STF Conference Reports: Pac-10 1/17

Team Of The Week - UCLA. On Saturday UCLA cemented themselves as the team to beat out west. Doing so with an absolute throttling of the Cougs at Pauley. UCLA managed a 7 points victory despite Wazzu's nailing seven consecutive three pointers down the stretch to make the score respectable. It was the Bruin's D and a lot of Love that won this game. The defensive pressure was relentless for the entire first half and most of the second. The Cougs simply couldn't get anything done offensively in the early going and once the pressure subsided they were just too far behind. It's this kind of defensive pressure that makes UCLA a title contender once again. And with Russel Westbrook and Kevin Love in the fold this may just be the team to do it.

Player Of The Week - Kevin Love. Another week another Freshman taking home POTW honers out West. Kevin Love was absolutely dominant in the Bruins win over Wazzu on Saturday. Love scored 27 points and ripped down 14 rebounds to go with 4 assist and only one turnover. Love actually out rebounded Wazzu himself in the first half of Saturday's match up 8 to 7. He dominated Aaron Baynes inside and even showed his range knocking down a pair of three-pointers. It was without a doubt Love's best game thus far and as he continues to improve it's hard to imagine many team's slowing him down as the season progresses into March.

Team With The Worst Week - Oregon State. Without a doubt the conference's worst team the Beavers racked up two more losses this past week. But they're only getting worst honers because of where both losses took place -- at home. The Beavers lost both games by a combined 30 points and gave limited resistance to their two opponents (Cal and Stanford). All signs points to the Beavers giving ASU's losing streak of last season a run for it's money (14 consecutive conference losses). Here's hoping it doesn't get that bad for this squad in the Pacific Northwest.

Games To Watch
Tonight - Arizona @ Stanford (11 EST) and (25)Arizona State @ Cal (10:30 EST)
Jan 19 - USC @ (4)UCLA (3:30 EST), (25)Arizona State @ Stanford (10 EST) and, Arizona @ Cal (8 EST)
Jan 20 - Oregon @ (8)Washington State (8 EST)

If I had to guess I'd say this is the week ASU falls back to earth with a pair of road games. Things should get real ugly for USC Saturday at Pauley. Cal and Stanford both have a chance to make big statements as they each host both Arizona squads.