The sixth-ranked Bruins demolished the Oregon State Beavers 84-49. The game was over within the first 30 seconds when Darren Collison hit a three-pointer to start the game to keep the Beavers winless in the Pac-10.
Kevin Love was a rebound short of his 16th double-double with 11 points and nine rebounds, and Darren Collison, Russell Westbrook and Lorenzo Mata-Real rounded out the players scoring double digits.
The big point of concern is the sudden cold streak Josh Shipp is having behind the arc. He has missed all 19 three-point attempts since the February 2 game against the Arizona Wildcats.
But enough about that bore of a game.
With five games in the Pac-10 regular season and the Pac-10 Championship tournament remaining, the Bruins are eyeing one of the four #1 seeds for the NCAA Tournament to give them an easy road to the Final Four. Being ranked sixth, the Bruins can’t afford to lose a game or snooze in the opening round of the Pac-10 tournament like they’ve done in past years.
Granted on Saturday either #1 Memphis or #2 Tennessee will slip in the polls after their faceoff, and #4 Duke is sure to slide behind the Bruins after their loss against the Miami Hurricanes Wednesday night. But another Bruin loss could possibly drop them out of the top ten with all hopes for a #1 seed gone.
And their schedule isn’t doing them any favors. After a game at home against the Oregon Ducks, they go into the desert to face the Arizona schools next week. Should they escape that unscathed, their prize is to face #9-ranked Stanford on March 6 at Pauley Pavilion which should be something else. They close the Pac-10 schedule with a home game against Cal.
AP Photo by Kevork Djansezian




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