I would have posted this sooner but as I was reaching for the keyboard I was called for an offensive foul.

That was an interesting attempt at a basketball game. Not even traffic cops blow their whistles that much.

Derrick Williams was called for two fouls in two-and-a-half minutes. After eight-and-a-half minutes three UA starters had two fouls each. Williams was whistled for foul #3 with seven minutes left in the first half, #4 a whole 18 seconds into the second half, and #5 (on a moving screen of all things) with nine-and-a-half to play.

"A moving screen? A MOVING SCREEN?!?"
Photo by Nick Oza, The Arizona Republic

Sean Miller needs to stop trusting Derrick to play with fouls (and stop trusting Pac-10 referees to let him). Just like in the first Washington State game, Williams showed he hasn’t yet learned how to avoid contact when he goes back into the game too soon.

As angry as Wildcat fans are at the officials, this is Husky basketball. And before anyone says, “The foul discrepancy was only four! And you were trying to stop the clock at the end!” take a look at the trends. In their last ten games Washington has committed 255 fouls compared to 211 for Arizona. That’s an extra 4.5 fouls a game, or six minutes’ worth for Derrick Williams.

The Huskies’ style is aggressive, it’s physical, and it uglies up the game. Refs feel the need to maintain control and the result is a parade to the free throw line (and the bench).

It’s like playing those Illinois teams we loved to hate. No, come to think of it, I don’t think we enjoyed hating them.

The Cats just lost to Ill-Venoy.

(Pause. Deep breath. And…go.)

Now for the good news. We got more Lavender than a bridesmaid dress! Brendon didn’t miss the entire game. From 17 points in his last 13 games to nine points in the first half. So why didn’t we get him more shots in the second half? (Who would’ve thought we’d ever say that?)

We have a confirmed Alex Jacobson sighting! After Fogg missed another free throw late in the game (a surprisingly bad night at the line for Kyle) Alex got a huge offensive rebound. But then he panicked and immediately passed it back out even though he was all alone under the basket.

Alex! My man! You’re seven feet tall! You are allowed to jump up and place the ball though the hoop!

But you can’t blame a guy who has had more Did Not Plays than total minutes lately. Five boards and knocking down a jumper is a job well done.

(You know it’s a weird game when we’re calling for both Lavender and Jacobson to shoot more.)

Since we’re trying to stay positive, at least Derrick Williams won’t be tired on Saturday.

But the best news is MoMo Jones’ developing hairstyle. On top it’s puffed up to a full triangle that runs all the way down to his neck in back. It’s like he’s grown his own Davey Crocket cap. I approve.

But seriously, the best of the best news is we’re still in first place! Thank you, KO! Maybe that student manager was holding you back.

So the Cats, Devils, Bears and Bruins are all tied for the conference lead with hideous 6-4 records. Cal and UCLA play on Saturday (root for the Bruins since we get them at home) so somebody’s going to get to seven wins.

Can Arizona join them? Huge game on Saturday. We owe the Cougars for the buzzer-beater in Tucson. And we have a shot at tying for the least hideous record in the league.

Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to shut down my computer. It’s a little dusty and I don’t want to be called for….an illegal screen.

Arizona has had a great two weeks. TWIT-Pac wants to know if the Cats can keep it up now that they won’t sneak up on anyone anymore.

Thu. Feb. 4
ASU (15-7 / 5-4) at WSU (14-7 / 4-5) – 8 p.m. (all times Arizona/Mountain)
The Devils beat the Cougs by 25 the first time around.

ARIZONA (12-9 / 6-3) at Washington (14-7 / 4-5) – 8:30 p.m., FSN
No time to celebrate for the first-place Cats. The Huskies have won their last four home games by an average of 31 points.

Cal (14-7 / 6-3) at USC (12-9 / 4-5) – 8:30 p.m.
Let the scoreboard watching begin!

Stanford (10-11 / 4-5) at UCLA (10-11 / 5-4) – 8:30 p.m.
With three games at 10:30 Eastern even the Pac-10 schedule-makers are embarrassed by the conference’s performance.

Sat. Feb. 6
Cal at UCLA – 2 p.m., CBS
Start your sports Saturday by rooting against the Bears.

Oregon at OSU – 4 p.m., FSNW
The Ducks showed some spunk with two wins last week.

Stanford at USC – 5:30 p.m.
When you get swept by the Oregon schools even your student manager gets mad.

ARIZONA at WSU – 6:30 p.m., FSAZ/FSNW
If the UA can’t get it done in Seattle this will be another big one on the Wildcats’ favorite day of the week.

ASU at Washington – 8:30 p.m., FSN
The last chance for a UW home feast before starving again on the road.

After everyone has played everyone the standings are what they are. The power rankings are just here to break the ties (last week’s rank in parentheses):

The 6-3s
1. ARIZONA (5) – Oh, how sweet it is.
2. Cal (1) – The Bears can get better in a hurry by taming L.A.

