Pac-12 Basketball Notebook: The UCLA Paradox; Payton Pritchard's Rise; Utah's Fall; Road Blues
The four big issues of this past weekend:
1. THE UCLA NCAA TOURNAMENT CONUNDRUM: Is it possible that UCLA (alone in first place with one game to play) could win the Pac-12 regular-season title and not make it to the NCAA tournament? Three key bracketology experts – ESPN’s Joe Lunardi, CBS Sports’ Jerry Palm and USA Today’s Shelby Mast and Scott Gleeson – all have seven Pac-12 teams in the NCAA tournament field in their bracketology projection. They all include UCLA, along with Oregon, Arizona State, Arizona, Colorado, Stanford and USC. However, two of them have UCLA as a No. 11 seed and USA Today has the Bruins as a No. 12 seed listed among its “last four in.” With upsets likely in conference tournaments, it’s a good bet that teams listed among “last four in” will get bumped out. So UCLA is still in jeopardy of not making the Big Dance. By the way, does anybody understand the NET rankings? Arizona, which is tied for sixth in the Pac-12, is ranked No. 10 in the NET as of Monday, while first-place UCLA, which has beaten Arizona twice, is 76th.
2. THE ROAD LESS TRAVELED: Eleven of the 12 Pac-12 teams have a losing road record in conference play. Yes, even 13th-ranked Oregon (the only ranked Pac-12 team) has a losing record on the road, going 4-5 against conference foes away from home. The Ducks play their last two games at home, where they are 15-0, and would get at least a share of a conference title if they win those games against Cal and Stanford. The one team with a winning road record in Pac-12 play? Why, it’s UCLA, which is 5-3 away from home with a road game against USC remaining. If the Bruins win that one, they would be assured of at least a share of their first regular season title since 2013.
3. PRITCHARD VS. THE NATION: Oregon guard Payton Pritchard seems to have clinched the Pac-12 player-of-the-year honors, but he is very much in the running for national player of the year. His 38-point game on the road against Arizona and his 23-point performance last week against Oregon State had to catch some eyes across the nation, especially when he is consistently hitting three-pointers from 30 feet out. Dayton’s Obi Toppin, Iowa’s Luka Garza, Marquette’s Markus Howard, Seton Hall’s Myles Powell and Kansas’ Devon Dotson seem to be the other top contenders in a season without a household name. Pritchard ranks right up there with any of them.
4. THE TWO UTES (‘My Cousin Vinny’ reference): Utah has never won a Pac-12 basketball title, but it has finished in the top four of the conference standings each of the past five years. No other Pac-12 team has even finished in the top four in each of the past two seasons. Colorado, Arizona State and Oregon are the only teams that could make it two straight top-four finishes this season. Utah’s run of consistent success will end this season, though, as the Utes stand at 6-11 with one game left, precluding the possibility of a top-four finish. And they may have to play without Rylan Jones this week as Larry Krystowiak notes below.
And we forge ahead with our weekly categories:
Top Five Teams (at the Moment)
---1. UCLA (19-11, 12-5) – It’s a tough call between the Bruins and Oregon for the top spot, and, yes, I know that Oregon beat UCLA by 21 points in their only meeting. But that game was in Eugene early in the Pac-12 season. So we asked ourselves this question: If Oregon and UCLA would play today on a neutral court, who would win. We think it would be the surging Bruins, who have won seven straight.
---2. Oregon (22-7, 11-5) – The Ducks should win their final two games against Cal and Stanford, both of which are at home, where the Ducks are unbeaten. The one concern is Chris Duarte, the team’s second-leading scorer and key defender who is out indefinitely with a broken pinkie finger.
---3. Arizona State (19-10, 10-6) – The Sun Devils dropped out of first place with two road losses, but they played UCLA tough at Pauley Pavilion.
---4. USC (21-9, 10-7) – The Trojans look great some days, and mediocre others. But they have won two in a row and have considerable talent.
---5. Stanford (20-9, 9-7) – You will note that neither Arizona nor Colorado is in our top five. Those two seem to be slipping while the Cardinal is reinvigorated. Of course, that could all change this week.
Pac-12 player-of-the-year-standings
---1. Payton Pritchard, Oregon (20.2 points, 5.4 assists, 4.3 rebounds) – The gap between Pritchard and everyone else is growing larger.
---2. Remy Martin, Arizona State (19.6 points, 4.0 assists, 3.1 rebounds) – Martin scored 52 points last week, but the Sun Devils lost both.
---3. McKinley Wright IV, Colorado (14.0 points, 5.6 rebounds, 5.1 assists) – He is trying to do it all for Colorado, but it hasn’t been enough during the Buffs' three-game losing streak.
---4. Oscar da Silva, Stanford (16.1 points, 6.5 rebounds) – His versatility puts him in this conversation.
---5. Chris Smith, UCLA (13.1 points, 5.3 rebounds) – Someone from UCLA needs to be on this list, and Smith is putting up good numbers while averaging just 28.1 minutes.
Pac-12 freshman-of-the-year standings
---1. Zeke Nnaji, Arizona (16.2 points, 8.6 rebounds) – The competition for freshman of the year is still very much up in the air.
---2. Onyeka Okongwu, USC (16.2 points, 8.7 rebounds, 2.7 blocks) – He continues to put up nice numbers.
---3. Isaiah Stewart, Washington (16.7 points, 8.6 rebounds, 2.1 blocks) – He is probably the best freshman in the conference, but the Huskies are in last place.
