Lute Olsen, oh my!!!

Quite a weekend in sports.
Here's the rundown of the Pac10 games.
Updated Pac 10 Tempo Free Stats are now posted.

Washington 47 Washington St. 75
Huskies continue their downward spiral as the boys from the east side continue there rise. Wazzu shot 60% efg and only the turned the ball over 6 times in this slow 63 (for the Huskies) possession game that was obviously dictated by the Cougs. Wazzu was led by Kyle Weaver who posted a 1.72 ppws with 17 points, 4 assists, 2 steals and 8 boards. Washington only shot 34% efg on its way near the bottom of the Pac10 while Wazzu clipped at a 1.19 points-per-possession efficiency compared to Washington's .75 ppp.

Arizona 69 UCLA 73
Arizona lost it's 3rd Pac10 game in a row under Lute Olson for the first time since his inaugural season in 1983. The Bruins kept the pace slower (67 possessions) than the Wildcats would have preferred and also out shot them 55% vs. 42%. With 5 guys averaging over 55% efg on the season, Arizona has shot 42%, 42% and 51% over the past 3 losses. It didn't help the cause that 'Zona only shot 20% on their 15 attempts.

Arizona St. 49 USC 58
Nick Young and Taj Gibson provided most of the Trojans' offense, with Young getting 18 points on 1.27 ppws, and Taj Gibson adding 11 points and grabbing 21% of available defensive rebounds. Both teams weren't exactly efficient in this 59 possession game with USC almost at a point a possession and the Sun Devils at .83 ppp. Offensive rebounds were hard to come by (28% for the visitors vs 22% for USC) and they both only shot around 45% efg. USC commanded a 19 free throw attempt edge that overcame their poor offensive performance.

California 84 Oregon 92
Compare this game to the USC-Zona St. game, and it's a completely different picture. This medium paced game (66 possessions) saw efficiency of Stephen Hawking proportions!! 1.27 ppp for Cal and 1.39!!! for the Ducks. Cal shot 62% efg to Oregon's 68% average and both teams kept their turnovers low at 18% vs. 14% as the Ducks mounted a tremendous 2nd half comeback. The Ducks got beat yet again on the offensive glass (41% vs. 33%) but their starters all poured in double digit scoring, led by Malik Hairston's 1.92 ppws on 19 points and only 8 attempts to get there. Brooks led the total numbers with 22 points while dishing 6 assists and hitting 4 of his 5 threes.


Stanford 67 Oregon St. 56
The Cardinal shot extremely well (67%) but coughed up an inordinate amount of gimmes (31% turnover rate on 18 tosses) in a slow 59 possession game. (Side thought: What happened to the lightning "fast" pace of Pac10 play???? 59, 59, 66, 67 and 63 possession games????? I want my horse races!!!!)
Lawrence Hill dropped in 5 of 9 threes on his way to 24 points. Stanford also had a 13 attempt advantage from the charity line and hauled in a big chunk of their few misses at a 40% offensive rebounding rate. To see the difference in efficiency, look no further than the line of field goal attempts: Stanford 38, Oregon St. 61. Not a way to win a game if you're missing that many chances.