Pac-12 Men's Basketball Weekly Rundown - January 24, 2023

COMPLETE RELEASE

#PAC12MBB STARTING FIVE:

+1.5 - Despite dropping its first league game of the season at ARIZONA on Saturday, UCLA actually extended its Pac-12 lead to 1.5 games after last week’s road split as the midpoint of Conference play hits this week.

• The Bruins last enjoyed as large a lead (+1.5 through 10 games) in the Pac-12 around the midpoint of the pandemic-impacted 2020-21 season; UCLA went on to finish fourth in the league standings before advancing to the 2021 NCAA Final Four.

4 - Four Pac-12 standouts were named to the USBWA Oscar Robertson Trophy Midseason Top 50 Watch List on Jan. 19.

• Oumar Ballo, ARIZONA - Only player currently top 5 in the Pac-12 in scoring, rebounding, FG% and blocks.
• Azuolas Tubelis, ARIZONA - Currently leads the Pac-12 in both scoring (19.9 ppg) and rebounding (9.4 rpg), 1-of-5 NCAA Division I players leading their league in both (Zach Edey, Purdue; Gerrale Gates, Holy Cross; Drew Pember, UNC Asheville; Jake Stephens, Chattanooga).
• Jaime Jaquez Jr. & Jaylen Clark, UCLA - the only players currently in the top 15 in the Pac-12 in scoring, rebounding and steals.

8 x 75 - The Pac-12 boasts eight teams in the top 75 in NCAA Evaluation Tool (NET) through Jan. 23 games (#5 UCLA, #11 ARIZONA, #48 UTAH, #55 ARIZONA STATE, #60 OREGON, #62 USC, #65 COLORADO, #75 WASHINGTON STATE).

• Half of this week’s 10-game slate will feature NET Top 75 matchups (COLO at ORE; UCLA at USC; ARIZ at WSU; UTAH at ORE; ASU at WSU).
• With a pair of home routs last week, UTAH climbed from a season-worst #66 back inside the top 50 at #48.
• OREGON has gained 21 spots since Jan. 5 to its current #60; the Ducks navigated a rash of injuries during a non-conference slate currently rated fourth-most difficult among Power Conferences (Alabama, North Carolina, Kansas).
• USC continues its steady climb, hitting a season-best #61 after Saturday’s win at ARIZONA STATE and currently at #62 since debuting at #146 in the initial NET rankings on Dec. 4.

11.3 - Through 56 league games as of Jan. 22, the average scoring margin is 11.3 points.

• 25 games have been decided by single digits, 16 by 5 pts. or less
• 12 games have been decided by one possession (3 pts. or less)
• 2 overtime games (2 OT periods)
• 5 decided on team’s final possession (ASU at COLO; OSU vs. WASH; UTAH at WSU; UCLA at WSU; COLO vs. WSU)

148 - OREGON’s Dana Altman enters the week with 148 victories in Pac-12 regular-season games, two shy of becoming the 11th head coach to reach 150 league wins in Conference history.

• Lute Olson 327, John Wooden 298, Mike Montgomery 282, Slats Gill 276, Hec Edmundson 266, Jack Friel 232, Ralph Miller 204, Nibs Price 192, Marv Harshman 176, Sean Miller 150* (* 30 wins later vacated by NCAA penalty).
• Altman also has 721 career wins, recently passing UTEP’s Don Haskins (719) for 30th in NCAA Division I history.

OFF THE BENCH:

ZU, LEW & BILL, etc.: Only six players have ever led the Conference in both scoring and rebounding in the same season, as ARIZONA’s Azuolas Tubelis currently does:

Lew Alcindor, UCLA (3x, 1966-69)
Bill Walton, UCLA (1971-72)
Mark McNamara, CAL (1981-82)
A.C. Green, OSU (1984-85)
Ike Diogu, ASU (2004-05)
Leon Powe, CAL (2005-06)

BURGER BOYZ: Five NLI signees from four Pac-12 schools were named to the rosters for the 2023 McDonald’s All-American Game on Tuesday:

Cody Williams, Colorado
Mookie Cook, Oregon
KJ Evans Jr., Oregon
Andrej Stojakovic, Stanford
Isaiah Collier, USC

• The five McDonald’s All-Americans are tied for the most-ever for the Conference (2006, 2012, 2019).

KEY NON-CONFERENCE WINS

10 & 13: Pac-12 Men’s Basketball programs combined for 10 victories over AP Top 25 opponents and 13 over Power 6 Conference opponents during non-conference play.

• The 10 ranked victories are currently the most of any NCAA Division I conference, and the most for the Conference since expanding to the Pac-10 in 1978-79 (previous high was nine in 1994-95 & 1999-00).
• Five different Pac-12 teams (ARIZONA, ARIZONA STATE, COLORADO, UCLA, USC) amassed the 10 AP Top 25 wins, trailing only the Big Ten’s seven teams (nine wins).
• The 13 Power 6 Conference victories are the most for the league since registering 15 during the 2019-20 season when as many as six Pac-12 teams were projected to make the canceled 2020 NCAA Tournament.

