This week in Pac-12 Men's Basketball - Jan. 27, 2021

COMPLETE RELEASE

#PAC12HOOPS STARTING FIVE:

3 - Three Pac-12 standouts have been named Top 10 candidates for the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame Starting Five positional awards, with two more positions to be announced later this week.
• Bob Cousy Point Guard of the Year: McKinley Wright IV, COLORADO
• Jerry West Shooting Guard of the Year: Chris Duarte, OREGON
• Julius Erving Small Forward of the Year: Ziaire Williams, STANFORD
• Current Watch List candidates: Malone Award - Oscar da Silva, STAN; Kareem Award - Evan Mobley, USC.

4 x 12 - Four Pac-12 programs (ARIZONA, COLORADO, UCLA, USC) have reached a dozen overall victories so far this season, tied with the Big Ten for the most to reach 12-or-more wins.

IV > 1st - COLORADO senior McKinley Wright IV (1,606p/580r/593a) is quickly approaching what would be a unique benchmark in Conference history. The senior guard is on pace to become the first player in Pac-12 Men’s Basketball history to reach 1,600 points, 600 rebounds and 600 assists in his career; with seven assists, he can become only the second to reach 1,600 points and 600 assists in the Conference.
• McKinley Wright IV, COLO - 1,606p/580r/593a
• Payton Pritchard, ORE - 1,938p/550r/659a
• *Andre Miller, UTAH - 1,618p/643r/721a (prior to UTAH joining Pac-12)

5 - According to BracketMatrix.com, an aggregator of bracketologies, the Pac-12 is currently slated for five NCAA Tournament bids (5-UCLA; 6-COLORADO; 6-USC; 8-OREGON; 12-STANFORD).
• Five bids would be the most for the Pac-12 since a record seven in 2015-16 (Bracket Matrix predicted six postseason teams prior to the cancellation of the 2020 NCAA Tournament).  

83.9% - COLORADO is currently shooting 83.9 percent (235-280) from the free throw line as a team, which ranks first in NCAA Division I.
• Not only is Colorado’s free throw rate the best in the country so far, it is currently ahead of ARIZONA’s Conference-record rate of 78.6 percent (511-650) set in 2003-04 as well as the NCAA Division I record of 82.2 percent (535-651) set by Harvard in 1983-84.

PAC-12 TIPOFF

WESTWOOD WIN STREAK: With OREGON STATE halting OREGON’s 28-game home win streak last week, UCLA has assumed the mantle for the longest home-court win streak among major conference programs at 15 - a total that is tied for the ninth-longest in NCAA Division I.

BEAVERS BUILDING: One of the hottest teams in the Pac-12 is OREGON STATE, which takes a three-game win streak (ASU, USC, at Oregon) into LA this week. During the streak, the Beavers have improved 85 spots in the NET (233 - 145) and now boast the league’s best Quadrant 1 record (2-1).

TRACKING LEAGUE PLAY: Through 49 league games as of Jan. 25, the average scoring margin is 10.7 points.
• 26 games have been decided by single digits
• 8 games has been decided by one possession (3 pts. or less)
• 3 overtime game (4 OT periods)
• 17 games have been postponed (3 rescheduled and played, 6 rescheduled)

NON-CONFERENCE: Pac-12 programs have combined to post a .732 win percentage (52-19) in countable NCAA Division I non-conference contests so far in 2020-21.
• The .732 win percentage is the second-best for the Pac-12 over the past five seasons, just behind the .739 posted in 2019-20 when the league was projected to earn as many as six NCAA Tournament bids.

KEY NON-CONFERENCE VICTORIES:

POWER 6 OPPONENTS (5-9)
at Oregon State 71, California 63
Colorado 76, at Kansas State 58
Stanford 82, Alabama 64 (Asheville, N.C.)
#21 Oregon 83, Seton Hall 70 (Omaha, Neb.)
at UCLA 69, Marquette 60

PRESEASON CONFERENCE FAVORITES (5-4)
at Washington State 56, Texas Southern 52
at Washington State 71, Eastern Washington 68
at Arizona 70, Eastern Washington 67
at Oregon 69, Eastern Washington 52
at USC 91, UC Irvine 56

CONFERENCE STANDINGS (Expanded Standings) 

*Ineligible for Pac-12 & NCAA Tournaments due to self-imposed postseason ban. Remains eligible for Pac-12 regular-season championship.

PAC-12 WEEKLY SCHEDULE  (All games, tip times & TV broadcasts are subject to change)
For the most up-to-date schedules, visit Expanded Schedule

PAC-12 PLAYERS OF THE WEEK