Pac-10 Conference Notebook
by Scott Allen
From Serbia With Love
Arizona, which lost forward Isaiah Fox to a knee injury earlier this year, bolstered its front-line with the addition of Serbian forward Ivan Radenovic, who joins the team after playing two seasons for a youth team in Belgrade, Serbia-Montenegro. The 6-foot-10, 218 pound Radenovic sat out Arizona’s most recent game against San Diego State due to a minor NCAA rules infraction but will be eligible to play on Dec. 28 when Arizona hosts Liberty.
Pac-10 Player of the Week:
Matt Lottich, guard, Stanford
The senior couldn’t have picked a better game to go off, torching the nets against Gonzaga to the tune of 34 points on 6-for-7 shooting from beyond the arc.
No. 6 Arizona (6-1)
Arizona head coach Lute Olson summed up the Wildcats’ 83-71 win over San Diego State on Monday perfectly: “We played lights-out in some spurts and we played like the lights were out in some other times of the game.”
Such has been the story of Arizona’s season, but as their record indicates, they’ve played lights-out just enough of the time. The ‘Cats led by 10 at the break — thanks in part to a 9-2 run to close the half. Sophomore Chris Rodgers scored a career-high 17 points, including 10 in the first half, while Hassan Adams added 19 points and 11 rebounds. Andre Iguodala tallied a double-double as well, with 12 points and 10 rebounds and junior center Channing Frye finished with 15 points and nine boards.
Up Next: Dec. 28 vs. Liberty
Arizona State (5-2)
In ASU’s 81-61 win over McNeese State on Monday, Ike Diogu turned in one of college basketball’s best performances of the season. The sophomore netted 38 points in the victory, connecting on 12-for-15 from the field and 14-for-15 from the charity stripe. His 23 points in the first half helped the Sun Devils take a comfortable 46-22 lead into the break.
Rob Evans’ squad forced 31 turnovers in the game and Diogu’s inside dominance counteracted a miserable ASU shooting display from beyond the arc (2-for-16). No other Arizona State player finished in double figures.
Up Next: Dec. 29 vs. San Diego
California (3-4)
The West Coast got a chance to see one of the nation’s most unheralded superstars in Saturday’s Pete Newell Classic in Oakland. The Golden Bears saw a little too much.
Jameer Nelson sank a fade away jumper with 4.3 seconds remaining and Ayinde Ubaka’s three-point attempt at the buzzer fell short, giving Saint Joseph’s a 59-57 victory over California.
Cal, coming off an 11-day break for final exams, was lucky to be in the game after shooting 28 percent in the first half. Trailing only 28-22 at the break, rebounding kept the Bears close throughout and Ben Braun’s squad had a golden opportunity to take the lead in the final minute after the Hawks’ Delonte West was called for an intentional foul. Freshman Marquise Kately proceeded to sink both free throws to knot the score at 57-57 but Amit Tamir (11 points) missed a jumper out of the inbounds play, setting up Nelson’s game-winner.
Kately finished with a team-high 16 points in his second consecutive strong game. Fellow freshman Leon Powe posted his sixth double-double with 15 points and 13 rebounds. Nelson scored a game-high 19 points as the Hawks improved to 8-0.
Up Next: Dec. 27 vs. Columbia
Oregon (5-2)
The Ducks rebounded from an 87-86 loss to Alabama in the Las Vegas Showdown to knock off Portland 88-70. Luke Jackson led five Ducks in double figures with 19 points against the Pilots, including 3-for-5 from beyond the arc. Portland State came into the game as the nation’s third-best three-point shooting team, and finished the game 8-for-19, but Oregon shot even better from the land of plenty. James Davis was 5-for-8 and Andre Joseph a perfect 3-for-3 as the Ducks shot 15-for-21 (.714) from three-point range. By comparison, the Ducks were 13-for-23 from the free throw line.
Oregon lit it up from outside against Alabama as well, hitting six three-pointers in the second half to erase an 11-point Crimson Tide lead. But after Andre Joseph’s three with 1:01 to play gave the Ducks an 86-83 lead, Alabama answered and took the lead for good on Kennedy Winston’s turnaround jumper over the outstretched arms of Jackson with 4.5 seconds left. Jackson received the inbounds pass and darted up the court but his off-balance runner as time expired hit off the backboard and rattled off the front rim. Winston finished with a career-high 27 points in a game that featured nine ties and 13 lead changes. Sophomore Ian Crosswhite led the Ducks with 21 points and eight boards.
Up Next: Jan. 2 at USC
Oregon State (4-3)
The Beavers hosted a couple of non-conference opponents last week, losing to Boise State 82-80 before holding off Sacramento State 76-73. Junior forward Jim Hanchett had 18 points and eight rebounds off the bench in the loss to the Broncos as five Beavers finished in double figures. Oregon State held a 78-74 advantage with 3:38 to play but could not hang on. It was the second straight narrow defeat for the Beavers, who were coming off an overtime setback at Hawaii.
