USC 71, No. 9 Oregon 68

The Pac-10 is merciless; any weekend can humble a team. Oregon found that out last week after narrowly escaping disaster the week before.

After surviving the Washington road trip with a fortuitous split, then falling to UCLA, the No. 9 Ducks lost their third game in 10 days, this time at the hands of USC, who completed their season sweep of Oregon with a 71-68 win at the Galen Center on Saturday.

Taj Gibson scored a game-high 18 points on 7-of-9 shooting, and hit a free throw with 16.9 seconds left to put the Trojans (18-6 overall, 8-3 Pac-10) up by three.

Oregon (19-4 overall, 7-4 Pac-10) had a final chance to send the game to overtime, but Aaron Brooks, the Pac-10's leading scorer, couldn't make the last-second 3-pointer.

Brooks led the Ducks with 16 points and nine rebounds, but saw his team drop from first to fifth in the conference standings.

After a sweep of the Oregon schools, the Trojans are now tied for second in the Pac-10. USC will visit UCLA on Wednesday. Oregon will host the Arizona schools.

No. 5 UCLA 82, Oregon State 35

No matter how strong the conference is ... there are still the bottom-feeders.

Oregon State has found that out all season, and saw it Saturday in a near 50-point loss to No. 5 UCLA. The Bruins cruised to their 17th straight home win with an 82-35 win over the Beavers.

UCLA (20-2 overall, 9-2 Pac-10) shot 70 percent in the first half and completed the first 20 minutes up by 30 points. Arron Afflalo led the hosts with 16 points; Luc Richard Mbah a Moute had 14.

The Beavers (9-15 overall, 1-10 Pac-10) lost their sixth straight. OSU's 35 points were a season low; Marcel Jones scored a team-high 16 points.

Racing out to a 20-5 lead to start the game, the Bruins were able to play most of their reserves for much of the second half. Three UCLA players that have never seen the court played their first minutes on Saturday.

UCLA will host USC on Wednesday in a battle of two of the conference's best. Oregon State will seek its second Pac-10 win against the Arizona schools this week — the Beavers won their only conference game against ASU earlier this season.

No. 18 Washington State 48, Arizona State 47

On Thursday, the Cougars handled one of the most renowned basketball programs in the country. Two days later, against the Pac-10's worst, WSU could only watch as ASU's Christian Polk launched the game-winning shot with no time left in regulation.

Fortunately for No. 18 Washington State, the shot rimmed out and the Cougars escaped with a 48-47 win in Tempe, Ariz., on Saturday.

WSU (19-4 overall, 8-3 Pac-10) shot 63 percent in the opening half and boasted a 12-point lead at the break. Then the tide turned, and the Cougars were shut out for more than 11 minutes as the Sun Devils (6-16 overall, 0-11 Pac-10) tied the game at 44.

Down by four in the final minute, Polk hit a 3-pointer to cut the lead to one. After WSU's Derrick Low turned the ball over on the ensuing inbounds pass, Polk had one last chance to give ASU its first Pac-10 win of the season.

Jeff Pendergraph led the Sun Devils with 18 points; Daven Harmeling had 16 for the Cougars.

ASU will travel to Oregon this week; WSU will host the Bay Area schools.

No. 23 Stanford 90, Cal 71

Bouncing back from a heartbreaking loss to Gonzaga earlier in the week and owning a 43-25 advantage on the boards against Cal, it's pretty clear that No. 23 Stanford can rebound.

Fred Washington scored a season-high 21 points, had eight assists and six rebounds to lead the Cardinal to a 90-71 victory against the Golden Bears on Saturday in Berkeley, Calif.

It was Stanford's first week in the top 25 since the 2003-04 season.

Ayinde Ubaka — who had 26 points in a Cal win in the teams' first meeting this season — had 17 points to lead the Golden Bears (12-10 overall, 4-6 Pac-10). Ubaka and freshman sensation Ryan Anderson combined for just 9-of-26 shooting.

Lawrence Hill netted a game-high 24 points for the Cardinal (15-6 overall, 7-3 Pac-10); Brook Lopez had 19.

The teams split the season series and will travel to the Washington schools this week.