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Instate rivals

Instate foes collide in the quarterfinal round of the Pac-10 Tournament tonight, as the seventh-seeded Washington Huskies do battle with the second-seeded and 11th-ranked Washington State Cougars. The victor of this bout moves on to face either Stanford or USC in the semifinals on Friday.

On the other hand, the Huskies closed out their regular season with wins over USC and fourth- ranked UCLA and they were able to carry their momentum over to this event, as they defeated 10th-seeded Arizona State, 59-51, in the first round on Wednesday. With the win, the team improved to 19-12 overall and 9-7 all- time in this event. Washington has made the finals on three separate occasions in this tournament, winning its lone title in 2005.

Washington holds a 167-95 all-time lead over WSU, although the Cougars won both meetings during the regular season.

Washington won the battle on the boards, 39-28, and outscored Arizona State at the foul line, 14-7, en route to a nine-point win on Wednesday.

The Cougars have thrived at the defensive end of the court over the years and this season is no exception, as they lead the conference in scoring defense (57.8 ppg) and turnover margin (+3.6). Offensively, the team is turning in 66.5 ppg on 46.7 percent shooting from the field. Derrick Low, an All-Pac-10 selection, leads the team in scoring with 13.5 ppg and he is also shooting 40.1 percent from behind the arc.