The 5-4s
3. UCLA (3) – Head-to-head goes to the Bruins.
4. ASU (6) – All five wins are against the bottom six.

The 4-5s
5. Oregon (10) – Two wins in a row in this league means you’re on fire.
6. Washington (7) – Home games make the Dawgs look good again.
7. WSU (4) – Has wins against the three teams below it.
8. USC (2) – Still four wins after playing the Oregons.
9. Stanford (8) – The dream of 9-0 at home and 0-9 on the road is alive.

The Oregon State
10. OSU (9) – If they don’t beat UO at home it could get ugly fast.

As the second half of the conference season begins will we start to see some separation among the teams, or are we going to have another five weeks of seemingly random results?

Let’s just hope the random-number generator keeps picking the Cats.

Uh oh. Here come the upped hopes.

Forget the pedestrian 12-9 record. Forget the RPI in the 50s. Sunday’s game was about the Pac-10 standings and the young Wildcats challenging themselves with something significant on the line.

On this one day the Cats played in a big game and Sean Miller guided them to a win.

This wasn’t a case of upsetting someone who was looking ahead to someone else. First place vs. second place gets everyone’s attention.

It wasn’t a case of a long-time champion getting complacent. We know about Cal’s football drought (last Rose bowl in 1958-’59) but their basketball void is even worse. The Bears haven’t won even a share of a Pac-10 hoops championship since 1959-’60. Winning this title would be a huge deal for Mike Montgomery and his team.

(It begs the question: Is Cal good at anything? Turns out the answer is rugby and crew.)

Look, we get it. This wasn’t #1 Arizona clinching the Pac-10 against Monty’s top-20 Stanford team in 2003. Or Montgomery beating top-20 Arizona on his way to a 26-1 regular season the following year.

We all know the league is down. If the Pacific-10 were the Pacific Ocean, this year’s version would be the Mariana Trench.

All that mattered on the final day of January, 2010, was that Arizona hosted the top team in the Pac-10 and the Wildcats left McKale Center as the new top team in the Pac-10.

Winning at ASU may have been the turning point but young teams really grow up when they can succeed in close games against quality opponents. The Cal game was as back-and-forth as they come. The contest was tied with five minutes left. The lead changed hands four times after that. It was like overtime in regular time.

The Bears’ final lead came as a result of what would have been the game’s signature play if Arizona had let it slip away. I’m not up-to-date on my cardinal sins but I have to think fouling a 93% free throw shooter behind the arc with a two-point lead and less than a minute to play has to rank pretty high.

But Niq Wise atoned for his error by scoring the game’s final five points and adding to his crunch-time legacy. This particular game-winner was slower in developing than his previous two but Niq’s right-then-left-then-right-again drive got the job done.

The old McKale magic also did its part. After Wise’s and-one, Kevin Parrom was too far off Theo Robertson with just a two point lead but Robertson’s three just missed. After Cal secured the offensive rebound Theo got into the lane but lost the ball out of bounds without attempting a shot. Two more Niq foul shots and the Cats were back in first place.

After going 2-0 in rivalry games (UCLA still counts in my book) Sean Miller is now 1-0 in Really Big Games.

We thought we were going to be able to cruise through pressure-free games until the Pac-10 tournament. Now we have to sweat through nerve-racking road games and get back to anxiety-inducing scoreboard watching.

Isn’t it great?

Cat fans should get their hopes up. We’re in first place! And we have the tie-breaker for the #1 seed!

The reality, however, is that even though Cal has an extra road game remaining the Bears still have the advantage on the back nine. Trips to L.A. and the Oregons are easier than the Cats’ trips to the Washingtons and the Bay. If Cal can survive SoCal (and USC is fading) the Bears could go on a major tear to finish the season.

So what exactly would it take for Arizona to win this thing? Another 6-3 to finish at 12-6 is the minimum to be in the discussion. That would be 4-1 at home and 2-2 on the road, which would be no easy task considering the final four road games are against teams that are a combined 43-7 in their own gym.

The more likely requirement is winning every remaining home game (Oregon, OSU, ASU, UCLA and USC) and then establishing the value of your championship bid by winning one or two road games.

Possible? You have to be worried there are going to be a couple more 33% shooting nights down the stretch. Then there’s the constant threat of foul trouble for one of our top two scorers. And just how many more game-winners does Niq have in him?

All questions to be answered in time. What cannot be questioned is we have a really good basketball coach (again) and we have talented young players who are responding to their coach (again). And it’s happening already halfway through their collective first Pac-10 season.

All to the delight of our championship-loving nerves.

More coverage from the TucsonCitizen.com sports network:

Steve Rivera: Wise to the rescue again in victory over Cal

Anthony Gimino: Can we consider Derrick Williams a top 150 freshman now?