---4. Tyrell Terry, Stanford (15.3 points, 4.4 rebounds, 3.1 assists) – His 27 points against Utah, when he made seven three-pointers, was impressive.
---5. Nico Mannion, Arizona (13.8 points, 5.3 assists) – He barely beats out improving Tyger Campbell of UCLA for the final spot on this list.
Pac-12 Player of the Week
--- Winner: Matt Bradley, Cal – Bradley was outstanding in the win over Colorado, collecting 26 points on 8-for-14 shooting (5-for-7 on three-pointers) and six rebounds. He was an integral part of the Bears’ win over Utah, scoring 21 points and grabbing five rebounds. (He talks about taking charges on defense and avoiding charges on offense in the video below.)
Team on the Rise
---UCLA (19-11, 12-5) – The Bruins have won seven in a row. Only Dayton, Kansas, Belmont, Kentucky, East Tennessee State, Stephen F. Austin, BYU and New Mexico State have longer active winning streaks.
Team on the Skids
---Colorado (21-9, 10-7) – Ranked 16th in the country in early February, the Buffaloes have lost three in a row, and they look like a team that has lost its confidence.
Team on a Mystery Tour
---Arizona (19-10, 9-7) – The Wildcats seem to be as talented as any team in the conference and they are still No. 10 nationally in the NET rankings as of Monday. But they have lost three in a row and are tied for sixth place. The absence of Josh Green hurt Arizona last week.
Team Stats of the Week
--- Stanford shot 62.2 percent on two-point shots in the win over Colorado.
--- Oregon committed just four turnovers – and none in the final 13 minutes -- in the win over Oregon State.
--- Cal had 18 offensive rebounds, leading to 20 second-chance points, in the win over Colorado.
---UCLA drew its largest home crowd of the season -- 11,567 – for the win over Arizona on Saturday.
Ugly Team Stats of the Week
---Oregon State’s bench players produced just four points (on 2-for-6 shooting) and committed six turnovers in the loss to Oregon.
--- Arizona shot 28.1 percent from the field and 11.5 percent (3-for-26) on three-pointers in the loss to USC.
Player Stats of the Week
---Utah’s Branden Carlson blocked eight shots in the loss to Stanford. He also had eight blocks against the Cardinal when the teams met in early February.
---UCLA’s Tyger Campbell had 33 assists over the past three games, including 14 in the victory over Arizona State.
Ugly Player Stat of the Week
---UCLA’s Tyger Campbell shot 4-for-31, including 0-for-5 on three-pointers, in the wins over Arizona State and Arizona. (It’s not often that a player can be listed in both the best stats and ugly stats of the week.)
---It could not have been a worse week for Utah guard Rylan Jones. In the losses to Stanford and Cal, he went 0-for-5 from the field, totaled two points and suffered an injury early in the first half of the loss to Cal that sidelined him the rest of that game and makes him questionable for the finale against Colorado.
Quotes of the Week
---"In the pre-season, in the off-season, I just got sick of everybody telling us how bad we were going to be,” – Cal coach Mark Fox, after a win over Utah that made the Bears 7-9 in the Pac-12.
---“I think our players need to believe in themselves as much as they believe in McKinley Wright.” Colorado coach Tad Boyle, on his team’s over-reliance on guard McKinley Wright IV. (See the video above.)
---“I feel like our team has lost its defensive identity, our will. Just everything defensively has gone out the window. I don’t know why. And we’ve got to figure that out.” – Colorado forward Evan Battey, to the Boulder Daily Camera, after the Buffaloes’ third straight loss.
---“It’s do or die. I don’t have another year, I don’t have any other excuses.” – USC’s Jonah Mathews, to the Los Angeles Times, on the Trojans’ need to win games to get into the NCAA tournament.
---“Like I told the guys, we were an underdog [Saturday], a lot of people still don’t believe in us and we’ve got to continue to play one-game tournaments. We cannot change our mentality.” – UCLA coach Mick Cronin, to the Los Angeles Times, after Saturday’s win over Arizona.
---“I’ll say this, after being a head coach for seven years, I don’t know if any technicals are on purpose, but they certainly come from a good place. I just think tonight coach was in a good place when it came to what he was discussing with the official.” – Arizona assistant coach Jack Murphy, to the Arizona Daily Star, on Sean Miller being ejected for the first time in his 11 years at Arizona after receiving two technical fouls. Miller did not make himself available to the media after Saturday’s loss to UCLA.
---“Yeah, they’re pretty excited about that. I threatened them. We win, we got Friday and Saturday off. If we didn’t, we were practicing. Got to motivate some way. So they don’t have to see me for two days and they’re pretty fired up about that.” – Oregon coach Dana Altman, to the Oregonian, on giving his team two days off from practice because the Ducks beat Oregon State.
---“It feels great to get a win back in my city and on my birthday. It’s amazing and that ‘UW rejects’? I don’t know what they’re talking about, because I feel like they’re WSU rejects.” Washington State forward Noah Williams, a Seattle product, to the Spokane Spokesman Review, regarding crowd chants of “UW rejects” during the Cougars’ win on Washington’s home court.
Top Upcoming Game This Week
---Saturday, March 7, 12:15 p.m. – UCLA (19-11, 12-5) at USC (21-9, 10-7) – The Bruins are fighting for a conference title, and USC is fighting for an NCAA tournament berth.
Cal High Point of the Week
---Cal swept then-21st-ranked Colorado and Utah, and Matt Bradley was named Pac-12 player of the week. That’s about as good as it gets for the Bears in 2019-20.
