Around the Pac-10

Pac-10 coaches seemed to agree that Arizona State’s Ike Diogu is the odds-on favorite for Player of the Year honors at the season’s halfway point. But a number of other players garnered a mention, including: Washington’s Tre Simmons and Nate Robinson, Arizona’s Salim Stoudamire, UCLA’s Dijon Thompson and Stanford’s Chris Hernandez. … Arizona coach Lute Olson couldn’t hide his disappointment earlier this week after losing to Washington State at home on Saturday, two days after beating then-No. 10 Washington. “Normally, your upperclassmen understand that if you’ve had a big win they really need to work hard at getting the other guys ready,” he said. “We did not get production our of our upperclassmen and they know better.” … Stanford remains the Pac-10’s hot team, having won six straight after a 0-3 start. … Oregon needs better starts to improve on a 3-6 conference mark. The Ducks have outscored their last five opponents in the second half, but are 1-4 because of lackluster starts. … USC freshman guard Nick Young scored 22 against UCLA last week for his fourth 20-point game of the conference season.