Head coach John Jay and the Beavers appeared headed for a third-straight loss when Sacramento State took a 12-point lead in the second half, but Oregon State responded with a 19-4 run to set up a see-saw battle over the final 10 minutes. Chris Stephens, who had 18 points, drilled a three-pointer with just over a minute to play to break a 71-71 tie and gave the Beavers a lead they would not relinquish. David Lucas scored a game-high 24 points on 9-for-16 shooting and freshman guard J.S. Nash had nine assists.
Up Next: Dec. 28 vs. Jackson State
No. 5 Stanford (7-0)
Everyone’s entitled to an off night, especially Stanford senior guard Matt Lottich. The Cardinal’s leading scorer heading in to Monday’s game against Southern Utah finished 0-for-6 from the field in a 67-37 Stanford romp, but it’s hard to fault the sharpshooter for being a little tired coming off a career-night against No. 15 Gonzaga two days earlier.
Lottich scored 34 points on 12-for-17 shooting, including 6-for-7 from beyond the arc, as Stanford held off the ‘Zags 87-80 in the first game of the Pete Newell Challenge. Justin Davis and Rob Little added 16 and 14 points, respectively, and Matt Haryasz added eight points off the bench, but the night clearly belonged to Lottich.
He traded three-point buckets with Gonzaga guard Blake Stepp at one point in the second half as the Bulldogs threatened a comeback. Stanford led by 12 at the half and limited Gonzaga’s leading-scorer, Ronny Turiaf, to 10 points.
Up Next: Dec. 28 vs. Harvard
UCLA (4-2)
The promising return of junior forward T.J. Cummings to the lineup was not enough to prevent a 61-60 loss to UC Santa Barbara, but his performance earned him a spot in the starting lineup for UCLA’s next game against Michigan State, where his presence lifted the Bruins to a 64-58 win at home. Cummings, who was academically ineligible for the fall semester, scored 14 points on 5-for-5 shooting in just 14 minutes off the bench against the Gauchos as UCLA let a second-half lead slip away.
In the win over Michigan State, Cummings had 13 points, five rebounds and three assists and the Bruins defense limited the Spartans to just 35.1 percent shooting. Brian Morrison provided a spark off the bench, nailing all three of his three-point attempts, which made up for an off-night from freshman Trevor Ariza (1-for-7 shooting).
Up Next: Dec. 27 at Michigan
USC (4-4)
The Trojans survived one scare last week against Fresno State and then experienced a nightmare against Cal Poly. The Trojans erased a 32-24 halftime deficit against the Bulldogs and held a 65-62 advantage as Bulldogs guard Shantay Legans released what appeared to be a game-tying three-pointer. After reviewing the replay, the officials ruled that Fresno State had called timeout before Legans’ shot and the Bulldogs were given the ball with 3.4 seconds left and another chance to tie. Legans missed as time expired. Desmon Farmer and Lodrick Stewart scored 19 points apiece for USC.
Against Cal Poly, USC led by eight with 12 minutes to play when the Mustangs went on a 13-0 run and ran away with a 93-78 victory. Farmer scored 29 points to lead the Trojans, who were done in by a career night from Cal Poly’s Kameron Gray (32 points, 12 rebounds). Rory O’Neill played just 16 minutes and shot 0-for-3 from the field.
Up Next: Dec. 28 vs. Lafayette
Washington (3-3)
The Huskies could not recover from a slow start against Houston on the road, falling to the Cougars 79-63.
Brandon Roy was one of the few bright spots, with 19 points, 12 rebounds and five assists, while sophomore forward Bobby Jones contributed a double-double (10 points, 11 rebounds) in the loss. Washington trailed by as many as 17 in the first half and took an 11-point deficit into the break. Lorenzo Romar regrouped his troops and the Huskies pulled to within one with 12 minutes to play, but Washington could not get over the hump and take a lead. Senior center Anwar Ferguson had eight blocks for the Cougars.
Up Next: Dec. 27 at San Diego State
Washington State (6-3)
One look at the score of the Cougars recent match-up with Fresno State and you’d be convinced David Carr had returned to school to lead the Bulldogs over Wazzu in a recent bowl game.
Washington State scored nine points in the first half and didn’t fare much better in the second, losing to Fresno State 46-29. The 29 points tied for the eighth-lowest by a Division I school since the three-point line was instituted in 1986. Georgia Southern set the mark for scoring futility with 21 points in 1997.
The Cougars shot 10-for-43 (.233) from the field and just 4-for-28 from beyond the arc. Marcus Moore scored a team-high eight points in a game head coach Dick Bennett would like to forget.
Up Next: Dec. 28 at Gonzaga
