People have to start taking the Surgin’ Sendeks seriously, as Jordan Bachynski and Arizona State thumped UCLA Saturday. In particular, the final play says a lot about the Sun Devils, says Doug Haller (Carrick Felix wouldn’t let Jordan Adams get a bucket as time expired). The win puts ASU at 5-2 in Pac-12 play with wins over Colorado and UCLA, not to mention a non-conference triumph over Arkansas. Things were pretty swell on the women’s hardwood as well, as ASU women’s head coach Charli Turner Thorne got her 300th win at Arizona State with the Sun Devils’ 60-53 W over USC after trailing by 16 at the half.
Sixteen-point first-half deficits erased on the women’s side, you say? Cal can do that, too: The Golden Bears completed the comeback against Colorado with a 59-56 victory over the Buffs in a Friday night thriller. In other Cal sports news, the Golden Bears retained the Scrum Axe with a 176-0 (ouch) rugby triumph over Stanford.
Guess which team is still undefeated in Pac-12 play on the men’s side? Oregon, of course, which improved to 18-2 overall and 7-0 in conference with an 81-76 win over Washington. After the game, Dana Altman was appreciative of the first sellout at Matthew Knight Arena in two years. In track news, Galen Rupp just ran the fifth-fastest mile ever indoors, and after getting a silver medal at the 2012 Summer Games in the 10k, The Oregonian asks is there anything Galen Rupp can’t do?
Arizona got back on track with a 24-point victory over the Trojans Saturday. In the Wildcats’ 74-50 W over USC, it was all about defending their pride.
Three straight in the win column for Boyle’s Buffs, as Colorado’s first-half defense was enough to down Cal and pull even in the Pac-12 standings at 4-4. Colorado held Cal to 21 percent shooting and 18 points in the first 20 minutes. Part of the effort on the court for Colorado was a quickly maturing Xavier Johnson.
There must be something in the air in Corvallis for Washington State men’s hoops: The Cougars were clutch Saturday, topping Oregon State 71-68 thanks to a career-high 23 points from Mike Ladd. That was the fourth straight win for the Cougs in Corvallis.
Good weekend for Washington women’s hoops, and the Huskies completed it with a 66-53 defeat of Oregon in Seattle. Always nice to get the home sweep. In fact, it’s more than just a good weekend – the Washington women increased their winning streak to four games.
In case you didn’t know already, the link roundup has an affinity for women’s gymnastics, especially Utah gymnastics. This past Friday, the No. 8 Red Rocks held onto a win against No. 13 Arizona with a solid last routine on the balance beam by Mary Beth Lofgren.
Let’s not forget about Oregon State women’s gymnastics, either. The Beavs notched a season-high team score of 195.825 to finish third out of five at the Metroplex Challenge. Ranked 16th heading into the meet, Oregon State finished ahead of ninth-ranked Georgia. Always nice to get one up on Nic Lloyd, right?
The roundup also loves men’s volleyball, especially John Kosty volleyball, and the moves he made paid off in a Cardinal volleyball sweep of UC Santa Barbara. The major move was going to a two-libero system – with no more Erik Shoji on campus, Grant Delgado and Scott Sakaida are sharing the off-colored jersey.
UCLA has a bomb women’s tennis team. How bomb, you ask? They’re ranked like second in the nation! The squad is off to a solid start, too, as UCLA women’s tennis registered a 4-0 victory over USD during the ITA Kick-Off Weekend.
Let’s forget about the whole 2012 football season and look to the future, Trojan fan. A good way to start that process is by reading this Ripsit Blog post about the 2013 early entrants for USC football. There are seven in all – four of ‘em five-star recruits, three of ‘em four-star recruits.