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Pac 12 men's race tightens up after Washington schools take three of four from bay area schools1/22/2012 - Both Cal and Stanford traveled up to the state of Washington in control of things and tied atop the PAC 12 men's basketball standings. They limped home tied atop the conference (Cal is now even with Oregon) after losing to Washington and beating Washington St. Stanford fell a little harder. The Cardinal were swept up north by Washington and Washington St. and hey fell all the way into fifth place, but at 5-3 in the PAC 12 the Cardinal remain just a game out of the lead. Stanford can get get right when they travel to Berkeley to take on the first place Bears Friday night. A second half run did the Cardinal in. Washington (12-7, 5-2 in the PAC 12) went on a 20-3 run midway through the second half to blow the game open. Freshman Tony Wroten had a game high 21pts, including five straight baskets during the Huskies second half run. Senior forward Josh Owns led Stanford (15-5, 5-3 in the PAC 12) with 14pts. Cal could not build on their win Thursday at Washington and lost Saturday at Washington St. The Bears could have put some space between them and the rest of the Pac, but a 77-75 loss at Washington St. left Cal with an empty feeling as they departed the Great Palouse. Faisal Aden led the way with 24pts against Cal. The Bears had five players score in double figures led by Jorge Gutierrez who had 19pts. Davonte Levy hit a three pointer and was fouled with 18-seconds left in the game to give Washington St. a 77-74 lead. Cal's Justin Cobbs hit one of two free throws with just seconds left for the final score. The PAC 12 is proving to be a very tough place to win on the road and the regular season conference champ could have as many as four or five losses. PAC 12 coaches will holler that every team is good and nobody will run away with the title. Home teams are 36-9 so far in PAC 12 play. The PAC 12 schools are hoping to get more than two teams into the Big Dance when selection Sunday comes around. The selection committee might not see things that way and they might be hard pressed to take more then two. A couple of teams will need to separate from the rest of the Pack, but right now that does not seem possible with everybody defending their home court they way teams are this season. On the women's side of things Stanford continues to roll towards their first PAC 12 title. Of course they won the last 19 Pac 10 basketball titles and the addition of Utah and Colorado has done nothing to prevent the Cardinal from claiming another title. The Cal Bear's women's team is making good progress towards a possible NCAA berth. They get a heat check this week when the Bears travel down to the Farm to take on #4 Stanford. Cal (15-5, 6-2 in the PAC 12) and alone in second place two games behind Stanford.
Bay Area teams starting off strong in conference play
Stanford routs Buffalo's to claim a share of the Pac 12 lead
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| Video courtesy of Hoopu.com | ||
San Francisco and Santa Clara look like they might make things interesting in the race for the WCC Championships this year.The Dons are 9-4 heading into conference play and they are lead by Angelo Caloiaro who tops the team in scoring (13.8) and rebounding (6.4) per game.
Santa Clara is 7-4 with wins over New Mexico and at Villinova which has to be one of the best wins he WCC has had so far this season. The Bronco's are led by guard Kevin Foster who will take his 17.5pts a night average into the Bronco's 2012 WCC opener against Portland Jan. 5th.
Santa Clara has been up and down this year and they can't afford to play to the level of their completion if they are to compete for a title and make the Big Dance. The Bronco's are coming off a 72-71 loss at 5-7 Houston Baptist.
What Cal team will show up for the new Pac12. Head coach Mike Montgomery hopes the Cal team that takes the floor Thursday night against USC resembles the one that got off to a great start and a top 25 ranking.
The team that got blown out by Maryland and most recently UNLV 85-68 is not the one Cal fans want to see the next couple of months. Can the Bears compete with the best teams the Pac12 has to offer. I say yes, simply because the Pac12 is not one of the top conferences in the nation.
There are a lot of good teams, but most are young and the conference race will be wide open and very exciting. UCLA comes through the bay to open up conference play and the Bruins are one of the conference favorites along with Stanford and Cal.
Down on the Farm things are looking bright. The team still lacks on identity, but it is filled with freshmen and sophomores who are going to only get better. Stanford wants to get off to a good start in the Pac12 and that means beating UCLA Thursday night.
The Cardinals loss to Butler ended a 15-game non conference winning streak that dated back to a Feb. 2009 loss to Oklahoma St 71-70. The loss also snapped Stanford current five game winning streak. Stanford's (10-2) only other loss was to #1 Syracuse in the finals of the pre season NIT.
Josh Owens leads the team in scoring (12.7) and rebounding (5.8) per game. The Cardinal made it to the finals of the pre season NIT where lost to Syracuse. That is a good sign and there is no better preparation for the post season tourney's then playing and doing well in one early in the season.
More then a few teams run to a sweet 16 or beyond have started with a trip to the finals of some pre season tournament.
 photo by Eric Taylor |
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Stanford v NC St. Photo's click here
By Brenden Anderson
12/4/11 Stanford, Calif. – The Stanford Cardinal came back from a 12-point deficit against North Carolina State to eke out a 76-72 win at home. With 14 minutes remaining and the Wolfpack up 52-40, Stanford point guard Aaron Bright took over the game and score 10 points in the next 5 and a half minutes to cut the lead in half, 52-58 with 8 minutes remaining.
