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UCLA 73, Arizona State 72: The Pac-10 season continued Saturday afternoon in Tempe, with both teams coming off losses on Thursday night.
Except for about the first five minutes of the first half, the Bruins were in control throughout the first twenty minutes. After being tied at eight early on, the Bruins gradually pulled away from the Sun Devils using some hot shooting and great defense. UCLA led 32-19 at the Half.
But while the Bruins controlled the first half, the Sun Devils were in charge of the second. After trailing by fifteen early on in the second half, Arizona State made a furious rally to tie the game at 61 with 20 seconds left. The Bruins had two good looks to win it in the final five seconds, but both jumpers bounced off the rims to force overtime.
The Bruins hit three quick three pointers to start Overtime, but once again, the Sun Devils were not fazed. Trailing 70-63, Arizona State got within three points twice in the final two minutes, but the Bruins made their free throws down the stretch to hand on for the victory.
Lazeric Jones led the Bruins with 18 points, while Trent Lockett led the Sun Devils with 17.
California 85, Oregon 77: "Luckily Cal's offense woke up just in time, and our veterans stepped up when we needed them - Harper got a quick layup, Jorge hit his biggest 3 of the season, and MSF made one of his patented little hooks. And after spending most of the 2nd half letting a lead slip away by missing free throws the Bears stepped up and hit their last 10 from the charity stripe to hold on, if just barely. Phew." (Recap via California Golden Blogs)
Arizona 82, USC 73: After two big wins on Thursday, both teams came into Saturday looking for a 2-0 weekend. And since the ball was thrown up in the air, it appeared as if the Wildcats would be that team. Both teams got off to hot shooting starts, but when USC cooled down, the Wildcats kept pouring it on. Arizona took a 40-31 lead into the locker rooms, a result that could have been much worse for the Trojans.
To start the 2nd Half, the Wildcats quickly erased any doubt about the outcome. Arizona led by as many as 19 at one point, with the Trojans only pulling within nine thanks to an 11-0 run in the final three minutes.
Derrick Williams led the Wildcats with 20 points, while Nikola Vucevic led the Trojans with 18.
Other game recaps, plus updated standings after the break
Stanford 70, Oregon State 56: "Stanford walked away into the brisk California night with a 14-point win, but don’t let the final margin fool you: the Cardinal did not put forth an impressive 40 minutes of ball. OSU head coach Craig Robinson’s (brother of First Lady Michelle Obama) 1-3-1 zone defense gave Stanford fits all night, and forced 18 turnovers.
13 of those turnovers came in a remarkably sloppy first half by both teams. Stanford managed to shoot 50% from the field–their best game field goal percentage in weeks–but only did so because the vast majority of their shot attempts came when they were able to elude the Beaver press and find open men in the paint for high-percentage looks." (Recap via The Daily Axe)
Updated Pac-10 Standings
1. Washington, 15-4 (7-1)
2. Arizona, 18-4 (7-2)
3. UCLA, 14-7 (6-3)
4. California, 12-9 (5-4)
5. Washington State, 14-6 (4-4)
6. USC, 12-10 (4-5)
7. Stanford, 11-9 (4-5)
8. Oregon, 10-11 (3-6)
9. Oregon State, 8-12 (3-6)
10. Arizona State, 9-12 (1-8)
Once again, if you would like an excerpt from your blog's game recap, please let me know at ConnorOSU@gmail.com.
--Connor