More mud for the Pac-10
COUGARS
Just when you have this called Pac-10 basketball figured out, you find you're totaled wrong. Completely wrong. The Arizona State Sun Devils were playing for an NCAA Tournament bid, right? So they had to play with passion and effort Thursday. There was no way they were going to let a Stanford team upset them, was there? Wham. The conference takes another punch to the stomach. Read on.
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• Washington State: We actually have a WSU link. It's to our women's game story. The Cougar women rallied from a big deficit and made a game of it (where have you read that before?) Thursday night, losing to UA by two. ... If you want the Arizona side of the game, read this. ... By the way, more than one person asked about the final play against Oregon on Wednesday and wanted to know if that's what Ken Bone drew up. Though I had no chance to talk with Bone after the game – it finished past our print deadline, so I was forced to just write and have someone else grab post-game quotes – or since, it was obvious it wasn't. The Cougars ran a play they like to use against the Ducks, in which the two wings cross along the baseline, receiving screens from the bigs and popping out. Oregon switched the screen on Klay Thompson, with Jeremy Jacob jumping off DeAngelo Casto and into the passing lane, denying Thompson a look. That left 6-foot-5 LeKendric Longmire on Casto. Because he took a step too far, Longmire was also out of position, and Casto had him pinned. It was exactly what WSU wanted, but Reggie Moore couldn't or didn't see him. A quick pass to the post and either Casto scores or is fouled – the way the free throw shooting had been going, I'm guessing Oregon would have hacked him and made him win it at the line – but the planned-for opportunity was missed. The rest of the time was wasted but I can tell you without even asking having Moore dribble the ball around at the top of the key and then try to tie the game with a tough, well-guarded jumper wasn't what Bone wanted.
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• Around the Pac-10: Before we get to the Pac-10 basketball tournament, we wanted to call your attention to the big day in Eugene. Football coach Chip Kelly has made it clear he'll announce punishment today for Jeremiah Masoli and LaMichael James, following their court appearances. You can read John Canzano's opinion, along with a story from the Oregonian and one from the Register-Guard. ... Now, on to hoops. ... The Sun Devils just screwed up their NCAA chances and deals the Pac-10's rep another blow. ... Washington almost does the same thing, but rallies for a key win as the Beavers can't hold on. ... Cal defeats Oregon, ending the Ducks' regular season though Mike Bellotti won't talk about Ernie Kent, but he's out. ... UCLA moves on, ending Arizona's NCAA streak.
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• That's it for now. We'll be back as news warrants. Until then ...
