The Huskies completed a Pac-10 conference road sweep of the Oregon schools with an 85-59 route of Oregon State in Corvallis on Saturday. After trailing by as many as seven points in the first half, the Huskies continued the second half dominance they showed against Oregon on Thursday, outscoring the Beavers by 15 in the first 10 minutes of the half and never leading by less than 19 from then on. Combined with the Cal Bears and UCLA Bruins first conference losses of the season, the Huskies pulled into a three-way tie at the top of the Pac-10 standings, at 4-1 in conference play.

Brockman keys dominant rebounding effort

John Brockman continued his stellar play, scoring 19 to lead five Dawgs in double figures. He also pulled down 9 rebounds, leading to an almost unbelievable 44-13 team rebounding advantage. No Beaver pulled down more than three boards.

The Huskies also reversed a troubling trend, at least for one game: although second to last in the Pac-10 in free-throw shooting percentage, they shot 80% on Saturday, 12-15, lead by Quincy Pondexder's 5-5 night. Brockman, who only shoots 54% for the year, also shot 100%, making both his attempts from the line.

The Huskies have shown no ill effects from their heartbreaking loss to California at home last Saturday, reeling off two straight impressive victories, although against admittedly inferior competition; the Ducks and the Beavers are a combined 1-11 in Pac-10 play this season. However, these are the games that the Huskies must win convincingly if they are to be serious contenders for the conference title this year; the fact that they took over the games in the second half and maintained their focus even as their lead increased is a great sign for the team.

Big test coming up for Huskies

Next up for the Dawgs is a serious test of their ability to stay at the top of the Pac-10: a four game swing that will take them to Los Angeles to play USC and then UCLA, and then back home to Seattle for showdowns against the Arizona schools.

None of these four teams is a pushover; USC defeated nationally ranked Arizona State by 12 on January 15^th, and the Sun Devils in turn scored a highly impressive overtime victory against UCLA on Saturday. UCLA, for their part, are only ranked #7 in the nation and are looking to go to their forth consecutive final four in the NCAA post-season tournament. Throw in the always dangerous Arizona Wildcats, who have beaten Kansas and Gonzaga this year, and the next two weeks will go a long way towards sorting out the top of the Pac-10 rankings.

Dawgs looking strong

The Huskies, however, have shown they can play with anyone in the country. They lead the conference in both scoring and rebounding, have a Pac-10 player of the year candidate in Brockman, and a Pac-10 freshman of the year candidate in Isaiah Thomas. They hustle at both end of the court, play solid defense, and have five players who can drop 20 on a team at any time. The Pac-10 looks like a solid bet to send at least 5, and more likely 6 or 7, teams to the tournament this year, and the Huskies are making a stronger and stronger case to be among them.