Pac-12 Basketball Notes: 'U of A, U of A, U of . . . OH NO!'

Desmon Cambridge Jr. 55-foot heave at the buzzer on Saturday achieved three things and raises two questions about Arizona’s strategy.

Here’s the game-winning shot, which silenced the sell-out McKale Center crowd of 14,688:

What It Achieved

First of all, the shot put Arizona State back on the NCAA tournament bubble, although the Sun Devils still need things to go their way in their final games and in other games across the country.

Second, it assured UCLA of at least a share of its first regular-season conference title since 2013. The Bruins then assured they would finish alone in first place with their white-kuckle victory over Colorado on Sunday. It puts a damper of on next Saturday’s Arizona-UCLA game at Pauley Pavilion, which will no longer be a battle for a share of the conference title but could still determine whether Jaime Jaquez or Azuolas Tubelis wins conference player of the year.

Third, Arizona might not even finish second in the conference. They are tied with USC at 13-5, and play a road game against the Trojans on Thursday and finish with a game at Pauley Pavilion against UCLA, which has won 23 straight home games. We can forget the idea that Arizona might land a No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament.

What Arizona Did Wrong

First, after missing his first free throw with 2.9 seconds left, Arizona's Oumar Ballo should have missed the second on purpose. The Wildcats only led by a point before that free throw and the Sun Devils were only going to get off a three-point shot in any case, so the extra point did not matter. More importantly, ASU had no more timeouts, so a missed free throw would have eaten up a second or more as players vied for the rebound, then a disorganized rush up court would have made a final shot far more difficult than Cambridge’s undefended heave.

Second, Arizona did not guard the inbounds passer. You’d think coaches would have learned from the Grant Hill pass to Christian Laettner for the winning basket in Duke’s NCAA tournament win over Kentucky back in 1992, that you need to harrass the inbounds pass.

Arizona allowed Cambridge to catch an undefended inbounds pass in full stride, and he took the 55-footer in rhythm with no defensive pressure. Granted, the odds were long that he would make the shot, but why not make the odds even longer.

Of course, Arizona should never have been in that situation. It held a 10-point lead with 6:30 left at home in front of a sold-out McKale crowd. And lost.

The Postgame Quotes

Cambridge: “I did not think that shot was going in. I just wanted to have a nice miss and everyone in the crowd go, ‘ohhh!’ Once it went in, I literally could only scream because I couldn’t make sense of it.”

Arizona coach Tommy Lloyd: “We were sitting on pocket aces and it happens sometimes.”

A Bad Omen?

The fact that UCLA captured its first conference title in 10 years seems like cause for celebration.

But after UCLA won the conference title in 2013, the sixth-seeded Bruins lost their opening NCAA tournament game by 20 points to 11th-seeded Minnesota, which finished tied for seventh in the Big Ten. UCLA fired coach Ben Howland two days later.

The Bubble Factors

Arizona State’s upset win put the Sun Devils back on the bubble for an NCAA tournament berth, but people need to understand that ASU is competing against other bubble teams across the country, and it’s not just about ASU’s results. The same applies to USC, even though the Trojans seem safely into the 68-team field at the moment while ASU remains on the outside looking in.

For example, North Carolina’s upset of Virginia and Mississippi State’s victory over Texas A&M hurt ASU, because the Tar Heels and Bulldogs are also bubble teams. However, ASU and USC caught a break with two close losses by other bubble teams: West Virginia failed to get a shot off on its final possession in a two-point loss to Kansas, and New Mexico lost by two when San Diego State’s Lamont Butler hit a three-pointer at the buzzer.

At this point we can say Utah needs to win the Pac-12 tournament to get an NCAA berth, while Oregon's NCAA chances are on life-support. The Ducks dropped off the bubble with their recent three-game losing streak, but they still have an outside chance, thanks to this shot by Rivaldo Soares with 00.6 of a second left, giving the Ducks a two-point win over Oregon State.

If Oregon Had Lost on an Officials’ Mistake . . .

If the Ducks had lost, there would have been an outcry based on an officiating mistake that helped Oregon State.

When Oregon State’s Dexter Akanno hit a jumper with 1:04 left it gave the Beavers a three-point lead, and play went on uninterrupted. However, replays showed that Akanno did not release his shot before the shot clock expired. Obviously, the officials should have reviewed the play, but they didn’t.

Thanks to Soares’ game-tying three-pointer with 44 seconds left and his game-winner, the mistake was moot. But if Oregon had lost, eliminating any chance for the Ducks to land an at-large NCAA tournament berth, there would have been some angry folks in Eugene, Oregon.

Where Did This Guy Come From?

Heading into Thursday’s game against UCLA, Utah’s Mike Saunders Jr., a junior transfer from Cincinnati, had a total of three points in Pac-12 play, had not played at all in 11 conference games, and had gone scoreless in his previous three games when he played two, one and one minute.

But because of injuries, Saunder played 24 minutes and scored 25 points against the Bruins on 10-for-17 shooting, including 3-for-6 on three-pointers. He scored 19 points in the final 14 minutes, when Utah rallied to make a game of it before losing by seven points.

“Honestly, it felt amazing and it was crazy because I envisioned it,” Saunders said. “I was just waiting for an opportunity.”

Presumably UCLA had no scouting report on Saunders, who followed that with eight points in Saturday’s loss to USC.

Top Five Pac-12 Teams (at the moment)

1. UCLA (25-4, 16-2 Pac-12) NET ranking: 4 – Bruins have won eight straight and still have a shot at a No. 1 seed.

2. Arizona (24-5, 13-5) NET ranking: 11 – Wildcats have lost two home games, and they play their final two games in L.A..

3. USC (21-8, 13-5) NET ranking: 45 – Trojans have won four in a row and host Arizona Thursday in a battle for second place.

4. Arizona State (20-9, 11-7) NET ranking: 59 -- The Sun Devils may need to beat either UCLA on Thursday or USC on Saturday on the road to keep their NCAA tournament hopes alive.

5. Oregon (16-13, 10-8) NET ranking: 50 – The Ducks needed a late bucket against Oregon State to avoid their fourth straight loss.

Pac-12 Player of the Years Standings

1. Jaime Jaquez, UCLA (17.0 points, 8.0 rebounds) -- He averaged 22.2 points over the final five games, all UCLA wins, and he plays for the conference champ.

2. Azuolas Tubelis, Arizona (19.6 points, 9.1 rebounds) – He’s the conference leader in scoring and rebounding, but he’s averaging 11.2 points and 5.5 rebounds over his last four games.

3. Boogie Ellis, USC (17.2 points, 3.0 assists) – When he gets hot, he can carry the Trojans

4. Drew Peterson, USC (14.6 points, 6.4 rebounds, 4.7 assists) – Perhaps the most versatile player in the conference

5. Tyger Campbell, UCLA (12.5 points, 4.7 assists) -- A thin margin over teammate Jaylen Clark based on Campbell's clutch performance against Colorado Sunday.

Cover photo od Desmond Cambridge Jr. is by Zachary BonDurant, USA TODAY Sports.

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