Pac-10 teams renew old acquaintances.

Byline: Pac-10 Notes by Bob Clark The Register-Guard

STILL A WEEK AWAY from the start of the Pac-10 season, a couple of games tonight carry more than the usual interest for December matchups.

There's Fresno State at California. That's a rematch from the first round of the NCAA Tournament last year, a game Fresno State won 82-70, though with Melvin Ely, who isn't expected to play tonight in Berkeley.

Already suspended once this season while the school probed allegations that Ely had received improper benefits while on a visit to Las Vegas - that figures, doesn't it? - there's new evidence being checked out. With no Ely, Cal should extend its 15-game home winning streak.

Ely's mother, Melvina, even told the Fresno Bee newspaper that she thinks her son `needs to leave school so he can sue the school and the NCAA. I don't want him out there being stressed out. The school is not being fair. He does not need to be there if he is being mistreated.'

The response from Fresno State coach Jerry Tarkanian? `She called me. I said, `Hell, I want him to play more than you do.' '

In the middle of all this is Scott Johnson, a University of Oregon graduate who also worked at Oregon State. He's now the interim athletic director at Fresno State and probably wishing he was still a Duck. Or a Beaver. Or anything but in charge of these Bulldogs.

Also probably not where he wants to be tonight is Dan Dickau, who returns to play in Seattle for the first time since he transferred from Washington to Gonzaga. Those Bulldogs also play Washington State this week, Saturday in Spokane, but that's not likely to be the competition, nor the interest, that is offered by Dickau playing the Huskies at their arena.

``These are tough games for us,'' Gonzaga coach Mark Few said. ``Teams want a piece of us. We realize that going in.''

Tonight's game is a rare sellout at the 10,000-seat Bank of America Arena in Seattle, only the second for Washington (6-2) since the remodeled arena reopened last season.

Dickau has always said he primarily left the Huskies because he didn't like the huge campus in a metropolitan area. But that sophomore season that was his last with the Huskies was also when Washington turned the point guard duties over to Senque Carey.

Then after Dickau left, Carey transferred out, too.

ROAD WARRIORS: What are Arizona fans getting for their money spent on season tickets? The promise of seeing the Wildcats ... when?

Of Arizona's seven games so far, one has been in Tucson. The Wildcats had four games at neutral sites and one on the road, at Texas.

The real road test for Arizona comes Saturday in a CBS game at Michigan State, which has won 49 straight home games.

The Wildcats then play their Pac-10 openers at Gill Coliseum and McArthur Court before hosting their second game of the season at McKale Center, on Dec. 28 against Pepperdine.

LOS ANGELES CHAMPS: Pepperdine, which plays at Oregon on Friday night, has already beaten the Bruins and Trojans.

`We will claim that we own L.A., at least right now,' Pepperdine coach Paul Westphal said.

The Waves hadn't beaten UCLA since 1945. The win over USC was `double nostalgia' for Westphal, an alum of USC.

The Waves beat the Trojans on a shot with 2.5 seconds left, after setting up the play in a timeout with eight seconds showing on the clock. And then retalking the play, over and over, through USC calling all three of its remaining timeouts.

Westphal finally walked on the court, held up his chalkboard as if to tell the Trojans and USC coach Henry Bibby, `here's what we're running.'

That may have been overcoaching by Bibby, who then didn't have a timeout to set anything up in response for those final 2.5 seconds.

HE SCORES, AND MORE: It took only six games, the last two as a starter, 96 minutes and 15 shots before UCLA's Rico Hines scored his first points of the season. That came Saturday against Alabama.

Also against the Crimson Tide, Matt Barnes hit two three-point shots, after having one in the other five UCLA games. And Dan Gadzuric, a 31 percent free-throw shooter, made three of his four attempts at the line.

`When Matt Barnes is hitting three-pointers and Gadzuric is hitting foul shots, that's a good day for UCLA,' said Alabama coach Mark Gottfried, once an assistant with the Bruins.

And yes, the Bruins are using 6-foot-7 Jason Kapono as their point guard with Cedric Bozeman out a month after knee surgery. The odd thing is opponents haven't put more pressure on Kapono. When Alabama did, the Tide made a run at the Bruins, then backed off and UCLA breathed a sigh of relief before pulling away.

OTHERS DID WELL: So was Stanford coach Tyrone Willingham really interested in the Notre Dame job? Well, not really, it sounds like.

But as long as the Irish did call, Stanford listened to a couple of complaints from Willingham, and assistants will receive a pay raise and the issue of improving the practice facility will be addressed with new vigor.

Rating the Pac-10

1. Arizona Outrebounded just once this year, by one in the one loss, to Jayhawks.

2. Stanford Two-week break in the schedule doesn't end until Saturday night.

3. USC Last in the league in shooting (.405) but first in FG defense (.350).

4. UCLA Overlook Cal-Irvine? It beat Pepperdine, which Bruins certainly didn't.

5. California Frosh Sampson has 16 blocks; Bears had 66 as a team all of last year.

6. Washington Shooting .729 on FTs; .575 last year was next to worst in Division I.

7. OSU State title? Play next at PSU, which beat Pilots, who beat Oregon, so ...

8. Oregon Minnesota lost at home a week ago to North Carolina-Wilmington.

9. ASU Crandall returns from mission to shoot .500 on his three-pointers.

10. WSU Beaten up, too; ailing foot puts Riley out and Locklier's nose broken.