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UCLA 68, Stanford 57: "The Cardinal jumped out to an 8-0 lead and led by as many as 14 points in the first half, but the Bruins' defense tightened up and pressured Stanford into 31% shooting.
RedOscar raises an interesting question, and one that I must admit I hadn't really considered until today. With six freshmen, nary a senior, and Josh Owens returning after a one-year hiatus, we knew coming into the season that the Cardinal would endure some growing pains. Still, the team's offensive struggles in Johnny Dawkins' third season at the helm are troubling." (Recap via Rule of Tree)
#20 Washington 88, Arizona State 75: After Washington's blowout, and quite possibly conference-clinching victory on Thursday against 25th Ranked Arizona, the Sun Devils came into Seattle looking to catch Washington off guard. And for a the first half at least, it looked like the Sun Devils had a chance to do exactly that.
It wasn't as if Washington was playing terribly, it's just that Arizona State was playing their best basketball all season. Whenever the Huskies would make their impossible hand-in-face three pointers that hit nothing but net, the Sun Devils would calmly answer them. Arizona State would lead for most of the first half, but an Isaiah Thomas three pointer gave Washington a 40-37 lead, and the Dawgs took a 40-39 lead into the locker rooms.
Carrick Felix got the second half started with two free throws to give Arizona State the lead back at 41-40, but that would be the last lead the Sun Devils saw all day. You do have to give it to Herb Sendek's crew though. After trailing by eight at 58-50 and 60-52, Arizona State battled all the way back to tie the game at 63. But the comeback would not prove to be enough for ASU, as Washington used a 12-2 run down the stretch to eventually pull away and win the game.
Matthew Bryan-Amaning led Washington with 30 points, while Ty Abbott and Trent Lockett led Arizona State with 20 points each.
Oregon 63, Oregon State 59: "The highly partisan Oregon St. crowd of 9,836 thought they were going to see their Beavers take control of the see-sawing momentum when Calvin Haynes found Jared Cunningham crossing on the baseline with a lob pass for a rim twisting dunk at the 4:39 mark that pulled the Beavers within 51-50. But it was as close as Oregon St. would get.
Garrett Sim sank his third three pointer of the game to answer, and Strowbridge stroked another three pointer on the Ducks' next flight down court, as Oregon built the lead to 7 points three times going down the stretch." (Recap via Building the Dam)
More game recaps, plus updated standings after the break
#25 Arizona 65, Washington State 63: "We had our chance (or, at least, a chance to tie). Klay drove into the lane, spun, got off a good fadeaway jumper, and...nope.
It was just that kind of night." (Recap via CougCenter)
California 68, USC 66: "Cal's win over USC last night was notable for a number of reasons. It was Cal's first win in the Galen Center on their fifth attempt. Harper Kamp turned in one of the most impressive efforts of his career on both ends of the floor.
But what really stood out for me after watching the game and listening to Mike Montgomery's post-game talk with Roxy Bernstein and Todd McKim was the job that Monty did switching up defenses and players around the court to hold on to the win despite a freakish three point barrage from Donte Smith and poor free throw shooting from every Bear that got to the line." (Recap via California Golden Blogs)
Updated Pac-10 Standings
1. Washington, 15-4 (7-1)
2. Arizona, 16-4 (5-2)
3. UCLA, 13-6 (5-2)
4. Washington State, 14-6 (4-4)
5. Oregon State, 8-10 (3-4)
6. Stanford, 10-8 (3-4)
7. California, 10-9 (3-4)
8. USC, 11-9 (3-4)
9. Oregon, 9-10 (2-5)
10. Arizona State, 9-10 (1-6)
Once again, if you would like an excerpt from your blog's game recap, please let me know at ConnorOSU@gmail.com.
--Connor