Pac-10 Notes: League displays fireworks

The original Pac-10 basketball schedule had them playing on Saturday, March 3, the final day of the regular season, but people with TV influence, those with the contracted freedom to juggle things, said no way.

UCLA and Washington State, live from Pullman? It won’t sell.

Move that game back to Thursday night. Put the Bruins and Washington, a far more compelling match-up, in the favored weekend time slot. After all, those teams finished 1-2 last season and were picked first and third this time. They’ve got big-market appeal.

The Cougars? They were last in the final standings and last in the preseason poll, making them camera shy. No need to stick the advertisers with a bad ballgame and send viewers looking for a food channel or an old movie.

Guess what? The league schedulers had it right the first time. They had a classic match-up on their hands in the right spot all along and didn’t know it. They do now. Too late.

So here we have UCLA and Washington State tangling on Thursday night at Beasley Coliseum in the chilly Palouse. Three points separated them the first time they played, and by the quirky nature of the league schedule two months have separated them since.

Should familiarity be an issue for the league’s top two teams as they get reacquainted, the Bruins (25–3 overall, 14–2 league) are the ones in the blue and gold uniforms, holding down a No. 2 national ranking, already clutching a conference championship tie and eyeballing a second consecutive Final Four appearance.

The Cougars (23–5, 12–4) are the guys who people really struggle to recognize. They represent college basketball’s best feel-good story of the 2006-07 season, while waving a No. 13 spot in the polls, enjoying their first winning record in a dozen seasons and making plans to appear in their first NCAA Tournament in 13 years.

These teams initially played three days after Christmas and UCLA walked off with an extra gift. Ben Howland’s team chalked up a 55–52 victory at Pauley Pavilion, hanging tough after shooting a miserable 32.7 percent from the field and having eight shots blocked. It was the Bruins’ closest call among their 16 home games.

“We were fortunate to beat them,” Howland said. “They are a hard team to play.”

Coaching seminar regulars, pay attention here. Both of these elite Pac-10 entries rely on exceptional defense to create reputations this season. They get down in a stance and get after it, and that’s why they’re out in front in a highly competitive league.

With a sweep of the Cougars, UCLA can wrap up a second consecutive outright title the same night. What could be harder to determine is the Pac-10 player of the year recipient. The top two candidates for this particular prize play side by side in the Bruins backcourt, Arron Afflalo and Darren Collison.

Affalo, a junior, leads his team in scoring and ranks second in the conference in this category, at 17.5 points per game, and always takes the big shot. Collison leads the league in steals (2.26 pg) and 3-point shooting (49.4 percent), and had a 15-assist game against Arizona, one off the school record.

“They’re both deserving,” Howland said of player of the year consideration. “We’ll let the voters decide.”

“My vote is for Darren,” Afflalo said.

Washington State, answering to Tony Bennett, who was elevated from assistant coach after his father, Dick, retired as the head coach last year, has a junior-dominated team that suffered repeatedly before putting all that experience together and making a huge breakthrough this winter.

Guard Derrick Low leads the Cougars in scoring (13.9 ppg), but his running mate, 6’6” Kyle Weaver, is the one who presents mismatch problems and the most concern for opposing teams. Long and loose, he’s a topflight defender; offensively, he can put the ball on the floor and take his man to the basket and handles the ball expertly while setting up his teammates.

“Kyle Weaver, in my mind, is one of the top three players in this conference,” Stanford coach Trent Johnson said, earlier victimized by Weaver’s triple-double of 14 points, 13 rebounds and 10 assists

“I think when he’s playing well, he’s a very complete player,” Bennett said. “He can play multiple positions. He just has to continue to take these challenges. He’s playing at such a high level.’’

Normally, there wouldn’t much going on in Pullman at this time of the year. The Cougars would be playing out the string and the student body would be avoiding Beasley Coliseum on game night as if it were a two-hour biology class. Equipment guys would be breaking out the football gear for spring practice.

Not this season. A sellout crowd of 11,000-plus is expected for this Pac-10 showdown, which won’t decide the league title but should be great fun. The teams might even meet a third time nine days later, in the Pac-10 Tournament championship game in Los Angeles.

Following UCLA to the state of Washington for this final two-game road swing is USC (21–8, 11–5), hoping the Cougars might stumble once or twice, which would elevate the Trojans to second or third place.

Coach Tim Floyd has done a masterful job of restoring the program to a highly competitive level in just his second season. While Bennett appears to be a solid lock for Pac-10 coach of the year, Floyd is nearly as deserving.

Trojans junior forward Nick Young won’t win player of the year accolades, but he’ll have a wide berth on the all-league team. He’s the league’s third-leading scorer (17.2) and leader of the program renaissance.

“Nick Young is an NBA player when he decides to go to the NBA,” Washington coach Lorenzo Romar suggested. “When his team has needed baskets, he’s gone out and got them.”

Regrouping nicely after a midseason lull, Oregon (22–7, 10–7) picked up considerable ground with a sweep of the Washington schools, becoming the first league team to take two from Washington State.

