Pac-12 Basketball: The Race Is On
Suddenly we have title race.
Nine days ago UCLA was riding a 14-game winning streak, including double-digit wins over Maryland and Kentucky, and was 8-0 in the Pac-12, giving the Bruins a three-game lead in the loss column over the rest of the conference teams, all of whom looked fallible.
That lead seemed comfortable enough for UCLA to roll to a regular-season conference title and quite possibly a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament.
Then UCLA lost to Arizona, which is no disgrace when the game is in Tucson, but the Bruins followed that with a 13-point loss to USC, a game in which the Trojans made the Bruins look like anything but a conference favorite, outscoring UCLA 52-27 in the second half.
Jaime Jaquez, an All-America candidate, has scored more than 15 points just once in the past six games, and is shooting 37.2% in that span. He scored 15 points against the Trojans, but four of those points came in the final 36 seconds when the game was out of reach.
Perhaps more significant is the fact that Arizona and USC looked like genuine contenders over that span, and each is just a game behind the Bruins in the loss column now. The Wildcats have discovered defense, which pairs nicely with their potent offense, and Kerr Kriisa has found his shot (11-for-21 on three-pointers over the weekend). Meanwhile, Boogie Ellis demonstrated his ability to carry USC when he went off against UCLA.
And then there’s Oregon, whose only loss in the past five games was against Stanford, which does not make much sense and leads to the next item.
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What Do We Make of Stanford?
The Cardinal was stumbling along at 0-7 in the Pac-12, which included a 22-point loss to a feeble Cal team. Coach Jerod Haase’s job seemed to be in serious jeopardy.
But now, as if by magic, Stanford has reeled off four straight wins, three of which were against Pac-12 foes, all in dominating fashion. The Cardinal beat Oregon State by 21 and Cal by 29. The best win in that span was against Oregon, and although the final margin was just seven, the Cardinal led that game by 17 points with less than two minutes left before garbage time set in.
The Cardinal limited the three Pac-12 opponents in that stretch to a combined 34.2% shooting. Harrison Ingram, the Cardinal's only presumed star, has not been the dominant figure he was expected to be, but has been a bit more aggressive lately, hitting 10-of-16 shots in the two games this past weekend.
Stanford would like to see more of this from Ingram:
Is Stanford suddenly a team to be feared? Well, all the games in the four-game winning streak were at home, so we’ll see what the Cardinal has to offer this week in road games against Utah and Colorado.
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Make or Miss
---Two weeks ago, Arizona State was 15-3 overall and 6-1 in the conference, looking like a title contender and a sure NCAA Tournament team. The Sun Devils have now lost four in a row, including a 17-point loss at Washington State on Saturday. DJ Horne, the team's No. 2 scorer, had just three points on 1-for-12 shooting against USC and Washington combined. He played only one minute in the second half Thursday at Washington, then was suspended for the Washington State game for behavior detrimental to the team. This does not look good.
---Since he became Oregon’s head coach, Dana Altman has a winning record against every Pac-12 opponent but one. You’d assume that one would be UCLA or Arizona. Nope, it’s Colorado. Altman is 10-11 against the Buffaloes after the Ducks beat Colorado last week.
---CBS Sports Bracketology posted Monday has three Pac-12 teams in the NCAA Tournament at the moment, as USC joined Arizona and UCLA, with the Wildcats getting a No. 1 seed. The Pac-12 trails the other major conferences in bids, with the Big Ten and ACC each having eight teams getting berths, the Big 12 seven, the SEC six and the Big East four.
---Arizona (No. 5) and UCLA (No. 9) are the only Pac-12 teams in this week's AP top-25, and no other Pac-12 team is even close.
---Trivia question: How many times has UCLA won the regular-season Pac-12 title in the past nine years? Answer: None. Trivia question two (double-or-nothing): How many times in the past 14 seasons has a UCLA player been named conference player of the year? Answer: None. Not since Kevin Love in 2008.
---Cal, which has been hampered by injuries all season, has had its two prized transfers – Devin Askew and DeJuan Clayton – available in the same game just once this season.
---The Battle of Mali: Thursday’s Oregon-Arizona game will pit the Ducks’ 6-foot-11 N’Faly Dante against Arizona’s 7-foot Oumar Ballo in a clash of big men from Mali.
---USC’s Boogie Ellis had 27 points in the second half against UCLA. The entire UCLA team had 27 points in the second half of that game. When he gets hot, Ellis is magnificent from deeper than deep.
Top Five Pac-12 Teams (at the moment)
1. Arizona (19-3, 8-3 Pac-12) NET ranking: 10 – Yes, the Wildcats are in second place in the conference and their NET ranking is lower than UCLA’s, but Arizona might be a No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament if the selection were made today.
2. UCLA (17-4, 8-2) NET ranking: 5 – A high NET ranking coupled with a favorable schedule over the next few weeks could put the Bruins back on top soon.
3. USC (15-6, 7-3) NET ranking: 55 – Boogie has become the face of the team, but defense is the Trojans’ calling card.
4. Oregon (13-9, 7-4) NET ranking: 59 – Ducks are 4-1 since Jermaine Couisnard joined the starting lineup.
5. Utah (15-8, 8-4) NET ranking: 49 – Utes are third in the nation in field-goal percentage defense, behind Tennessee and Houston.
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Pac-12 Player of the Years Standings
1. Azuolas Tubelis, Arizona (20.0 points, 9.6 rebounds) – A 6-foot-11 players who can run the floor and lead the Pac-12 in rebounding is nice to have around.
2. Branden Carlson, Utah (16.6 points, 7.5 rebounds, 2.2 blocks) – Just 2-for-14 from the field in Saturday’s loss to Oregon.
3. Boogie Ellis, USC (16.3 points) – It’s no coincidence that his two best games came in USC’s two best wins – 28 points against Auburn, 31 points against UCLA.
4. Jaime Jaquez, UCLA (16.0 points, 7.2 rebounds) – Not as productive in recent games, and his 29.8% three-point shooting is troubling.
5. Oumar Ballo, Arizona (15.6 points, 9.1 rebounds) -- His 21-point, 12-rebound, 6-assist game against Washington restored our faith in Ballo.
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Cover photo of Boogie Ellis is by Kirby Lee, USA TODAY Sports
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