Pac-10: UCLA, Stanford battle for league title

For nine weeks, the Pac-10 basketball race has been Fight Club the sequel.

Teams have pummeled each other, bloodied each other.

There have been knockouts, knockdowns and nonstop hard knocks.

Two months of black eyes and bruised egos have left two teams standing, a pair of survivors reaching for a league championship while ducking the punches of one determined challenger after another.

It’s Stanford (24-4 overall, 13-3 Pac-10) against UCLA (26-3, 14-2) on Thursday night at Pauley Pavilion in Los Angeles.

It might as well be Frazier and Ali.

They’re two of the nation’s top seven teams by poll consensus.

Four hundred miles separate their campuses.

One game separates them in the standings.

Nine points separated them in their first meeting, a margin that means absolutely nothing as they get after it again.

With no apologies to Michael Beasley of Kansas State – who was merely ordinary against two second-division Pac-10 teams earlier this season – UCLA has the country’s foremost freshman in Kevin Love, a smart, mobile big man who has met every expectation and shrugged off every distraction (see Oregon, with dad’s jilted and incensed alma mater baiting him nonstop, 26 points and 18 rebounds in response) in an extra rugged league.

Stanford likely has the nation’s most superlative sophomore, Brook Lopez, a 7-footer so nimble he plays forward, deferring the post position to his identical twin brother, Robin. Brook Lopez’s only drawback this season has been missing his team’s first nine games for skipping classes, returning three outings in advance of the first UCLA meeting in Palo Alto, Calif. He’s been solid on the court and unflappable in the classroom since serving his punishment.

The league’s player of the year, likely Lopez or Love, easily could be decided by the outcome of this game.

The Bruins escaped the initial encounter 76-67, pulling away late in the second half by fouling out Brook Lopez and relying on hot-shooting Bruins swingman Josh Shipp.

“They’re a lot better than the first time,” Cardinal coach Trent Johnson summed up.  “(UCLA’s Darren) Collison was just coming off an injury, shedding his knee brace. That’s a team that’s playing a lot better because it understands what’s at stake. Their program doesn’t have any weaknesses. We’re starting to execute our offense better, but it will get tested on Thursday.”

Said Bruins coach Ben Howland, “We’ve grown and improved. It will be a tough game.”

One of three brothers to grace the Pac-10, all at different schools, UCLA’s Josh Shipp got loose behind the 3-point line against the Cardinal, connecting on 5 of 8 treys while piling up a season-high 21 points.

Remembering an upset at the hands of Stanford the year before, Shipp was noticeably motivated to prevent a repeat.

“I was definitely more ready for this game than usual,” said Shipp, a junior entrusted with replacing the offense taken to the NBA by Arron Afflalo.

“Josh’s eyes were bugging out the whole game,” Howland recounted. “He was really fired up and it showed. I’ve never seen him so ready to play one game in the three years I’ve known him.”

The first time they met, two days after New Year’s Day, the Bruins were 12-1, Stanford 11-1.

They were separated by one point at halftime and by only slightly better stamina at the end. There were nine lead changes and four ties. There was only UCLA celebrating at the end.

“Their quickness gave us some problems,” Johnson said.

Entering the rematch, UCLA has lost only to Texas, USC and Washington by 2, 9 and 10 points. Stanford has fallen only to Siena, the Bruins, Oregon and Arizona State by 12, 9, 5 and 4 in overtime.

UCLA has won five games in a row, Stanford four consecutive.

Each team is healthy and peaking with the postseason fast approaching.

The Cardinal is the league’s tallest entry, UCLA its deepest in personnel.

They’ve waited a long time, almost too long, to trade elbows again, slap each other silly again and play a game as good as anyone will get in the weeks ahead in the NCAA Tournament.

Elsewhere in this Western combat zone, Washington State (22-7, 10-7) will attempt to wrap up third place in the Pac-10 with a season-ending victory at home over eighth-place but still dangerous Washington (16-14, 7-10).

The Cougars couldn’t beat UCLA this year or last, or Stanford this season, but they have the Huskies’ number, defeating their state rivals six consecutive times.

“I think why we’ve had success, which doesn’t guarantee anything for a seventh win, is we’ve been solid on both ends,” said WSU coach Tony Bennett, who will send program mainstays Derrick Low, Kyle Weaver and Robbie Cowgill through Senior Day ceremonies. “I’m sure there will some emotion in the building. You can only get so hyped, and that carries you for a little bit. It’ll be a new experience to have this many seniors, and those who have contributed so much, so we’ll see how we respond.”

Washington is worrisome because it has recent victories over UCLA and Arizona at home, and a 38-point takedown of Oregon State and a three-point win last Saturday over California on the road.

Holed up in fourth place is O.J. Mayo-headlined USC (18-10, 9-7), seeking an NCAA berth and still trying to catch the Cougars while closing out the regular season against Cal and Stanford at home.