The Ducks closed out the weekend by taking a 93–85 decision over Washington, a game that offered a highly publicized subplot. It marked the first meeting of Oregon guard Aaron Brooks and Huskies guard Ryan Appleby since their dust-up in last year’s Pac-10 Tournament. After previous contact that night, Brooks lost his temper and felled Appleby with a flagrant elbow to the face, drawing blood, an ejection and three-game suspension, the latter involving this season’s game in Seattle.

Everyone strained to see how these two would interact in their reunion. It wasn’t friendly. Appleby wouldn’t shake hands before the tip or after the game, refusing to even look at Brooks. He went from victim to villain at Oregon’s McArthur Court, drawing loud boos every time he touched the ball or had his name mentioned.

All of this added more intrigue to a game usually played at a high emotional level. Brooks used the slight in return to play inspired, leading all scorers with 30 points, including 20 in the second half. Appleby came out and scored 17 first-half points, mostly by letting shots fly from 25 feet, and finished with a team-best 21. Both players played to the crowd, raising arms or pointing, after hitting big shots.

“It was just a gut reaction not to shake his hand,” Appleby explained. “Last year, he took a cheap shot on me. I don’t feel that he was penalized the right way. I’m not going to acknowledge someone like that.”

“I definitely was a little riled up,” said Brooks, who had offered a written apology the same night as the incident.

There were far less fireworks in Tempe, where Arizona (18–9, 9–7) eked out a 61–58 victory over Arizona State on the road, winning for the 24th time in their past 25 meetings. Chase Budinger had 23 points, continuing his bid for Pac-10 freshman of the year honors.

Stanford, previously holding together well with a young team, was swept by the Los Angeles schools after earlier beating them by 15 and 17 points, respectively, at home. The Cardinal (17–10, 9–7) started to miss the offense of injured sophomore guard Anthony Goods, out with a high ankle sprain. Wasted were a pair of 23-point outings by 7-foot freshman Brook Lopez.

Bottoming out is Washington (16–12, 6–10), swept in Oregon and the loser of four consecutive games, the latter for the first time in three seasons. The defeat in Eugene was predictable. A 73–65 loss at lowly Oregon State was not, leaving the team in great despair and their locker room resembling a funeral. Growing pains have canceled out what was thought to be a promising season, sending the Huskies inching toward the NIT.

California (14–14, 6–10), still missing 6’11’’ center DeVon Hardin, out with a foot stress fracture since December, was swept by the Los Angeles schools on the road and needs to win again to entertain NIT hopes.

Oregon State (11–19, 3–14) played inspired against Washington, beating someone other than Arizona State in league play, but let Washington State off the hook, losing 58–54. Sasa Cuic, the 6’10’’ Serbian, continues to confound the Beavers with his lack of rebounding, grabbing a combined three against the Huskies and Cougars.

Arizona State (7–20, 1–15) remains competitive but unlucky, falling by three at home to Arizona. Sun Devils coach Herb Sendek is holding firm with his painstaking rebuilding efforts. He has three freshmen averaging 28 minutes or more of game time in league play, led by Derek Glasser’s 32.9 minute games.

For a finishing kick, it still belongs to the displaced UCLA-Washington State in Pullman on Thursday night. This game doesn’t have the TV platform it probably deserves, but the rollicking crowd that will see it live and the regional audience tuning in could be in for a real treat.

Key Development
Washington State needs a sweep of the Los Angeles schools and UCLA to get swept while playing the Cougars and Washington and it will have a share of its first league championship since 1941. It could happen, with WSU and the Huskies combining for a 27–3 home record.

Rising Team: UCLA
The Bruins have exhibited a second wind coming down the stretch, capturing its past four games, which gives them the longest win streak in a hard-pressed conference race.

Falling Team: Washington
The Huskies are home, hoping to snap out of a four-game losing spell, their longest since dropping five games in a row in 2004.

Player of the Week: Aaron Brooks, G, Oregon
The Seattle native scored 30 points for the fourth time this season, fifth in his career, in a 93–85 victory over Washington. It was particularly gratifying because he was forced to sit out the first game against the Huskies for an elbowing incident at last season’s league tournament and had never played particularly well against his hometown school.

Freshman of the Week: Tajuan Porter, G, Oregon
The 5’6” guard had a big week against the Washington schools, supplying 21 and 19 points, and shooting a combined 10-for-18 from the field, 7-of-12 from 3-point range and 13-for-14 from the foul line.

Stat of the Week
Two. That was Jon Brockman’s rebound total against Oregon, noteworthy because he tied his season low and still leads the league in boards (9.5). Foul trouble more than anything did him in in Eugene.

They Said It
“I don’t think you undervalue Collison. He might be the best point guard in the country, and I said that earlier about Aaron Brooks.” — USC coach Tim Floyd, summing up the talents of UCLA’s Darren Collison

Key Upcoming Games
Thursday
UCLA at Washington State
One-two in the standings, these teams look equal but they’re not. The Bruins hold a smothering 90–13 series advantage, winning the last five meetings.

Saturday
USC at Washington State
Two ranked teams, vying for seeding in NCAA and Pac-10 tournaments, could offer one that goes down to the wire. The Cougars previously won 58–55 on USC’s court.

Dan Raley covers the University of Washington and Pac-10 basketball for the Seattle Post-Intelligencer

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