Pac-12 Basketball Notebook: USC Transfers; Help for Arizona, Oregon

Three issues for the week:

TRANSFERS ARE A MEANS TO SUCCESS IN THE PAC-12

Transfers have made a difference for a lot of teams across the country, but they have been particularly important in the Pac-12.

USC was picked to finish sixth in the preseason poll, but with eight transfers on the team, including three who are in the Trojans’ starting lineup one year after playing for another Division I school, USC is contending for the conference crown. Trojans guard Tahj Eaddy, who played at Santa Clara last year, made the key shot against Stanford on Tuesday and may be the most important player on the team.

(Cover photo of Tahj Eaddy by Stan Szeto, USA TODAY Sports)

Oregon is still in contention despite its virus-related issues, thanks in large part to its five transfers, four of whom are starters in their first season playing at Oregon after being at other Division I schools.

Arizona, which is tied for fourth place, has three transfers in its starting lineup, including its best player, James Akinjo, who was at Georgetown last year. This does not include Jemarl Baker Jr., a transfer from Kentucky who is out for the season after suffering a hand injury in early January.

Colorado and UCLA have just one transfer apiece, but each is a key component to his team’s success. Jeriah Horne played at Tulsa last year but he is the second-leading scorer and virtually tied for the team lead in rebounding for Colorado this year. First-place UCLA has Johnny Juzang, who is the Bruins’ No. 2 scorer after playing at Kentucky last season.

Two conclusions:

1. Don’t judge a Pac-12 school’s recruiting class by the incoming freshmen.

2. To contend for a Pac-12 title a team needs to attract players from other four-year schools.

WILL LATE-SEASON ADDITIONS MAKE AN IMPACT?

Arizona and Oregon may get some assistance to make a late push.

The Wildcats need perimeter help, and it should get some because Kerr Kriias, a freshman from Estonia, becomes eligible to play on Thursday against Utah. Reportedly he was ruled ineligible to begin the season because of a youth contract he signed with Zalgiris, a youth club in Lithuania, even though he was not paid. Kriias will add ball-handling, three-point shooting and perimeter defense for an Arizona team that is thin at the guard position.

Meanwhile, there was significant news in Eugene, Oregon, this week. Will Richardson has been cleared to play and is expected to make his season debut Thursday. He had surgery on his left thumb on Dec. 2 and was expected to be out at least six weeks. But he still has yet to play nine weeks later. He could make a major difference for the Ducks, because he was expected to be one of the top guards in the league. Richardson started the final 13 games last season and averaged 11.0 points while leading the conference in three-point shooting (46.9 percent).

JUST WHEN ARIZONA STATE WAS GETTING GOING . . . .

Arizona State bounced back from its six-game losing streak by sweeping Cal and Stanford last week, suggesting the Sun Devils were becoming the team they were expected to be when they were ranked 18th in the preseason AP poll. But whatever momentum that was established was erased on Tuesday, when it was announced that ASU’s Thursday game against Colorado and Sunday game against Utah have been postponed due to virus-related issues in the Sun Devils’ program. ASU’s game against Utah, scheduled for this past Tuesday, had been postponed last week.

So far six of the Sun Devils’ 14 conference games have been postponed, leaving a lot of games to be rescheduled in a short amount of time.

Top Five Teams (at the Moment)

---1. UCLA (13-3, 9-1) – The Bruins seldom look dominant, but they are the only Pac-12 team that is ranked.

---2. USC (14-3, 8-2) – Andy Enfield has worked a lot of new faces into a cohesive unit.

---3. Arizona (13-4, 7-4) – We’ll have to see whether Kerr Kriias makes a significant difference.

---4. Colorado (13-5, 7-4) – Blowing a 19-point lead at home with 15 minutes left against Utah was not flattering.

---5. Oregon (9-3, 4-2) – Ducks get demoted for lack of evidence. We’ve almost forgotten they exist.

Pac-12 player-of-the-year-standings

---1. Chris Duarte, Oregon (18.4 points, 4.6 rebounds, 2.5 steals, 45.6 3-pt%) – He has not played in a game since January 9, so his place here is debatable.

---2. Oscar da Silva, Stanford (19.5 points, 7.3 rebounds, 59 FG%) – We were ready to move him back to the top spot before his nine-point effort against USC.

---3. McKinley Wright IV, Colorado (14.8 points, 4.4 rebounds, 5.7 assists) – His consistency is almost boring. He has scored between 13 and 16 points in each of the past six games and has made his last 18 free throws.

---4. Evan Mobley, USC (16.4 points, 8.9 rebounds, 2.9 blocks) – He is averaging 18.3 points and 9.9 rebounds over the past nine games.

---5. Tyger Campbell, UCLA (11.7 points, 6.2 assists) – Again this week, Arizona’s James Akinjo almost grabbed this spot, but Campbell is the key player on the first-place team.

Pac-12 freshman-of-the-year standings

---1. Evan Mobley, USC (16.4 points, 8.9 rebounds, 2.9 blocks) – He seems to be getting better, or maybe Andy Enfield is figuring out how to use him.

---2. Azuolas Tubelis, Arizona (10.9 points, 6.3 rebounds) – Big gap between Tubelis and Mobley.

---3. Ziaire Williams, Stanford (12.5 points, 5.7 rebounds, 2.8 assists) – He has missed the past four games,

---4. Josh Christopher, Arizona State (15.3 points, 4.8 rebounds) – You could argue we’re downgrading him based on expectations, which is not entirely fair.

---5. Bennedict Mathurin, Arizona (11.6, 4.8 rebounds, 43.9 3-pt%) – A close call over Arizona State’s Marcus Bagley.

