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Pac-12 Men's Basketball Weekly Rundown - December 27, 2023

by Pac-12 Conference
Dec 27, 2023
Viv Colyer

Complete Release (PDF) | Schedule | Standings | Pac-12 Statistics | NCAA Statistics | Pac-12 Record Book

#PAC12MBB STARTING FIVE

108 - The 108th regular season of Pac-12 Men’s Basketball league play begins with a dozen games this week. 

  • Playing its inaugural season as the Pacific Coast Conference in 1915-16, the Pac-12 is the fourth-oldest men’s basketball conference in NCAA Division I trailing only the Big Ten (Western Conference in 1898-99), Ivy League (1901-02) and Missouri Valley (1907-08), and 1-of-5 century-old men’s basketball leagues (Southern 1920-21).

13 - The Pac-12’s longest active series streak will be contested Friday when No. 4 ARIZONA puts its 13-game win streak against CALIFORNIA on the line in Berkeley.

  • Arizona’s last loss in the Cal series came in Berkeley in 2016, a 74-73 upset of the 12th-ranked Wildcats. 

  • Three other Pac-12 series streaks are currently in double figures, two of which will be on the line next week when the Bay Area teams visit Los Angeles - 11 Oregon vs. Utah; 11 UCLA vs. California; 10 USC vs. California.

9-2/8-3 - The matchups of the opening week of Pac-12 play will take place in the Mountains as a pair of 9-2 teams - COLORADO and UTAH - host the Washingtons, both of which are 8-3 or better (WSU 9-2, WASH 8-3).

  • With all three at 9-2, Colorado, Utah and Washington State all posted their best non-conference seasons since 2019-20, while Washington has matched its best non-conference since 2019-20 at 8-3.

  • Colorado is a perfect 12-0 all-time against WSU in Boulder, including 11-0 at CU Events Center in the Pac-12 era.

6 - UTAH owns the Pac-12’s longest active win streak at six consecutive games entering its Conference openers this week.

  • The six-game win streak is the longest for the Runnin’ Utes since a nine-game stretch during the 2015-16 campaign, the program’s most recent NCAA Tournament appearance.

  • OREGON STATE owns the league’s next longest win streak at five straight games, the Beavers’ longest since a six-game run that propelled them to the 2021 Pac-12 Tournament title and 2021 NCAA Elite Eight.

  • Additionally, Washington’s current four-game win streak is its longest since a five-game run in 2019-20.

.577/.489/.904 - COLORADO junior KJ Simpson (.557 FG%, .489 3FG%, .904 FT%) is currently 1-of-2 NCAA Division I players (Tyler Kolek, Marquette) in the 50-40-90 shooting club (meeting NCAA 5 FGM & 2.5 FTM minimums).

  • According to College Basketball Reference’s database dating to 1992-93, the only major conference player (and one of only five in total) to accomplish the 50-40-90 feat while meeting the NCAA minimums over the course of a full season was Arizona’s Salim Stoudamire in 2004-05 (.504 FG%, .504 3FG%, .910 FT%). 

KEY NON-CONFERENCE VICTORIES

AP TOP 25 OPPONENTS (6-11) 
#12 ARIZONA 78, at #2 Duke 73 
#3 ARIZONA 74, #21 Michigan State 68 (Palm Springs, Calif.)
at #1 ARIZONA 98, #23 Wisconsin 73
at UTAH 73, #14 BYU 69
at WASHINGTON 78, #7 Gonzaga 73
COLORADO 90, #15 Miami (Fla.) 63 (Brooklyn, N.Y.)

POWER 6 OPPONENTS (13-24) 
OREGON 82, Georgia 71 (Las Vegas, Nev.) 
#21 USC 82, Kansas State 69 (Las Vegas, Nev.) 
#12 ARIZONA 78, at Duke 73 
UTAH 77, Wake Forest 70 (Charleston, S.C.) 
WASHINGTON 74, Xavier 71 (Las Vegas, Nev.) 
#3 ARIZONA 74, #21 Michigan State 68 (Palm Springs, Calif.) 
#23 USC 71, Seton Hall 63 (La Jolla, Calif.) 
ARIZONA STATE 82, Vanderbilt 67 (Las Vegas, Nev.) 
at OREGON 86, Michigan 83 (OT)
at #1 ARIZONA 98, #23 Wisconsin 73
at UTAH 73, #14 BYU 69
COLORADO 90, #15 Miami (Fla.) 63 (Brooklyn, N.Y.)
ARIZONA 87, Alabama 74 (Phoenix, Ariz.)

