Pac-10 Roundup: Season Openers
This evening: a preview of UW’s game tomorrow night against San Jose State.
This morning: a brief capsule review of how the rest of the Pac-10 fared in their games to start the season. It’s early, but maybe not too early to feel awesome about my assessment that Oregon State is vastly overrated at this point. . . or to feel really iffy about picking UCLA to finish third in the conference.
Arizona: Defeated Northern Arizona in their opener behind 17 points from freshman Solomon Hill. Nic Wise had 15 for the Wildcats in Coach Sean Miller’s debut. Next, they play Rice at home on Thursday night. Here’s a link to their official site for game stories and box scores.
Arizona State: Crushed Western Illinois in their opener last week, defeated Texas State 84-62 Monday night in the first round of the preseason NIT, and defeated TCU 52-49 in the second round. Next up, San Francisco at home on Friday night. Then, a real test against Duke on Wednesday, November 25th, in the NIT Season Tip-Off semifinals. Here’s a link to their official site for game stories and box scores.
Cal: Just got by Murray State in their opener last week, winning 75-70. In their second game, they blew out Detroit, 95-61. No surprise that Jerome Randle, Patrick Christopher and Theo Robertson were the top scorers in each of the games. Next, they’ll play Syracuse in New York City on Thursday night (on ESPN2) in a matchup of Top 25 teams. Here’s a link to their official site for game stories and box scores.
Oregon: Handily defeated Winston-Salem State, UC Davis and Colorado State in the BTI Tip-Off Tournment. Guard Teondre Williams was impressive, averaging nearly 14 points per game for the Ducks. Next up, they’ll travel to play Portland on Friday night. Here’s a link to their official site for game stories and box scores.
Oregon State: Lost two of their three games in the Duel in the Desert, getting blown out in their opener by Texas A&M – Corpus Christi (63-47), then handily beating South Dakota, before losing a squeaker to Texas Tech. No one player averaged more than 12 points on a weekend that’s got to be a huge blow to a team with tournament dreams. Next game: at home vs. Sacramento State on Saturday. Here’s a link to their official site for game stories and box scores.
Stanford: Landry Fields averaged 23.5 points per game as Stanford split its first two contests. After losing to San Diego, 77-64, in their opener, the Cardinal came back to defeat Cal Poly, 70-53, on Sunday. Then last night, the Cardinal lost a squeaker to Oral Roberts, 83-81, becoming the second Pac-10 team to pick up their second loss in non-conference play. Here’s a link to their official site for game stories and box scores.
USC: Despite opening the season with only six healthy scholarship players, USC defeated UC Riverside, 77-67, on Tuesday night. Dwight Lewis scored 22, and USC only played seven different players. Here’s a link to their official site for game stories and box scores.
UCLA: After a close shave in their first exhibtition game, UCLA lost its opener to Cal State Fullerton Monday night in double overtime, 68-65. I caught a little bit of this game, and this is as unathletic a Bruin team as I’ve seen. I am absolutely regretting picking them, and not Oregon, as my third place finisher in the Pac-10. Next is Cal State Bakersfield at Pauley on Friday night. Here’s a link to their official site for game stories and box scores.
WSU: Crushed Mississippi Valley State in their opener, 94-66, then beat Eastern Washington, 67-61, on Monday night. Also caught some of the game against Eastern and wonder if Ken Bone has the horses to run a faster pace at Wazzu this season. If DeAngelo Casto ever learns to play with a chip on his shoulder, watch out. Next up, IPFW at home on Thursday night. Here’s a link to their official site for game stories and box scores.
Here’s a link to the conference standings so far.
Thanks for coming!