Pac-12 Player of the Week

---Winner: Alfonso Plummer, Utah – Plummer defined what it means to be in a zone when he scored 21 of his 23 points in the final eight minutes to help the Utes overcome a 19-point deficit. He shot virtually every time he touched the ball, and some of his attempts were low-percentage heaves, but he kept pumping them in.

---Runnerup 1: James Akinjo, Arizona – Akinjo averaged 17.0 points and 7.0 assists in a split with Cal and Stanford.

---Runnerup 2: Remy Martin, Arizona State – He scored 19 and 23 points in a sweep of Cal and Stanford, while going 15-for-29 from the field with eight assists and six steals in the two games combined. He has scored 18 points or more in four straight games.

---Runnerup 3: Jaiden Delaire, Stanford – Delaire is getting starter’s minutes in the absence of three starters, and he scored 21, 21 and 22 points in the Cardinal’s three games from last Thursday to this past Tuesday. He might have been be our player of the week, but Stanford lost two of those three games.

Team on the Rise

---USC (14-3, 8-2) – The Trojans have won nine of their last 10 games, the one loss being a two-point defeat at Oregon State when USC missed its final three shots.

Team on the Skids

---Cal (7-12, 2-10) – Bears have lost four straight since their win at Utah and are in last place.

Team on a Mystery Tour

---Arizona State (6-8, 3-5 Pac-12) – The Sun Devils seemed to be getting it together last week, but with another lost weekend, there’s no telling where they’re headed.

Numbers of Note

3 – Longest current winning streak in the Pac-12, held by USC

1 – Number of games Oregon has played since Jan. 9.

0 – Number of games Oregon’s Chris Duarte has played since Jan. 9

8-1 – UCLA’s record in games decided by five points or fewer or in overtime. The one loss came on that inexplicable defensive lapse, when Stanford scored on an inbounds play with eight-tenths of a second left.

13 – Number of offensive rebounds USC had in the first 13 minutes of its victory over Oregon State.

0 – Points Utah’s Alfonso Plummer had scored five minutes into the second half of last week’s win over Colorado.

21 – Points Plummer scored in the final 7:49 of the game against Colorado.

84.1 – Colorado’s free-throw percentage, best in the nation.

82.2 – Division I record for free-throw percentage in a season, set by Harvard in 1984.

9 – Of Colorado’s top nine scorers, the number of players making better than 80 percent of their free throws. Yep, all nine are above the 80-percent line.

12 -- Number of Pac-12 games Cal has played this season

6 -- Number of Pac-12 games Oregon has played this season.

0 – Number of three-pointers Washington State made in its first 13 attempts against Washington. Nonetheless, the Cougars still led by 11 points at that juncture.

51.9 – Stanford’s shooting percentage in Tuesday’s game against USC. The Cardinal became the first team to shoot 50 percent or better from the field against USC this season, but Stanford still lost the game.

0 – Number of Pac-12 teams ranked in this week’s AP top 20. (UCLA is No. 21.)

0 – Number of Pac-12 teams in the top 20 of the NET rankings as of Wednesday. (Colorado is No. 21.)

5 – Number of Pac-12 teams projected to get into the NCAA tournament, according to both CBS Sports and ESPN. In both, Stanford is listed as one of the “Last Four In.” UCLA, USC, Colorado and Oregon all seem to be safely in at this point. Arizona is ineligible for the postseason.

0 – Number of Pac-12 teams among the top 40 in the nation in scoring offense.

0 – Number of Pac-12 teams among the top 40 in the nation in scoring defense.

0 – Number of Pac-12 teams among the top 40 in the nation in field-goal percentage.

2 – Number of Pac-12 teams among the top 40 in the nation in field-goal percentage defense. (USC is sixth; Washington State is 26th.)

Quotes of the Week

---"I'm just going to say I'm very pleased with our 15 of 17 there. That's all I'm going to say on that. I'm in a pretty good headspace because of the win so I'll leave it at that." – Arizona State coach Bobby Hurley when asked about the free-throw disparity after Stanford attempted 34 free throws and one week after Hurley was reprimanded by the Pac-12 for complaining about officiating in the loss to Arizona.

---“We’re starving for a perimeter player.” – Arizona coach Sean Miller, commenting on the importance of having freshman Kerr Kriisas available this week.

---“It had nothing to do with Cal, honestly. I mean, it had nothing to do with the fact that they recruited me. Obviously, they recruited me because I’m a hometown kid but we just really wanted to come in and bounce back from Stanford.” – Arizona’s James Akinjo, who is from Oakland, after he had 20 points and eight assists in a 21-point win over Cal.

---“One of the most disappointing losses of my career.” – Colorado coach Tad Boyle two weeks ago after his team lost to Washington, which had been winless in Pac-12 play.

---“I’m not sure I’ve ever been more disappointed in a loss in my career.” – Boyle after his team blew a 19-point, second-half lead in a loss to Utah on Saturday.

---“I lost my cookies a little bit on that one.” — Utah basketball coach Larry Krystkowiak on getting a technical foul when Utah trailed Colorado by 19 points, a move that seemed to spur his team to a comeback win.

---“I feel like we’re unbeatable against the Dawgs. We’ve got the secret formula.” – Washington State guard Noah Williams, a Seattle native, on the Cougars 3-0 record against Washington since Kyle Smith became WSU’s coach.

---“Tahj has been very solid and sometimes spectacular on offense throughout this season.” USC coach Any Enfield on Trojans guard Tahj Eaddy.

Top Upcoming Game This Week

---Saturday, February 6, at USC’s Galen Center in Los Angeles, 7 p.m., ESPN – UCLA (13-3, 9-1 Pac-12) vs. USC (14-3, 8-2 Pac-12) – Los Angeles rivals play a nationally televised game with first place on the line.

Follow Jake Curtis of Cal Sports Report on Twitter: @jakecurtis53

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