California coach Mike Montgomery knows what's at stake when the No. 5 seed Golden Bears plays No. 4 USC at noon in the quarterfinals of the Pac-10 Tournament.
Early this week he acknowledged there's three conference teams (Arizona, UCLA and Washington) who will likely make the NCAA tournament and said everyone else needs a strong showing in the conference tourney to impress the selection committee.
ESPN bracket expert Joe Lunardi has Cal, USC and Washington State among his last eight teams out of the tournament.
PAC-10 TOURNAMENT ROUNDUP:
--- Thrilling start to the tournament Wednesday. Oregon State coach Craig Robinson is proving he's a man on of principle. Last Saturday he benched nine players and Wednesday's night he went with the same bizzare starting lineup in the biggest game of the season. He also kept seniors Calvin Haynes and Lathen Wallace - two of OSU's top four players - on the bench. Despite it all, the Beavers escaped with a 69-67 victory over Stanford. OSU's "bench" scored 58 points. Next up: No. 1 seed Arizona.
--- The Cardinal has no one to blame but itself. Stanford struggled through a woeful 11.8 shooting (4 of 34 from the field) in the first half and trailed 26-18 at the break. Stanford's season likely came to an end at 15-16. The Cardinal aren't expected to receive a postseason invitation.
--- Despite Stanford's bad shooting, the game was decided in the final seconds when OSU's Jared Cunningham blocked Jeremy Green's potential game-winning three-pointer.
--- Oregon's E.J. Singler scored a career-high 22 points to lead the Ducks to a 76-69 win over Arizona State. His previous best was 19.
--- Arizona State was picked to finish fourth in the regular-season by writers in a preseason poll. They were last. The Wildcats ended its season at 12-19, the worst mark since Herb Sendek's first season in 2006-07.
--- Here's our advance of today's big game against Washington State.
--- Jerry Brewer takes another look at Venoy Overton's suspension.
--- Jim Moore at the SeattlePI.com says UW may be better off without Overton.
--- Good statistic from the Los Angeles Times: "USC is 10-1 when senior forward Alex Stepheson records a double-double this season, with wins over Texas, UCLA, Washington and Arizona."
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