The four big issues of this past weekend:
---Arizona breaks the road barrier: The Wildcats became the first team – and so far the only team – to sweep a Pac-12 weekend road series. They beat both Washington State and Washington in the Evergreen State.
---Free-throw ugliness: There were 60 or more free throws shot in two Pac-12 games over the weekend. Just seeing the number in print is unsightly. (See more below in the “ugly team stat” category.)
---No team takes control: Five teams sit atop of the Pac-12 standings with three conference losses apiece. Pac-12 coaches call that parity. The rest of the country calls is mediocrity, with no Pac-12 team ranked among the top 13 this week.
---UCLA looks like UCLA: The Bruins are starting to show a vague resemblance to the UCLA teams that dominated the conference for years. I know, I know, they still have time to crash and burn.
And we forge ahead with our weekly categories:
Top Five Teams (at the Moment)
---1. Oregon (18-5, 7-3) – The Ducks’ 10-point loss to Stanford and a less-than-dominant win over Cal reduced their lead in this category to a razor-thin margin over Arizona.
---2. Arizona (15-6, 5-3) – The young Wildcats are making their move, thanks to a road sweep of Washington State and Washington. They are No. 8 nationally in the NET rankings – if you care about such things.
---3. Colorado (17-5, 6-3) – The Buffaloes’ 21-point road win over USC (Colorado led by 27 with six minutes left) more than offsets their four-point loss to UCLA.
---4. Stanford (16-5, 5-3) – Yes, I know the Cardinal lost to USC the previous week, but that was on the road, and a win over Oregon means something.
---5. USC (17-5, 6-3) – The Trojans are ranked only 45 in the NET rankings, 22 spots behind Stanford. Plus they must be penalized for losing so decisively at home to Colorado. In fact, USC barely edged out UCLA for the fifth spot here.
Pac-12 player-of-the-year standings
---1. Payton Pritchard, Oregon (19.6 points, 5.8 assists, 4.3 rebounds) – What he does when the game is on the line is impressive, but he struggled to score against Stanford.
---2. Onyeka Okongwu, USC (16.7 points, 9.1 rebounds, 3.0 blocks) – He was not particularly good in the Trojans’ split this past week.
---3. McKinley Wright IV, Colorado (13.4 points, 5.3 rebounds, 5.3 assists) – He was the key player in the rout of USC, collecting 16 points, eight assists, six rebounds, and a career-high four steals.
---4. Oscar da Silva, Stanford (16.8 points, 6.3 rebounds) – Da Silva moves into our top five after his impressive week. (See player of the week below.)
---5. Nico Mannion, Arizona (14.2 points, 5.7 assists – Somebody from Arizona has to be on this list, and Mannion seems to be the pivotal player.
Pac-12 freshman-of-the-year standings
---1. Onyeka Okongwu, USC (16.7, 9.1 rebounds, 3.0 blocks) – Okongwu might stay here if the Trojans stay near the top of the standings.
---2. Isaiah Stewart, Washington (17.7 points, 8.8 rebounds, 2.1 blocks) – He had a tough weekend, averaging 11.5 points on 30 percent shooting (6-for-20) in a pair of home losses.
---3. Nico Mannion, Arizona (14.2 points, 5.7 assists – He makes the Wildcats go.
---4. Zeke Nnaji, Arizona (16.2 points, 8.8 rebounds) – He did nothing special this past weekend.
---5. Tyrell Terry, Stanford (15.3 points, 5.3 rebounds, 3.4 assists) – Terry’s production has tailed off in recent games.
Pac-12 Player of the Week
This was a tough call since none of the players from the two teams that had weekend sweeps (Arizona and UCLA) was outstanding in both games.
--- Winner: Oscar da Silva, Stanford – The Cardinal only got a split of its home games against Oregon State and Oregon but da Silva gave Stanford a chance to win both. He had 22 points on 10-for-17 shooting to go along with eight rebounds and two blocks in the loss to Oregon State, and he was a dominant force in Stanford’s 10-point win over Oregon. He contributed 27 points on 11-of-17 shooting along with 15 rebounds and three assists against the Ducks. (Da Silva was the official Pac-12 player of the week, too, although that matters little to us.)
---Runnerup: Nico Mannion, Arizona – The Wildcats’ freshman point guard averaged 15.0 points, 4.5 assists and 4.5 rebounds in the road sweep of the Washington schools.
