Jan 25, 2008

Pigs are flying in wild Pac-10 hoops race

By Gordon Kass / Daily News Correspondent

Pigs fly, man bites dog, and late Saturday evening, Arizona State had a halftime lead in Palo Alto and appeared to be sliding into first place with a 5-0 Pac-10 record.

Yes, that's the Devils team picked for ninth in the preseason poll.

Pigs fell to earth in the second half. Brook Lopez powered Stanford from a 10-point deficit to a 67-52 win and spoiled the Devils' parade.

Alright, so no maroon-and-gold pigs are flying. But it's been a wild Pac-10 ride so far. In addition to ASU's hot start, which ties the Devils for first with UCLA and Washington State, Arizona has struggled, USC stumbled but then beat UCLA in Pauley, Cal opened its home slate just 1-3, Oregon won in Tucson but lost in Seattle. and Oregon State fired its coach this week.

More great action is on the ledger this weekend, and it's a ginormous time here in the Bay Area. The two biggest Pac-10 battles are Saturday bashes in Palo Alto (No. 8 Cal women at No. 7 Stanford women) and in Berkeley (No. 20 Stanford men at Cal). There are a few other interesting hookups, but we're hosting the two best ones.

Other interesting men's contests include UCLA trying to get back on track with a game in hostile Eugene against the erratic Ducks tonight. Want to bet the Mac Court devotees will have a few comments for Bruins center Kevin Love about his choice to depart his home state of Oregon to play in L.A.?

The other attractive action comes down in the desert as WSU tries to continue another magical run and avoid cactus thorns in Tucson tonight and Tempe on Saturday. ASU's quick development under coach Herb Sendek with talented freshman James Harden makes the Grand Canyon State tour a major challenge now. Teams could easily go 0-2 down there.



Pac-10 women's HOOPS

The big contest is clearly Cal-Stanford. The Cardinal's lost weekend in L.A. puts them two games behind the Bears in the league race, and with both teams throttling Arizona State on the road last weekend, it seems clear it's all just these two. At 6-2 in Pac-10 play, Stanford faces a must-win scenario. That's a rare situation for the Cardinal, which usually is the chasee, not the chaser.

How will Joanne Boyle's Bears handle the unusual favorite role? Devanei Hampton is in the top five in both Pac-10 scoring and rebounding, and Ashley Walker, tops in boarding, is No. 7 in scoring. That double dynamite package provides a tough load for Tara's troops. See my pic below.



Men's HOOPS power rankings

1. UCLA (16-2 overall, 4-1 Pac-10): Was Steve Lavin coaching the Bruins down stretch of USC loss? Trojans outscored UCLA 19-6 over last six minutes plus.

2. Washington State (16-1, 4-1): Derrick Low scored 27 points on 10-of-16 shooting in a crucial 69-60 win over Oregon. Cougs closed game with 12-1 rush over last two minutes.

3. Stanford (15-3, 4-2): Brook Lopez dominated ASU with 19 points and 16 boards in 67-52 win.

4. Arizona State (14-3, 4-1): Jeff Pendergraph's foul trouble spelled doom against Stanford; he was mired on the bench as the Cardinal overtook ASU and ran away with a 47-22 second half.

5. USC (11-6, 2-3): Davon Jefferson scored 25 points and grabbed nine rebounds in SC's 72-63 upset over Bruins.



Women's HOOPS power rankings

1. Cal (17-2 overall, 8-0 Pac-10): Hampton rocked ASU with 28 points and nine boards in 64-51 road win.

2. Stanford (16-3, 6-2): Cardinal trailed Devils by 11 at half and couldn't afford a third league loss. They avoided that as Candice Wiggins tallied 13 after the break and Stanford outscored ASU 40-25 in the second half.

2. Arizona State (11-7, 5-2): Briann January scored 36 points over the weekend, but cold Devils were doomed with shooting percentages of 32.7 against Cal and 34.5 against Stanford.

4. USC (11-7, 4-3): Trojans built 37-16 lead early in second half but Bruins closed within 59-56 in final seconds before USC scored game's final five points.

5. UCLA (9-9, 4-3): Lindsey Pluimer led Uclans with 15 points but late rally failed. With 2.6 seconds left, five-player scuffle resulted in a Bruin foul and four technicals (three on UCLA) and USC made late free throws.



Pac-10 men's basketball pics

Thursday: WSU at Arizona:

Pic: Arizona by 2. Upset pick. Cougs can play strong defense anywhere but hungry Cats are tough at home and scoring machine Jerryd Bayless is unstoppable.

Saturday: Stanford at Cal:

Pic: Stanford by 2. Good guard play will be the key for Stanford. Without it, the Tree may fall.



Pac-10 women's hoops pics

Saturday: Cal at Stanford

Pic: Cal by 2. Cardinal has the experience and the home court but this is a new, tough and confident Bears team that has won at Maples before. The inside battles will be spectacular in this throwdown.



E-mail Gordon Kass at gordonkass@hotmail.com.