BearTalk

Even after Cal’s big win over Iowa State, the Pac-10 trails 6-2 in the Hardwood Series vs. the Big 12. And No. 1 Kansas visits UCLA on Sunday. Yikes.

AROUND THE PAC-10

– Missouri raced to a 53-24 halftime lead and buried Oregon 106-69. The Ducks (4-3) shot 31 percent from the field, made just 4-for-18 from 3PT and committed 19 turnovers. Guard TaJuan Porter, who has been botthered by an ankle injury was scoreless in six minutes. The Tiigers had runs of 11-0 and 22-1 in the first half.

– Washington State (6-2) suffered its second straight defeat, losing 86-69 at Kansas State (7-1) in a game that wasn’t really as close as the score. Klay Thompson scored 22 points and shot 11-for-11 from the FT line, but he had nine of 25 turnovers by the Cougars that K-State transformed into 39 points.

– Wasn’t a Big 12/Pac-10 matchup, but more bad news for the Pac: USC (2-4) got pounded 79-53 at Georgia Tech. The Trojans lost their seventh straight road game, shooting 1-for-12 from 3-point range with 17 turnovers.  Alex Stepheson scored 22 points, but senior guard Dwight Lewis was scoreless in six minutes.

THE NATIONAL SCENE

Let’s save some time and just give Kentucky freshman John Wall the national Player of the Year award now. Wall had 16 points, seven assists, five rebounds and three steals to lead the No. 5 Wildcats (8-0) to a 68-66 win over No. 10 North Carolina (7-2) . . . Kyle Singler had 17 points and eight rebounds and No. 6 Duke (7-1) beat St. John’s 80-71 . . . No. 8 Syracuse (8-0) roared to a 60-12 halftime lead on the way to a 101-55 rout of Maine . . . No. 15 Ohio State (7-1) blasted Eastern Michigan 111-60, but lost super senior forward Evan Turner, who was averaging  20.6 ppg and 12. rpg to a fractured vertebrae in his back that will keep him sidelined for at least eight weeks . . . No. 17 Gonzaga (6-2) lost for just the fourth time at home since the McCarthy Center opened in 2004, falling 77-75 to Wake Forest . . .  Charlotte handed Rick Pitino his worst home loss at Louisville, pasting the No.20 Cardinals 87-65. 

LOCAL HEROES

Former San Ramon Valley HS star Omar Samhan had 22 points and 17 rebounds, leading Saint Mary’s (6-1) to a very impressive 68-63 victory at Utah State,  snapping the Aggies’ 37-game home court win streak . . . Castlemont HS grad Chris Oakes had 14 points and 12 rebounds and Skyline HS product Robert Owens added 14, leading San Jose State (3-3) to an 82-74 road win over Utah Valley . . . Oakland HS grad Damian Lillard, a sophomore guard at Weber State, scored 27 points in am 80-65 road win vs. Sacramento State. Lillard, who has scored at least 20 points in four consecutive games, averages 21.7 for the season . . . Freshman guard Chris Brew, formerly of St. Mary’s HS in Berkeley, scored a career-high 11 points in UC Santa Barbara’s 69-61 loss to San Diego State . . . Bishop O’Dowd HS grad Shawn Lewis scored a season-high 22 points in Cal Poly’s 83-77 win over Pepperdine.