---Second runnerup: Matt Bradley, Cal – Bradley scored 25 points in the Bears’ five-point loss to Oregon and added 23 points and drew the pivotal charging foul in the win over Oregon State.
Team on the Rise
---UCLA (12-10, 5-4) – The Bruins seemed destined to a last-place finish a couple weeks ago, but they have won four of their last five games, including a win over Colorado.
Team on the Skids
---Washington (12-11, 2-8) – Big things were expected of the defending Pac-12 champs this season because two of their freshmen were top-10 recruits who might be 2020 NBA lottery picks. The Huskies were ranked No. 21 on Christmas Day, but they have lost seven of their past eight games and five in a row. Did the loss of point guard Quade Green (academically ineligible) make that much of difference?
Team on a Mystery Tour
---Oregon State (13-9, 3-7) – The Beavers are 3-1 against the five teams atop the standings, including a 17-point win over Arizona and road wins over Colorado and Stanford. But the Beavers are 0-6 against the other Pac-12 teams, none of whom has a winning conference record in its other Pac-12 games. The Beavers are good -- and they are bad.
Team Stat of the Week
--- Arizona committed just six turnovers in its road win over Washington State, and just one of those turnovers came in the second half. That lone second-half turnover was committed with 9:22 left and the Wildcats holding a 20-point lead.
Ugly Team Stat of the Week
---Two Pac-12 games over the weekend featured 60 foul shots or more. There were 60 free throws attempted in Colorado’s loss to UCLA, but the worst offender was the Washington’s loss to Arizona State, when 68 free throws was taken. Worse is the fact that 47 free throws were shot in the second half alone. In one span of just over five minutes midway through the second half, 21 foul shots were attempted. What a mess. Not only does that ruin any rhythm in the game, but it creates an unwatchable TV product.
Player Stat of the Week
---Oregon State’s Kylor Kelley had seven blocks in the win over Stanford. He ranks second in the nation in blocks at 3.77 per game.
Ugly Player Stat of the Week
---Oregon’s top two scorers, Payton Pritchard and Chris Duarte, shot a combined 23.8 percent from the field in the loss to Stanford. Each made 5 of 21 field-goal attempts.
Quotes of the Week
---“It’s a nine-game race. We’re in it. And the only way we get out of the muck, because there’s a muck there, is winning the next game.” – Colorado coach Tad Boyle, to the Boulder Daily Camera.
---“People have a lot of prejudice in the world, unfortunately. They prejudge West Coast kids. They prejudge UCLA kids, saying they’re soft or they’re selfish. These guys are proving that they’re not. We’re not a finished product, but their effort is there. That’s all you can really ask, and you just try to build habits over time.” – UCLA coach Mick Cronin, to the Los Angeles Times.
---“When we’re bad offensively, we’re really bad.” – USC coach Andy Enfield, to the Los Angeles Times, after a 78-57 loss to Colorado.
---“I watched Arizona State play this same team couple days ago. ASU has some terrific guards and they had 21 turnovers in this building. And it’s a big reason that Washington State beat them. For our team to follow that up and have only six, it took a lot of guys taking care of the ball and we had great effort across the board. In my mind, Nico (Mannion) continues to get better. He’s more of a complete player.” – Arizona coach Sean Miller, to Arizona Desert Swarm, after its win at Washington State.
---“Isaac [Bonton] asked what to run, and I said, ‘Give it to CJ.’ ” – Washington State coach Kyle Smith, to the Spokane Spokesman Review, on the final play, which created CJ Elleby’s game-winning three-point shot against Arizona State.
.Top Upcoming Games This Week
---Thursday, February 6, 2020 – USC (17-5, 6-3) at Arizona (15-6, 5-3) – Two of the Pac-12’s top freshmen (USC’s Onyeka Okongwu and Arizona’s Zeke Nnaji) go head to head in the paint.
---Saturday, February 8 – Stanford (16-5, 5-3) at Colorado (17-5, 6-3) – Is the Cardinal really a title contender?
Cal High Point of the Week
Cal guard Matt Bradley takes a charging foul called on Oregon State’s Tres Tinkle with 7.2 seconds left, preserving the Bears’ win over the Beavers.
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Pac-12 Basketball Notebook: Arizona's Smooth Road, Too Many Fouls, Too Few Great Teams, UCLA's Rise, Etc. - Sports Illustrated
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