Feb 7, 2008

Midseason time for Pac-10 awards

By Gordon Kass / Daily News Correspondent

We're at the midpoint of Pac-10 play for the men and just past it for the women. Time for awards of the half-season.

Coach of the Half-Season: Men - Trent Johnson, Stanford. Did anyone figure Cardinal would be 7-2 at the turn, in second place with a two-game cushion? Women - Joanne Boyle, Cal. Bears may not be able to hold off Stanford for the Pac-10 crown but Boyle gets kudos for leading Bears to these heights regardless.

Player of the Half-Season: Men - Kevin Love, UCLA. Bruin frosh totally dominates inside against everyone with scoring, rebounding and passing. His explosion against rowdy Oregon crowd (26 points and 18 boards to lead team from behind) stamps his selection. Women - Candice Wiggins, Stanford. Cardinal senior can take over a game with scoring, passing, defense or you-name-it.

Game of the Half-Season: Men - Stanford 67, Washington State 65. Cardinal's OT win Saturday defined who is in key second slot in Pac-10. Important? Yes, both teams will make NCAA tourney but higher Pac-10 slot, if SU holds it, means a lot in seeding. Women - Stanford 72, Cal 52. Bears won in Maples in 2006, but Cardinal didn't just get revenge, they blew Oskis out of the arena early and never let up.

Surprise of the Half-Season: Men - Cal drops four in row at home, then sweeps Washington schools on road. Also, ASU begins Pac-10 4-0 and leads Stanford on road at halftime, then drops that and next four games, too. Women - Lost weekend in L.A. for Stanford with upset losses to UCLA and USC.

Overachiever of the Half-Season: Men - Cal's Ryan Anderson leads the Pac-10 with 22.2 points per game and is third with 10.0 rebounds per game. Wow. Women - Cal's Ashley Walker is a force under the hoop.

Questions for the Second-Half, along with pics:

1. SU women at Cal on Feb. 23: Bears will be competitive, but can they exact revenge and win the Pac-10 title? Pic: Stanford by three points.

2. Pac-10 men's race: Will UCLA roll to the title? Pic: Yes, with Darren Collison healthy and playing as well as anyone in the country, the Love-Collison-Shipp squad will run away, like they did last weekend against solid teams in ASU and Arizona.

3. Pac-10 men's race: Will second-place Stanford hold up? Pic: Not entirely. Trent's troops will stumble a bit but still garner a tie for second and a great NCAA tourney seed.

4. Pac-10 women: Who gets in the tourney besides Stanford and Cal? Pic: Shaky ASU will finish third and join the Dance. USC will sneak in. No one else.

5. Pac-10 men: Who gets in the tourney besides UCLA, Stanford and WSU? Pic: Arizona and USC are strong and will easily get bids. After that, ASU, Cal and Oregon are hoping to make a late rush but each has to play better. I think the Ducks turn it around enough to edge in.)



Men's hoops power rankings:

1. UCLA (20-2 overall, 8-1 Pac-10): Bruins didn't just sweep ASU and Arizona, they crushed both. At halftime, Uclans led ASU by 22 and Zona by 20.

2. Stanford (18-3, 7-2): Brook Lopez on fire, scored 31 points, grabbed 13 rebounds and had three blocks in 65-51 win at UW.

3. Washington State (17-4, 5-4): Kyle Weaver scored a career-high 23 points and had 11 boards but Cougs followed dud loss to Cal (69-64) with another home defeat - to Stanford 67-65 in overtime.

4. Arizona (15-7, 5-4): Jerryd Bayless third in Pac-10 scoring (18.9) and Chase Budinger sixth (17.8) but all the Cats stank against Bruins.

5. USC (14-7, 5-4): Taj Gibson getting hot inside for Troy, scored 36 points on the weekend.



Women's hoops power rankings:

1. Stanford (19-3 overall, 9-2 Pac-10): Candice Wiggins scored 49 points in big wins over L.A. schools and became Stanford's all-time leading scorer.

2. Cal (19-3, 10-1): Ashley Walker leads Pac-10 with 10 double-doubles.

3. Arizona State (15-7, 9-2): Devils should not struggle at home against Oregon but needed Sybil Dosty's last-second block of Tamika Nurse's drive to preserve 52-51 win.

4. USC (13-9, 6-5): Brynn Cameron scored 16 against Stanford and Camille LeNoir tallied 21 against Cal. If everyone would produce on the same night, SC would be better.

5. UCLA (11-11, 6-5): Bruins must sweep Washington schools and then exact revenge on Trojans a week later.