Roundup: Sabrina Ionescu drops 36 to lead Oregon to Pac-12 tourney title
Read Michelle Smith’s feature on Oregon women’s basketball winning the Pac-12 Tournament for the first time in program history after downing Stanford 77-57 in the tourney championship game behind a career-high 36 points from Sabrina Ionescu. The Ducks look like a surefire No. 2 seed in the Big Dance.
The Pac-12 men’s basketball all-conference teams were announced Monday morning, and Stanford’s Reid Travis was named to the All-Pac-12 Team, while Dorian Pickens earned an honorable mention All-Pac-12 nod and Daejon Davis was named to the All-Freshman team.
On the Husky side of things, Noah Dickerson was named First Team All-Pac-12, while Matisse Thybulle made the All-Defense squad and Jaylen Nowell was named an All-Frosh and All-Pac-12 honorable mention (The Seattle Times).
Arizona men’s basketball won the Pac-12 regular season title outright by defeating Cal 66-54 Saturday night in Tucson behind 26 points and 20 rebounds from Deandre Ayton.
USC men’s basketball is squarely on the bubble following a loss to UCLA Saturday night at Galen Center. Joey Kaufman (author of the article) notes that most bracket projections have the Trojans in the Big Dance, but they might be headed for a play-in game unless they do some damage in Las Vegas.
Following a win over Colorado on Saturday, Utah men’s basketball earned a first-round bye in the Pac-12 Tournament for the fourth straight year, Dirk Facer points out. The Utes, Bruins and Cardinal all finished with 11-7 records, and Utah got the No. 3 seed (UCLA is No. 4 and Stanford is No. 5).
Brian Howell writes that Colorado men’s basketball is in “must-win” mode heading into the Pac-12 Tournament in Las Vegas. The eighth-seeded Buffs open up with ninth-seeded Arizona State.
Peter King of Sports Illustrated writes that former UCLA quarterback Josh Rosen helped himself at the NFL Combine through his arm and conversations with NFL teams.
Danny Moran breaks down former Oregon State running back Ryan Nall’s impressive performance at the NFL Combine, finishing second among RBs in the 60-yard shuttle, tied for third in the 20-yard shuttle, tied for fifth in the broad jump and sixth in the three-cone drill.
Theo Lawson lets us know how Washington State football alums performed at the NFL Combine, as Luke Falk, Hercules Mata’afa, Cole Madison and Tavares Martin Jr. were in attendance.
No. 4 Cal women’s water polo upset top-ranked Stanford 8-7 in sudden victory (third overtime period). The Golden Bears snapped the defending-champion Cardinal’s 14-game win streak.
Kudos to former Sun Devil Phil Mickelson for winning the WGC-Mexico Championship on Sunday, defeating Justin Thomas in a playoff (Yahoo! Sports). It was Lefty’s first win since the 2013 British Open; perhaps it’s a sign of good things to come at The Masters?