The fifth-place tenant is coach Herb Sendek’s reclamation project, Arizona State (18-10, 8-8), last year’s last-place team and rejuvenated to the tune of 10 more victories so far. The Sun Devils attempt to keep a postseason berth and 20-victory season in sight while finishing up with the Oregon schools on the road.

Six NCAA berths seem a given for the Pac-10, but everything gets complicated after the first five teams. Tied for sixth are Arizona (17-12, 7-9) and Oregon (16-12, 7-9), followed by Washington in eighth, Cal (15-12, 6-10) in ninth and powerless-to-do-anything Oregon State (6-22, 0-16).

The bottom-feeding Beavers have lost 18 consecutive games and are closing in on becoming the first Pac-10 team to lose all 18 conference encounters, with only the visiting Arizona schools and a league tourney game offering a possible reprieve.

Arizona, with coach Lute Olson on sabbatical to sort through a divorce, is faced with having its consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance streak end at 23, which was built by Olson teams.

“It’s been a challenging situation for us,” Wildcats interim coach Kevin O’Neill said.

Instant KO’s, teams hitting the mat and staying there, 10 counts. It’s all a part of Fight Club, the Pac-10 version.

Rising Team: Stanford

The Cardinal endured a gut-check week, pushing aside the Washington schools in a pair of competitive games at home that were in question to the end. They beat the Huskies 82-79 and Cougars 60-53, with the irrepressible Brook Lopez providing 21 and 25 points, respectively. Their victory over Washington was their 15th consecutive at home. They overcame a 13-point deficit to prevail against Washington State.

Falling Team: Arizona

The Wildcats got swept at home by the Los Angeles schools and saw their streak of consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances fall in danger of not reaching 24. The unthinkable happened against UCLA, with the high-scoring combo of Jerryd Bayless and Chase Budinger collectively held to 15 points. Considering the plight at hand, Arizona fans figure legendary coach Lute Olson can’t come back from his one-year sabbatical fast enough.

Player of the Week: Brook Lopez, F, Stanford

The more offensive-minded of the Lopez twins, Brook came up with 21 points against Washington, 25 against Washington State. He also collected 13 rebounds and eight blocks in the two games. He connected on 11 of 16 shots against the Cougars. He has scored in double figures in 14 consecutive games.

Freshman of the Week: Joe Wolfinger, C, Washington

Technically, he’s a sophomore, but realistically the 7-footer is still just a freshman. Coming off a broken foot that kept him last year, this after redshirting his first season, Wolfinger is just now regaining confidence and mobility on his long road back. He matched his career high with 12 points against Stanford, playing fearlessly against the Lopez twins, and set a new personal best with 17 against Cal, allowing the Huskies to escape with a three-point victory. He played 18 minutes against each team after averaging nine per game, while sitting out eight previous contests completely. He plans to file for a sixth year of eligibility and has been told he will receive it once he plays five seasons.

Stats of the Week:

15: Stanford’s consecutive home wins over Washington, a streak extended by an 82-79 victory.

17: Joe Wolfinger’s career high points against California while coming off the bench for Oregon.

18: Lathen Wallace’s career high points against Oregon while coming off the bench for Oregon State.

24: The number of minutes played by Oregon State junior walk-on guard Joey McConnell against Oregon, given his first career starting role after accumulating just 31 minutes in only four previous appearances this season while the woebegone Beavers desperately try to shake things up.

32: Maarty Leunen’s career high points at Oregon, piled up against Oregon State.
     
They Said It

“He’s seven-foot App.” – Washington freshman center Matthew Bryan-Amaning, giving a nickname to 7-foot teammate Joe Wolfinger after the limber big man did his best impersonation of Huskies guard Ryan Appleby, hitting all four of his 3-point attempts at California.

Key Upcoming Games

Thursday, March 6
Stanford at UCLA, 8 p.m. PT
A Bruins victory, and third consecutive outright Pac-10 championship belongs to Ben Howland’s team. Stanford is seeking a share of its first league title since 2004, when it was a Mike Montgomery-coached team. Both clubs are tall and tough and tested. Kevin Love of the Bruins and the Cardinal’s Brook Lopez should provide a marquee individual match-up inside.

Saturday, March 8
Washington at Washington State, 4:30 p.m. PT
Amazingly, the Cougars have scorched Washington six consecutive times, three times in Seattle, twice in Pullman and once in Los Angeles. A full house should express its great dislike for the cross-state rival while saluting mainstay players Derrick Low, Kyle Weaver and Robbie Cowgill on Senior Day.   

Arizona at Oregon, 7:30 p.m. PT
OK, so neither of these teams has had the season that was expected. The Wildcats opened practice with Lute Olson as coach and 23 consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances, and could finish the season without both program staples. Oregon has disappointed its loyalists with a 12-loss season after returning four starting players and might lose coach Ernie Kent because of it.

Dan Raley has covered the Washington Huskies and the Pac-10 for the Seattle Post-Intelligencer for nearly three decades.

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