NCAA pursuits becoming battle of attrition.

Byline: INSIDE THE PAC-10 By Bob Clark The Register-Guard

So there was USC, talking about the NCAA Tournament and suddenly people were listening. The Trojans were 15-6, they did have a nonconference victory of note over North Carolina, they'd just beaten Arizona ... could it be?

`From the beginning of the year, our goal was the NCAA Tournament,' USC's Lodrick Stewart said, and he acknowledged that `I know it didn't seem realistic' with only four starters back from a 12-17 team.

Except, new USC coach Tim Floyd wanted lofty goals for his team.

`We were not going to sell this team short going into the year,' Floyd said. `We did not know what to expect, but we didn't listen to the expectations of others.'

And what are those expectations now? The Trojans balanced their win over Arizona with a loss to last-place Arizona State.

`This took us 10 steps back,' USC's Nick Young said.

`It's a big downfall for us,' Gabe Pruitt added.

The Trojans head to Seattle for a Thursday night game against a Washington team that has lost three in a row. It's going to be one of those games that starts to eliminate Pac-10 teams from consideration for the NCAA Tournament.

Can the Huskies afford a fourth consecutive defeat? As it is, Washington is 5-5 in the conference, and its RPI has fallen to 59th, a number not likely to be worth an NCAA berth. The Huskies have some work to do, but they could climb in the computer rankings and the Pac-10 standings if in coming weeks they can beat UCLA, Stanford and California at home, where Washington is 13-2 this season.

The latest version of the NCAA bracket at ESPN.com put out by Joe Lunardi, who has a track record of being very accurate, has four teams in the NCAA field. He has UCLA as a No. 4 seed, Arizona as a No. 9, Washington as a No. 10 and sneaks Cal in as a No. 12, with the Bears listed as one of the last four teams earning an at-large selection.

Lunardi names Stanford as one of the final four dropped out of the NCAA field, which seems to portend a Cal win over the Cardinal this week. If Stanford earns a sweep of the Bears, it's going to be hard to ignore for the NCAA selection committee, assuming those two teams remain close in the standings.

The NCAA selection committee is scheduled to gather this week for some preliminary discussions on the 65-team field. One of the participants in that will be Dan Guerrero, the UCLA director of athletics, who is in his first year on the selection panel.

He, of course, will have to recuse himself from discussing his own Bruins, but they're fairly safely in the field. Beyond that, he may have some defending of his conference brethren to do.

The fall of the 'Cats

Don't write off Arizona quite yet, even after three consecutive defeats. The Wildcats, though they are 13-9 overall and 6-5 in the Pac-10, have five of their final seven games in Tucson, beginning with Oregon on Thursday night.

`We will be judged on how we finish the season, rather than how we're doing right now,' UA coach Lute Olson said. `If we can put this together, I think we can do some serious damage.'

The next three games are all at home, with the Ducks followed by Oregon State and Arizona State. Oregon has won once at the McKale Center since the shot clock was instituted for the 1986 season, the Beavers last won in Tucson in 1983 before Olson was the UA coach, and the Sun Devils have lost 20 of 21 anywhere to the Wildcats since a 1995 double-overtime triumph on the court named for the coach and his late wife.

Yes, Arizona should be on the comeback, especially playing at home.

`Our fans do a lot to help our guys at home,' Olson said. `The fans almost give you a sense of urgency. ... Maybe this is the kind of team that needs that kind of enthusiasm behind them to get them excited about things.'

Consider what's at stake for the Wildcats. Arizona has 18 consecutive seasons with at least 20 wins, and 21 straight seasons with at least 11 conference wins. The Wildcats have been to the NCAA Tournament for the past 21 seasons.

Would this group like to be the one that ended all that success? Does Arizona even realize there is an NIT after the season? They've played in only the November version.

Olson said what's lacking at Arizona is the kind of leader he's had in past years, who drove teammates to a higher level and wouldn't settle for less.

`We're missing that fire and communication from the people who need to provide that,' Olson said.

Bruins on the move

UCLA had a couple of reasons to cheer its weekend, beyond the sweep at home.

Arron Afflalo made 4-of-6 shots against Arizona State, then had a career-high 27 points against Arizona. That improved offense from him is a big key to UCLA hopes in March, and this breakout came after Afflalo had gone through a stretch in which he missed 22 of his 25 three-point attempts.

`If anyone is questioning whether Arron's in a slump, that's over,' UCLA coach Ben Howland said. `He's back. He played very well.'

There was also this: Kyle Singler of South Medford and Kevin Love of Lake Oswego attended UCLA's win over Arizona, during an unofficial visit to the campus for the weekend. The student section did welcoming chants, and a group of them had the letters painted on their chests to spell out the names of the two recruits from Oregon.

Yes, even in Westwood there is hero worship of a fellow teen.

Love and Singler are generally considered the top two targets of the Bruins among high school juniors, and Love told the Los Angeles Daily News that each of them has UCLA in a final three that also includes Duke and North Carolina.

`So there's a 33 percent chance we'll go to the same place, so it's pretty high,' Love said. `We're good friends, so if it works out, we definitely would like to do it.'

Don't forget Cal

There's a lot to like about California in this race. The Bears are playing well, they've got a good inside-out combination and they may soon have Rod Benson back from an injury-caused absence to provide needed depth in the post.

The schedule also looks good. Cal has five of its final seven regular-season games in Berkeley, and that includes UCLA on the final weekend, for a possible title-decider. The lone trip left is to the state of Washington.

First up is the Thursday visit of Stanford, which has beaten Cal in the past six meetings and 16 of 18.

`It's going to be a huge game,' Cal's Richard Midgley said.

Deciding factors

A key for the Stanford-Cal game could be the trainers.

Stanford is concerned Matt Haryasz won't be ready because of the eye injury he suffered in the first half against OSU. It was so badly swollen Haryasz couldn't see out of it, and even asked the trainer to `cut me' to provide an opening in the eyelid to allow him vision.

This isn't `Rocky VII' so the Stanford trainer declined.

Cal has its own concern with point guard Ayinde Ubaka aggravating an ankle injury against Oregon, to go along with a bruised thigh muscle. He had one turnover this past weekend in two games in the Willamette Valley, in 71 minutes.

Wouldn't miss a minute

ASU's Kevin Kruger has been on the court for 94.7 percent of the minutes of games played by the Sun Devils this season. According to ASU spokesman Doug Tammaro, only four players in the country have played in a greater percentage of their team's minutes.

This is most notable after Kruger, the son of UNLV coach Lon Kruger, logged 40 minutes in the ASU victory over USC. Kruger scored 14 points, including four clinching free throws in the final 20 seconds.

All this after going sleepless for about 36 hours because of painful swollen gums, apparently related to his wisdom teeth.

`I couldn't talk,' Kruger said. `And swallowing is painful.'

But he played, and ASU won.

`It doesn't hurt anymore,' Kruger said after that.

RATING THE PAC-10

MEN'S BASKETBALL

1. UCLA: Next three in row on road, and five of final seven

2. California: Already more wins than either of past two years

3. Stanford: Thursday at Cal, then on to Gonzaga on Saturday

4. Arizona: Sign of times in league; lost three in row, still here

5. WSU: Loss streak ends; next task is league-leading Bruins

6. Washington: Now or never with Troy, Bruins in this week

7. Oregon: In league, last in both FT percentage and 3-pointers

8. OSU: Do miss Hurd: fewest assists, most turnovers in league

9. ASU: Still seeking first home win against a Pac-10 opponent

10. USC: Pruitt has made 59 threes, the most in Pac-10 by six