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2011 Pac-10 Tournament – First Round Overview
Game 1: (9) Oregon State 69, (8) Stanford 67
The best thing about this game, the first of nine to be played at the 2011 Pac-10 Tournament, is that it didn’t go into overtime.
Oregon State and Stanford mucked it up in an ugly game that took a sleepy (and sparse) crowd at Staples Center and made it even more somnambulant. First-round Wednesday is always a sleepy affair in the Pac-10’s basketball festival. The bottom four teams in the league try to earn a place in the quarterfinals, where likely elimination awaits. Yes, Oregon State won this game, but the Beavers showed no signs of being able to take down Arizona in Thursday’s quarterfinal round.
How bad was the first half of this contest between coach Craig Robinson’s Beavers and coach Johnny Dawkins’s Cardinal crew? Consider this: Stanford scored just 18 points in the first half despite hauling down 12 offensive rebounds. Just ponder that pair of facts for a moment. Stanford gained numerous rebounds near the tin, and yet couldn’t crack 20 points in 20 minutes. Yes, it was that kind of an evening. Oregon State held a 26-18 lead at the intermission, but the Beavers couldn’t pull away in the second half. With just 13 seconds left in regulation, Oregon State – leading 67-65 – missed a foul shot. Amazingly, the Beavers then idiotically fouled Stanford’s Jarrett Mann on the rebound with 11 ticks left on the clock. Stanford was in the double-bonus at the time, giving Mann a chance to tie the score. Instead, Mann gacked on not one, but both foul shots.
Yet, Oregon State STILL couldn’t put away the Cardinal. OSU’s Jared Cunningham missed one of two free throws with nine seconds left to make the score 68-65. Up by three, the Beavers then intentionally fouled Stanford with seven seconds remaining. Stanford’s Jeremy Green nailed both of his attempts at the line to make the score 68-67. Stanford fouled OSU’s Jared Cunningham with six seconds remaining, and Cunningham (once again) could only make one shot. Down by two, Stanford had a chance to tie with a deuce or win with a three. Fittingly, the Cardinal never launched a shot attempt; the possession disintegrated into an aborted sequence, and Oregon State held on to the relief of every non-Stanford partisan in attendance.
Game 2: (7) Oregon 76, (10) Arizona State 69
Oregon definitely made strides in the back end of the Pac-10 season, while Arizona State never escaped the Pac-10 cellar. This game, the nightcap of Wednesday’s first-round doubleheader, affirmed these respective trends and identities.
Coach Dana Altman’s Oregon outfit clearly outpaced coach Herb Sendek’s Sun Devils from the Desert Southwest. Oregon made 19 foul shots to just one - yes, one – for Arizona State. The Ducks earned 27 attempts at the charity stripe compared to just three (yes, three) for the charmin-soft Devils. Oregon rolled to a 55-36 lead with 13 minutes left in regulation and was never seriously threatened. Arizona State pulled within eight, at 63-55, with 3:26 left, but that’s as close as this game became in the final minutes of regulation. Oregon hit 48 percent of its field-goal attempts and banged in 11 of 19 3-pointers to bury Arizona State in short order. While Oregon State-Stanford wasn’t compelling due to the ugly and ragged nature of play, this game lacked drama because Oregon exhibited considerable quality, in marked contrast to its opponent.
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Next Games
Pac-10 Tournament Quarterfinal No. 2
(9) Oregon State vs. (1) Arizona – Approximately 5:35 p.m. ET / 30 minutes after California-USC, Fox Sports Net
Pac-10 Tournament Quarterfinal No. 3
(7) Oregon vs. (2) UCLA – 9:05 p.m. ET, FSN
By Matt Zemek
DFN Sports Staff Writer