AP TOP 25 OPPONENTS (10-11)
COLORADO 78, #11 Tennessee 66 (Nashville, Tenn.)
ARIZONA STATE 87, #20 Michigan 62 (Brooklyn, N.Y.)
COLORADO 103, #24 Texas A&M 75 (Conway, S.C.)
#14 ARIZONA 87, #17 San Diego State 70 (Lahaina, Hawai’i)
#14 ARIZONA 81, #10 Creighton 79 (Lahaina, Hawai’i)
#10 ARIZONA 89, #14 Indiana 75 (Las Vegas, Nev.)
#16 UCLA 87, at #20 Maryland 60
#16 UCLA 63, #13 Kentucky 53 (New York City, N.Y.)
at #9 Arizona 75, #6 Tennessee 70
at USC 74, #19 Auburn 71

POWER 6 OPPONENTS (13-20)
COLORADO 78, #11 Tennessee 66 (Nashville, Tenn.)
ARIZONA STATE 87, #20 Michigan 62 (Brooklyn, N.Y.)
COLORADO 103, #24 Texas A&M 75 (Conway, S.C.)
UTAH 68, Georgia Tech 64 (Fort Myers, Fla.)
#14 ARIZONA 81, #10 Creighton 79 (Lahaina, Hawai’i)
STANFORD 70, Florida State 60 (Orlando, Fla.)
OREGON 74, Villanova 67 (Portland, Ore.)
#10 ARIZONA 89, #14 Indiana 75 (Las Vegas, Nev.)
ARIZONA STATE 73, Creighton 71 (Las Vegas, Nev.)
#16 UCLA 87, at #20 Maryland 60
#16 UCLA 63, #13 Kentucky 53 (New York City, N.Y.)
at #9 Arizona 75, #6 Tennessee 70
at USC 74, #19 Auburn 71

NATIONAL AWARDS CANDIDATES

NAISMITH TROPHY NATIONAL PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Top 50 Watch List
Azuolas Tubelis, Arizona
Will Richardson, Oregon
Harrison Ingram, Stanford
Tyger Campbell, UCLA
Jaime Jaquez Jr., UCLA
Drew Peterson, USC

WOODEN AWARD NATIONAL PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Midseeason Top 25 Watch List
Azuolas Tubelis, Arizona
Jaime Jaquez Jr., UCLA

Top 50 Watch List
Azuolas Tubelis, Arizona
Will Richardson, Oregon
Harrison Ingram, Stanford
Tyger Campbell, UCLA
Jaime Jaquez Jr., UCLA

USBWA OSCAR ROBERTSON TROPHY NATIONAL PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Midseason Top 50 Watch List
Oumar Ballo, Arizona
Azuolas Tubelis, Arizona
Jaylen Clark, UCLA
Jaime Jaquez Jr., UCLA

NABC NATIONAL PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Top 20 Watch List
Jaime Jaquez Jr., UCLA

NAISMITH MEMORIAL BASKETBALL HALL OF FAME AWARDS
Watch Lists

Bob Cousy Point Guard of the Year
Kerr Kriisa, Arizona
Will Richardson, Oregon
Tyger Campbell, UCLA

Jerry West Shooting Guard of the Year
Amari Bailey, UCLA

Julius Erving Small Forward of the Year
Pelle Larsson, Arizona
Harrison Ingram, Stanford
Jaime Jaquez Jr., UCLA

Karl Malone Power Forward of the Year
Azuolas Tubelis, Arizona

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Center of the Year
Oumar Ballo, Arizona
Adem Bona, UCLA
Branden Carlson, Utah
Kel’el Ware, Oregon

PAC-12 MEDIA PRESEASON ALL-CONFERENCE TEAMS
First Team
Tyger Campbell, R-Sr., G, UCLA
Branden Carlson, Sr., C, Utah
Boogie Ellis, Sr., G, USC
Mouhamed Gueye, So., F, Washington State
Harrison Ingram, So., F, Stanford
Jaime Jaquez Jr., Sr., G/F, UCLA
Spencer Jones, Sr., F, Stanford
Drew Peterson, 5th, G, USC
Will Richardson, Sr., G, Oregon
Azuolas Tubelis, Jr., F, Arizona

Second Team
Marcus Bagley, So., F, Arizona State
Tristan da Silva, Jr., F, Colorado
DJ Horne, Jr., G, Arizona State
Kerr Kriisa, Jr., G, Arizona
Pelle Larsson, Jr., G, Arizona

Honorable Mention
Amari Bailey (Fr., UCLA), Oumar Ballo (R-Jr., ARIZ), Jaylen Clark (Jr., UCLA); Quincy Guerrier (Sr., ORE), K.J. Simpson (So., COLO), Kel’el Ware (Fr., ORE).

CONFERENCE STANDINGS (Expanded Standings) 

WEEKLY SCHEDULE (Full Schedule) | * - Pac-12 Conference game

PAC-12 PERFORMANCE AWARDS PRESENTED BY NEXTIVA (Weekly Awards History)

NATIONAL WEEKLY HONORS