Attendance is clearly off at this year's Pac-10 tournament (despite some of the rather generous numbers we've seen on the box scores) and here's the utlimate proof: Staples Center PR maven Michael Roth just stopped at our section of press row to announce a special deal for Friday, if UCLA holds on to beat Washington State (at this writing, the Bruins are up by 17 with 8:33 left).
USC or UCLA students with a valid ID will be able to buy tickets for tomorrow's semifinals -- including, it appears, a USC-UCLA meeting in the 8:30 game -- for just $10.
Maybe that will fill some of the vast empty spaces in the upper sections -- though I believe Roth said the deal would be good for the available seats in every level.