“He (Bright) knows where to get people the ball,” 6-8 senior center Josh Owens said. “Good leadership. Keeping the team poised in a situation where they may have more momentum we rely on the guards to get us all settled down.”
He also knows how to score
Bright, a sophomore, controlled the tempo inside and outside, penetrating to the hole effortlessly and hitting threes from the perimeter.
He finished with 15 points on 5-of-8 shooting and added 3 assists with no turnovers. He had another 3 assists that didn't show in the assist column but did hit the points after Bright drives ended with free throws by senior center Josh Owens.
Stanford took the lead for the first time in the game with 3:06 minutes left. Bright crossed-over at the arc and drove to the lane attracting three defenders before he laid the ball in Owens hand who converted on two free-throws. Stanford hit their free throws down the stretch, including 19-of-21 (90.5%) in the second half.
“We had to make free throws,” freshman guard Chasson Randle said. “If you want to win games, you have to make free throws down the stretch.”
The Cardinal had four players score in double-figures: Owens (19), Randle (16), Bright (15) and Anthony Brown (12). They shot under 29% in the first half and over 47% in the second half. However it was the defense, especially in the second half, that made the comeback possible.
“We knew that they are a great offensive rebounding team. In the second half we got more physical on the box outs and for close out possessions,” Owens claimed.
NC State shot over 55% in the first half but were held to just 39% in the second half. Senior guard CJ Williams led NC State with 18 points, Lorenzo Brown added 12 and sophomore sensation CJ Leslie compiled 14 points. Leslie scored all his points in the first half as he sat out the last 10 minutes of the game with leg cramps.
”That young man is a great player,” Coach Johnny Dawkins acknowledged. “Him being out really hurt them,”
“They (NC State) played hard and this was a good win for us. It says a lot about this group. Being down by double digits and seeing the kids respond, it makes you real proud,” Dawkins stated.
You would think that is a stupid question. Of course everybody wants to be #1. The Kentucky Wildcats put in there bid for keeping the top spot in the national polls for another week by beating North Carolina 73-72 thanks to an Anthony Davis block on a shot attempt by North Carolina with three seconds left in the game.
Shocked by the play, nobody on North Carolina tried to foul and force Kentucky to foul line trying to extend the game and give them a last second shot to tie or win the game.
North Carolina was the #1 team at the start of the season, but they did not want it losing to UNLV last week. UNLV is good and they are off to an 8-0 start.
That opened the door for Kentucky and they look like they want to hold on to the #1 ranking as long as possible.
Some teams and or coaches do not like an early rise to the top spot in the polls. They site the pressure put on them by, of all people, themselves.
Teams also do not like the bull's eye that gets put on their back's by teams looking to make their whole season by upsetting the number #1 team in the land.
Of course the big prize goes to who ever gets to cut down the nets after the championship game in March and making the big dance is the only chance anybody has of finishing what they started out to do no matter what they are ranked.
Win a national title.
The Stanford Cardinal had to dig deep to beat Cal 31-28 and hang on to the axe for another year. Cal missed chances to get a big early lead, but they had to settle for field goals that added up to a 13-7 second quarter lead.
Stanford got their offense going scoring the next 21pts to take a 28-13 lead in the third quarter. Cal fumbled a pitch in the red zone and came up short on third and goal in the first quarter so the Bears could have put some pressure on Stanford.
Instead Stanford regrouped and ripped off three touchdowns behind both a running passing game. Tyler Gaffney found pay dirt to finish off a 78-yatrd drive and give Stanford a 14-13 lead.
Stanford would never trail again. The Cardinal failed to convert inside the red zone for the first time in 58 tries in the second quarter when kicker Jordan Williamson missed a 33-yard field goal.
Levine Toilolo hauled in a touchdown pass on Stanford's first drive of the second half to put Stanford up 21-13. Luck hit fullback Ryan Hewitt on a ten yard touchdown pass and Stanford had a 28-13 lead.
Williamson would provide the winning points with a 35-yard field goal to give Stanford a 31-21 lead in the fourth quarter. Cal scored a late touchdown with 14-seconds left in the game but could not recover the onside's kick.
Stanford will now wait and see if anybody else loses in front of them and hope they get back in line for a national title game. Right now it looks as if the SEC has both bids locked up.
LSU is followed by Alabama and Arkansas in the BCS polls. #2 Oklahoma, #4 Oregon, #5 Oklahoma and #7 Clemsen all lost Saturday.
The Ducks lost 38-35 when Alejandro Maldonado missed a 37-yard field goal with five seconds left that would have tied the game.
Oregon had their chance to jump back into the title bowl picture but instead were part of the carnage on Saturday. It looks like 11-0 Houston has little to no chance of making it to the title game.
They have one of the highest scoring offenses in the country and are just one of many perfect examples of why we need a playoff system in college football.
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It took a little while for the Stanford offense to get going, but once it did Andrew Luck and Co. had little trouble with the Duke Blue Devils. The Cardinal improved to 2-0 with the pounding of Duke.
