.A. I predicted a letdown for Tara's troops after the huge Tennessee victory, but this is astounding. The Cardinal resides two games behind Cal and ASU in the league standings but they'll be back in gear soon. This weekend offers little more than an easy tuneup as they host Oregon State and Oregon.
Arizona State is off to a 4-0 start but will be greeted in unfriendly Tucson by a better-than-their-record 0-4 Arizona team. And USC and UCLA try to build on their recent success by sweeping the Washington schools in the Northwest.
Men's hoops power rankings
1. UCLA (14-1 overall, 2-0 Pac-10): Josh Shipp scored 21 (5-of-8 on treys) in bouncing Stanford, and Kevin Love scored 19 points and pulled down 14 boards in a 70-58 win at Cal.
2. Washington State (13-0, 1-0): Cougs barely fought off rival Huskies 56-52 in Seattle.
3. Stanford (12-2, 1-1): Not the formula for rebounding from a loss: shoot 27 percent and commit 18 turnovers against just eight assists. But it worked as Cardinal defeated USC.
4. Oregon (10-4, 1-1): Malik Hairston scored 29 (11-for-17 from the floor) and Maarty "Need-a-vowel" Leunen added 13 points and 11 rebounds in 84-74 upset of Arizona.
5. Arizona (10-5, 1-2): Knee injury to point guard Jerryd Bayless is really hurting Cats.
Women's hoops power rankings
1. Cal (13-2 overall, 4-0 Pac-10): Bears pulled out two squeakers in L.A., where Cardinal fell twice. Kudos to Devanei Hampton, who scored 37 points and grabbed 21 boards on the weekend.
2. Arizona State (10-5, 4-0): Deep Devils liking Lauren Lacey, 10th in Pac-10 scoring at 12.6 ppg and ninth in rebounding at 6.6 rpg.
3. Stanford (12-3, 2-2): Kayla Pedersen and Jillian Harmon combined to go 0-for-12 from the field in pummeling at UCLA.
4. USC (9-6, 2-2): Camille LeNoir scored 21 points and hit game-winner with 9 seconds left to shock Stanford 73-72.
5. UCLA (7-8, 2-2): Freshman Darxia Morris scored 20 against Stanford but knee injury against Cal was scary. She'll miss at least a week.
Pac-10 men's basketball pics
Saturday, Washington State at UCLA. Pic: WSU by 2.
Bruins could win national title but no evidence so far of Cougars being any weaker a team. Watch two top defenses. Bet the under!
Sunday, Stanford at Oregon. Pic: Oregon by 5.
Contrast in styles. Stanford needs a big game from the big lopi (Lopez brothers) to offset the Ducks' backcourt and rowdy crowd.
Pac-10 women's basketball pics
Saturday, Arizona State at Arizona. Pic: ASU by 5.
Arizona losses have been by seven to USC, nine to UCLA, six in OT at OSU and six at Oregon. Wildcats will be primed to wipe out frustration against rival ASU and hot scorer Ashley Whisonant will lead the way.
E-mail Gordon Kass at gordonkass2@hotmail.com.
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