At the midpoint of the Pacific 10 Conference season, five teams - UCLA, Arizona, Cal, Stanford and Washington- are still in the hunt for the conference crown. Not coincidentally, those teams are the only ones from the Pac-10 who have a chance of reachin g the NCAA Tournament.

Last season, five conference teams made it to the tournament. This year, UCLA and Arizona are basically guaranteed spots and Cal and Stanford should make it provided they avoid a major slump. The interesting team is Washington. Even though they are tied f or second in the Pac-10, the Huskies (13-5, 6-3) are probably on the bubble because of their weak nonconference schedule. With games remaining at UCLA, Cal and Stanford though, the Huskies have several chances to improve their stock before selection Sunda y, March 10.

Raising Hell: After a miserable 5-8, 2-6 beginning, the Arizona State Sun Devils have started to show some signs of life. Three wins in four games, including Saturday's 88-79 shocker of Washington in Tempe, have pulled ASU into respectability.

The win over the Huskies was the Sun Devils' first home victory since Dec. 29.

ASU has been undone this year by a 43.4 field goal percentage, the second-worst percentage in the Pac-10. But against UW, the Sun Devils connected on 46.7 percent of their shots and were 7-18 on 3-point attempts.

The field-goal problem has not been lost on Sun Devil coach Bill Frieder.

"The big thing is that we shot and made them," Frieder said after the UW game.

Conquest of Troy: Southern Cal's NCAA Tournament hopes were all but ended over the weekend in a 99-78 home loss to Oregon. At 11-10, 4-5, the Trojans still have a shot at the National Invitational Tournament, as do the Ducks (10-10, 3-6).

For Oregon, the win stopped the bleeding of a seven-game losing streak, but for the Trojans, the loss was crushing, as it was the first in seven games at the Los Angeles Sports Arena this season.

"It's so frustrating. The more I think about it, I want to break out in tears," said Trojan forward/guard Stais Boseman, who had 20 points in the loss. "This game was pivotal for us. We've been playing well at home all year and to come out and play like w e did, it's demoralizing."

It could get worse before it gets better for USC. The Trojans travel to the Bay Area this week before welcoming ASU, Arizona and UCLA in consecutive home games.

What about Bob?: It's been strange days for UCLA (15-5, 8-1) as they try to recover some of the magic from last season's national championship team. With senior point guard Cameron Dollar in and out of the lineup with a hand injury, the Bruins have been d epending on a young starting lineup of freshman center Jelani McCoy and sophomores Toby Bailey, J.R. Henderson and Kris Johnson to go with upperclassman Charles O'Bannon, a junior.

It's probably no surprise the Bruins are last in the conference with both 18.5 turnovers committed a game and only 14.6 turnovers forced.

While youth must be served, it's taking a little while in Westwood, where Bruin head coach Jim Harrick has started to lose some patience.

Against Pac-10 cellar-dweller Oregon State (3-15, 1-8), Harrick pulled O'Bannon, McCoy and Bailey for an eight-minute stretch in the first half with the game tied 7-7.

The reserves thrived, led by junior forward Bob Myers. Myers had played 28 minutes the whole season, but logged 22 against the Beavers. He scored a career-high 20 points, five rebounds and had just one turnover. When Harrick put the starters back in, the Bruin lead was 22-11.

"I just want our players to watch Bob Myers play. He plays hard and he plays smart," Harrick said. "He shows us that sometimes the easy pass is better to take than the hard one. He's a fundamental machine."

While Harrick was perhaps trying to make a point to his starters, he has been upset at his team for a lack of intensity recently.

"We've had a little trouble in the last few weeks respecting our opponents," Harrick said. "There's been a lack of emotion in the last three games and that's something we have to work on."

It doesn't seem like all the Bruins have gotten the message, though. Johnson was miffed when the Pauley Pavilion crowd booed the starters when they re-entered the game Saturday.

"Absolutely disgusting, he said. "We're excited to get back in the game and then there was that booing."

The Associated Press contributed to this story.