Luck had a nice day, completing 20 of 28 passes for 290-yards and a career high four touchdowns.
About that slow start. The Cardinal led just 10-7after Duke's Lee Butler ended a promising Stanford drive when he picked a Luck pass out of the air and raced 76-yards for a touchdown to make it 10-7 with 2:14 left in the first half.
That seemed to light a fire under Luck and he quickly drove the Cardinal back down the field, finishing the drive off with a 10-yard touchdown pass to Chris Owusu. Owusu had a game high's with 7-receptions good for 106-yards and the touchdown.
Stanford's defense played great. Duke did not get close to scoring a touchdown until finally breaking through to score a touchdown with 57-seconds left in the game.
With all the attention Luck is getting Stanford defense is quietly having a great year. OK shutting down San Jose St. and Duke might not make them the best defense in the country.
The way the are doing it is impressive. Stanford held Duke to 30-yards rushing. The Blue Devils needed 33-carries to get that. Defense like that can help when Luck and the offense has a bump in the road.
It was right there for them. San Jose St. had just scored to tie the game at 17 with 4:30 left in the third quarter on a Brandon Rutley career high 65-yard touchdown run when UCLA handed them a gift.
Johnathan Franklin fumbled the ball when the Bruins got the ball back and San Jose St had a chance to take the lead as the game made a bee line towards the fourth quarter.
San Jose St. had been playing the game without starter Matt Faulkner who missed the game due to a concussion. backup Dasmen Stewart, making his first start, played well but he picked the wrong time to come down with cramps.
Stewart had to leave the game with San Jose St inside the UCLA twenty yard line in the third quarter forcing true freshmen Blake Jurich’s into the game to play quarterback.
Jurich moved San Jose St. to the UCLA 17 before his pass was picked off by Sean Westgate to end the threat. That was the second of four turnovers in the span of six minutes, two by each team.
UCLA would drive 70-yards down field after the pick only to fumble at the Spartan 24. Stewart, now back in the game, gave it right back to UCLA, throwing an interception to Sheldon Price at the San Jose St. 37.
UCLA turned that into a a 20-yard field goal and they had the lead for good.
San Jose St. looked a lot better then they did a week ago against Stanford. The Spartans did this last year. A week after getting blasted against Alabama the Spartans hit the road and played well against Wisconsin before losing at the end.
San Jose St was on there way to a 1-12 season and the effort against Wisconsin was soon forgotten. This is a different team that is a lot deeper then it was last season.
Braond Rutley led a Spartan attack that produced 202-yards rushing with 81-yards of his own.
Up next is the Spartans 2011 WAC and home opener when Nevada comes calling. Game time is 1pm.
Pac 12 standings (Men) |
Pac 12 scores (Men) |
Pac 12 standings (Women) |
Pac 12 scores (Women) |
WCC Standings (Men) |
WCC scores (Men) |
WCC Standings (Women) |
WCC Scores (Women) |
BAY AREA NCAA BASKETBALL SCHEDULES
| Santa Clara Men Women |
| Cal Men Women |
| Stanford Men Women |
| USF Men Women |
NCAA Basketball |
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Photo by Eric Taylor St. Mary's rolling along to start WCC1/10/2012 - St. Mary's got 18pts and nine rebounds from forward Rob Jones (above) and the Gaels remained perfect ahead of their showdown at home against Gonzaga with a 87-72 victory over USF at home. The Gaels also got a career high 27pts from Jr. point guard Matthew Dellavedova. Dellavedova was six of nine from three point land in the win over the Dons. St. Mary's (15-2, 4-0 in the WCC) beat USF for the 12th time in a row. Gonzaga comes calling Jan. 12th with first place in the WCC on the line. Game time is 8pm and it will be televised nationally on ESPN 2
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Photo by Eric Taylor Cal makes life tough for UCLA1/1/2012 - Cal shot just over 65% from the field to fuel their 85-69 victory over the UCLA Bruins at Haas Pavilion. The win moved Cal into a first place tie with Stanford and Washington. The Bears turned a close game at the half into a rout with a 37-14 run to start the second half. Pre season Pac 12 favorite UCLA dropped to 0-2 in conference play. Stanford guard shines bright in Cardinal's 51-43 win over USC St. Mary's (13-2, 2-0 WCC) rolls over Pepperdine 74-45 in Malibu USF gets beat at the buzzer by Loyola Marymount 77-76 |
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Photo by Eric Taylor Santa Clara shows promise in the preseason11/20//2011 -It is amazing what a win can do for you. Santa Clara kicked up a little dust earlier this season by beating Villanova in Philly. Sure they are not what they used to be but few expected Santa Clara to give them much of a game in the end. The Bronco's won the game 65-64 and it ended a stretch of three games in which they played NCAA Tourney type talent coming away with a 2-1 mark. Santa Clara beat New Mexico, lost to Oklahoma 85-73 before beating Villanova. The Bronco's are 7-4 and if they can win with some consistency, they have repeated a pattern of winning two games and losing one, a top tier finish in the WCC and a chance at post season play could be in the works for Santa Clara. |
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