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Pac-12 Basketball Notes: Arizona’s Home Loss and Other Oddities

Oregon’s surprising bounce back. Cal’s unlikely shooting. Arizona State’s wild dunkfest
Jake Curtis|
Pac-12 Basketball Notes: Arizona’s Home Loss and Other Oddities
Pac-12 Basketball Notes: Arizona’s Home Loss and Other Oddities

Not much that happened in the Pac-12 last week made sense, so follow along as we note the oddities:

Arizona Never Loses at Home, Right?

Arizona’s second-year coach Tommy Lloyd had never lost a game at McKale Center when the No. 5-ranked Wildcats, riding a 28-game home winning streak, hosted Washington State, which was 0-4 in games on its opponents’ home court, including an 11-point road loss to Prairie View A&M.

So what happens?

Washington State wins by 13 points. And the way it happened was just as surprising. The Cougars dominated the first three-quarters of the game, taking an 18-point lead with 11:14 to go, which had everyone wondering what the heck was going on. 

Then the Wildcats go on a run and close to within five points with 4:47 left, at which point we assume Arizona’s superior talent, the momentum, WSU’s unfamiliarity with big moments and the impetus provided by noisy McKale Center will push the Wildcats to victory, just as it had done two days earlier against Washington. 

But the Cougars reel off seven straight points to finish off an upset that makes no sense on any level.

You would assume Washington State must have had an amazing shooting night to pull off such an upset as a 13-point underdog. Well, the Cougars shot just 39.1%. The difference was two things: 1.The Cougars’ defense, limiting the Wildcats to a season-low 61 points on 31.7% shooting. 2. The inspired play of Mouhamed Gueye, who had 24 points and 14 rebounds against the Wildcats' big and talented frontcourt.

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Oregon’s Embarrassing Loss to Colorado Meant the Ducks Are Done, Right?

When Oregon had the fewest points (41), fewest assists (3) and worst shooting (29.6%) in the 13-year Dana Altman era in a 27-point loss to Colorado, it dropped the Ducks’ record to 8-7, suggesting Altman’s run of 24 consecutive winning seasons was in serious jeopardy. And Colorado had pulled off the blowout without its best player, KJ Simpson, who sat out the game with an injury. 

Oregon’s standout point guard Will Richard went 1-for-9 from the field with one assist and four turnovers, and Oregon’s No. 2 scorer, N’Faly Dante, finishes with two points. It figured to get worse with the Ducks’ next game being against first-place Utah in Salt Lake City, where the Utes are particularly tough.

So what happens?

Oregon hands the Utes their first Pac-12 loss by leading from start to finish in a 10-point win while shooting 40.4% against one of the best defensive teams in the country. Richardson records 11 points and four assists, and Dante scores 17 points on 6-for-7 shooting and collects 12 rebounds.

Suddenly Oregon is a team to be feared again.

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Cal May Be the Worst Shooting Team in the Country, Right?

Cal entered Friday’s game against Stanford having made just 27.5% of its three-point shots, which ranked 351st of 352 Division I teams, and averaging 59.5 points, which ranked 349th. Plus the Bears were facing Stanford without their top scorer, Devin Askew, whose 16.1 points and 19 made three-pointers led the team by comfortable margins.

So what happens?

Cal goes 16-for-22 on three-point shots, tying a school record for three-pointers made in a game, and scores a season-high 92 points in a 22-point victory that was every bit as lopsided as the score suggests.

The chief difference was the presence of DeJuan Clayton, a transfer from Coppin State and Hartford, who missed the first 13 games with a hamstring injury. He was 6-for-8 on three-pointers against Stanford and the Bears are 2-0 since he joined the starting lineup. What’s interesting is that Cal is 0-12 in games in which Askew has played and 3-1 in the games he didn’t play.

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Erratic Arizona State Will Stumble Against Washington, Right?

Arizona State is one of the most unpredictable teams in the country, owning a 25-point win over Michigan and a road win over Colorado but also losing to Texas Southern and to San Francisco by 37 points. So you figure the Sun Devils may be due for another stinker against Washington after beating Washington State two days earlier.

So what happens?

Arizona State puts on a show of athletic, entertaining basketball, throwing down 11 dunks (more than half of its 20 two-point field goals) in a 73-65 victory over the Huskies. There were breakaway dunks, alley-oop dunks, follow-shot dunks and driving dunks. Six of the dunks were by Devan Cambridge.

Coaches always tell you it takes awhile for a team with a bunch of newcomers to find a rhythm and develop continuity. Four of the Sun Devils’ top five scorers transferred to ASU this past offseason, which may explain the inconsistency but flies in the face of ASU’s 13-3 overall record, including 4-1 in the Pac-12. It should be noted that dunks are high-percentage shots.

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Top Five Pac-12 Teams (at the moment)

1. UCLA (15-2, 5-0): NET ranking: 7 -- You don’t often see the Bruins blow big leads like they did against USC, but they still won.

2. Arizona (14-2, 3-2): NET ranking: 9 – The Wildcats outside shooting is a concern, going a combined 8-for-53 (15.1%) in losses to Utah and Arizona State.

3. Arizona State (13-3, 4-1): NET Ranking: 58 – When the Sun Devils make it a wild and whacky game, they are hard to beat.

4. Utah (12-5, 5-1): NET ranking: 45 – A great defensive team, but road games this week against UCLA and USC might indicate whether this squad has enough offense.

5. Colorado (11-6, 3-3): NET ranking: 61 – A thin edge over USC and Oregon, but the Buffs seem to be improving.

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Pac-12 Player of the Year Standings

1. Jaime Jaquez, UCLA (16.9 points, 52.6 FG%, 6.4 rebounds) – Jaquez does so many things to help the team, and he is best in the biggest moments.

2. Azoulas Tubelis, Arizona (20.6 points, 57.4 FG%, 9.1 rebounds) – He was the only Wildcat player who showed up against Washington State.

3. KJ Simpson, Colorado (17.2 points, 4.5 rebounds, 3.9 assists) – But the Buffaloes clobbered Oregon without him.

4. Oumar Ballo, Arizona (16.8 points, 67.3 FG%, 8.9 rebounds) – Washington State figured out how to limit his effectiveness.

5. Branden Carlson, Utah (15.7 points, 7.4 rebounds, 2.2 blocks, 39.6 3-pt%) – A 7-footer who can shoot from deep.

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Cover photo of Washington State's DJ Rodman by Joe Camporeale, USA TODAY Sports

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Jake Curtis
JAKE CURTIS

Jake Curtis worked in the San Francisco Chronicle sports department for 27 years, covering virtually every sport, including numerous Final Fours, several college football national championship games, an NBA Finals, world championship boxing matches and a World Cup. He was a Cal beat writer for many of those years, and won awards for his feature stories.

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