Thirteen minutes before tipoff . . . UCLA vs. USC . . . Pacific 10 Conference Men's Basketball Tournament.
There's your introduction. It should be a wicked night of basketball . . .
10:53
Stanford 75, Washington State 68.
The Cardinal a lot of Cougars' jump shots and the all-around play of Kyle Weaver to earned a spot in Saturday afternoon's final against UCLA.
Do you think Darren Collison will hear many whistles blowing when he drives on the Cardinal Saturday?
If Stanford's players and coaches are still bitter about the foul call on Lawrence Hill after an apparent clean block of Collison that led to two free throws and put the Bruins into overtime when UCLA eventually prevailed in Pauley Pavilion last week, they get an on-court opportunity to act on those frustrations Saturday afternoon.
Before I hit the 110 Freeway (to the 405 and then 5) home and get ready to fly to Sacramento Saturday morning for high school hoopla (state title games involving Poly's girls and Dominguez' boys), here's a thought:
There was nothing approaching an upset in the first three days of the tournament.
UCLA has the No. 1 seed in the West under lock and key. Can Stanford play itself into a No. 2 seed (not in the West, though) by beating the Bruins Saturday. I'm guessing . . . yes, it could.
10:21
Stanford continues to hold 5-to-7 point advantages. Brook Lopez has been ridiculous around the basket (28 points). No wonder he'll be one of the first six or seven selections in the June NBA Draft.
10:07
It's Semifinal No. 2 and Stanford is in front of Washington State, 47-45, with 11:37 remaining.
It's time to break this one out: Both of the semifinals have been the equivilent of high-level NCAA Tournament contests.
In fact, I'm not sure that we'll see any two second-round games next week matching teams of the caliber that played in the Pac 10 semifinals tonight.
8:14
It's over . . . but only after Mayo missed a 3 from out top that hit the back iron with about two seconds to go. Daniel Hackett recovered the ball but with not enough time to launch another potential score-tying 3. Bruins 57-54. I'm not sure if Mayo was shooting over Josh Shipp or Russell Westbrook. My line of vision was blocked by UCLA coaches . . . such is the price to pay for such a close seat, I suppose.
7:58
O.J. Mayo -- I haven't written his name in a while -- just scored on a nifty, spinning move to cut USC's deficit to five points. And Jefferson just picked up his fourth foul and Love is shooting the 1-and-1, with play resumes following the last "media" timeout with 3:43 to play.
By the way: I'm a media member yet have never requested a "timeout" during any basketball game I've covered. What's the deal?
7:50
Timeout UCLA (its fourth). USC has the momentum, albeit not a lot of it. Bruins have three consecutive turnovers and USC trails 50-45 with 6:12 remaining. Bruins have the ball.
7:47
Timeout USC, 8:19 to go . . . Mbah a Moute is on the floor, with his left leg elevated . .
7:40
After that initial burst by the Bruins, the game has gotten a little stagnant. Alfred Aboya just committed an ill-advised foul on Jefferson when he was shooting a fallaway jump shot. Not sure if it was ruled a 3-pointer or not. But he will be shooting at least two free throws with play resumes. UCLA 46-39 with 11:32 remaining.
Mbah a Moute is sitting on the bench . . .
7:20
"Sprained ankle, no break; won't play again tonight" said UCLA bb PR guy Ryan Finney of Mbah a Moute.
In the meantime, UCLA has outscored the Bruins 6-0 in the first two minutes of the second half. Score is tied and Tim Floyd called time out.
In
6:59
Darren Collison just hit a 19-footer at the buzzer to cut USC's lead to six points (34-28) at intermission.
That was one of the few good things to happen for UCLA. If Mbah a Moute's apparent ankle sprain is severe, the Bruins' hopes for a third consecutive Final Four appearance have just taken a major hit.
6:45
Mbah a Moute was just helped to the locker room with what appears to be a sprained left ankle. He looked to be in severe pain. That's not good for the Bruins, either for tonight or the NCAA Tournament.
6:32
USC is playing well on offense. The Trojans are aggressive without taking bad shots. Excellent movement off the ball. Dwight Lewis just drove right past Luc Richard Mbah a Moute for a layup and 17-11 and Ben Howland just called his second timeout. Scoring isn't going to come nearly as easily as it did Thursday, Bruins.
6:25
OK . . . a little delay while I try to figure out what the heck I'm doing. Not with my life but with getting this blog up and going.
Trojans 12-9. Davon Jefferson is playing well for the Trojans. They are junking it up defensively, with a triangle-and-two. Kevin Love is stepping out on the perimeter and has missed one 3 but has a nice follow dunk and another power layup.
6:03
Two minutes before tipoff. I'm sitting front row behind UCLA bench, if you want to look for me. There is no Double-Double coming out of my head . . .
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