Pac-10 View Is a Bay Window

They might be mortal enemies on the basketball court, but UCLA and USC are saying a common prayer this week as they square off against the Bay Area schools:

Please, oh please, don’t let us get swept.

All four of these teams--UCLA, USC, California and No. 1 Stanford--are in contention for the Pacific 10 Conference title. And, for any of them, losing consecutive games tonight and Saturday could be crippling to their hopes. Sure, nothing is scrawled in cement this early in the season, but these battles of the Bay will go a long way toward determining the conference landscape.

“I think the weekend will shape how February unfolds,” said Curtis Borchardt, a Stanford center. “There’s a chance we could go 0-2, and suddenly the season would have a totally different outlook. It’s the same for any of the teams.”

Stanford leads the standings and UCLA is tied for second with Arizona. USC and Cal are tied for fourth, although each has lost only two Pac-10 games.

The top four conference finishers figure to get NCAA bids. It’s not inconceivable that Stanford and Arizona will claim the first two spots, leaving UCLA, USC and Cal scrambling for the third and fourth.

UCLA, which plays at Cal tonight, is itching to prove its 6-1 conference start is no fluke, even though the Bruins have claimed five of those victories at home. They won at Cal last season despite having fallen behind by 19 in the first half.

The stakes are just as high for USC, which is looking to catch the eye of NCAA tournament officials and could definitely do that by playing Stanford tough. The Trojans are 1-2 against ranked teams this season. They beat Utah but lost to Mississippi and Arizona.

So what will it take to knock off Stanford?

“They will have to have somewhat of an off day,” USC forward Sam Clancy said, “And we’ll probably have to play the best game we’ve played all season.”

At 19-0, Stanford already has set school records for the best start and longest winning streak. The Cardinal leads the conference in 12 of 19 statistical categories, notably scoring offense (84.6 points) and defense (61.0), and three-point shooting (41.6%).

Across the bay, Cal is cultivating quite a home-court advantage of its own. The Bears have won 13 consecutive games at Haas Pavilion, a streak that began with a 13-point victory over USC last March 4.

“Cal’s always a tough place to play,” UCLA forward Matt Barnes said. “They’ve got that new stadium now, and that crowd’s right on top of you, really yelling and loud. It’s a great place to play.”

Well, that depends. Last year, a Cal fan made copies of photos of Jason Kapono and Earl Watson, then circulated them in the student section. The fan doctored the shot of Kapono, writing “DORK” across his headband. The picture of Watson made him look effeminate and featured the headline, “Earl the Girl.”

For the record, the “dork” finished with 20 points, and made five three-point shots. The “girl” added 12 points and eight assists.

“That stuff doesn’t bother me,” Watson said. “I think it’s fun. It’s fun playing in an atmosphere like that.”

The Bruins are heading into their most pressure-packed stretch of the season. When they return from the Bay Area, they have road games at USC and DePaul, then play host to Arizona, which beat them by 25 points two weeks ago.

If the Bruins win tonight, they will feel far less pressure to pull off an upset of Stanford. But a loss at Cal could trigger a tailspin.

Coach Steve Lavin is careful about putting too much emphasis on the Bay Area games.

“I’m not too big on the make-or-break philosophy,” he said. “I think, by doing that, you set your team up to get too high if you win or too low if you lose. Every game is a big game, and you have to approach every game the same.”

It won’t be just another game for USC tonight. Last season, the Trojans were humiliated at Stanford, 111-68.

“We’re a totally different team than we were last year at this point,” Trojan guard Brandon Granville said. “Last year, we went to Stanford on a slide [having lost six of seven]. This year, we’re a little more experienced and have more of a winning attitude. We’re looking to prove we belong with some of the top teams in the nation. When we play with a chip on our shoulder and back to the wall, that’s when we’re most successful.

“The only thing I don’t want to forget about last year is, it was one of the most embarrassing losses I’ve been through as a player. That’s not a feeling you want to have, sitting on the bench early in the second half and you know the game is over. We have to keep it close and give ourselves the chance to win in the last five minutes.”

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