KENPOM.COM TOP 50 OPPONENTS (9-25) 
#12 ARIZONA 78, at #2 Duke 73
WASHINGTON 74, Xavier 71 (Las Vegas, Nev.)
#3 ARIZONA 74, #21 Michigan State 68 (Palm Springs, Calif.)
UTAH 78, at Saint Mary’s (Calif.) 71
at OREGON 86, Michigan 83 (OT)
at #1 ARIZONA 98, #23 Wisconsin 73
at UTAH 73, #14 BYU 69
at WASHINGTON 78, #7 Gonzaga 73
ARIZONA 87, Alabama 74 (Phoenix, Ariz.)

2023 NCAA TOURNAMENT TEAMS (15-19) 
#21 USC 82, Kansas State 69 (Las Vegas, Nev.) 
at WASHINGTON 75, Northern Kentucky 67 
#12 ARIZONA 78, at #2 Duke 73 
at ARIZONA STATE 63, Texas Southern 52 
WASHINGTON 74, Xavier 71 (Las Vegas, Nev.) 
#3 ARIZONA 74, #21 Michigan State 68 (Palm Springs, Calif.) 
at #18 COLORADO 85, Iona 68 
UTAH 78, at Saint Mary’s (Calif.) 71 
at #2 ARIZONA 82, Colgate 55
at WASHINGTON 85, Montana State 61
at WASHINGTON 78, #7 Gonzaga 73
COLORADO 90, #15 Miami (Fla.) 63 (Brooklyn, N.Y.)
ARIZONA 87, Alabama 74 (Phoenix, Ariz.)
at OREGON 84, Kent State 70
WASHINGTON STATE 66, Boise State 61 (Spokane, Wash.)

PAC-12 AWARDS CANDIDATES

JOHN R. WOODEN AWARD NATIONAL PLAYER OF THE YEAR 
WATCH LIST 
Oumar Ballo, Arizona 
Tristan da Silva, Colorado 
N’Faly Dante, Oregon 
Adem Bona, UCLA 
Isaiah Collier, USC 
Boogie Ellis, USC

NAISMITH NATIONAL PLAYER OF THE YEAR 
WATCH LIST 
Oumar Ballo, Arizona 
Caleb Love, Arizona 
Tristan da Silva, Colorado 
Adem Bona, UCLA 
Isaiah Collier, USC 
Boogie Ellis, USC

NAISMITH MEMORIAL HALL OF FAME AWARDS  
Watch Lists

Bob Cousy Point Guard of the Year  
Isaiah Collier, USC

Jerry West Shooting Guard of the Year  
Caleb Love, Arizona  
Boogie Ellis, USC

Julius Erving Small Forward of the Year  
Jaylon Tyson, California

Karl Malone Power Forward of the Year  
Keshad Johnson, Arizona  
Tristan da Silva, Colorado  
Adem Bona, UCLA

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Center of the Year  
Oumar Ballo, Arizona  
N’Faly Dante, Oregon  
Aday Mara, UCLA  
Branden Carlson, Utah

PAC-12 MEDIA PRESEASON ALL-CONFERENCE  
First Team  
Oumar Ballo, R-Sr., C, Arizona  
Adem Bona, So., F/C, UCLA  
Keion Brooks Jr., Gr., F, Washington  
Branden Carlson, Gr., C, Utah  
Isaiah Collier, Fr., G, USC  
N’Faly Dante, Sr., C, Oregon  
Tristan da Silva, Sr., F, Colorado  
Boogie Ellis, 5th, G, USC  
Spencer Jones, 5th, F, Stanford  
KJ Simpson, Jr., G, Colorado

Second Team  
Fardaws Aimaq, 6th, F, California  
Kylan Boswell, So., G, Arizona  
Kobe Johnson, Jr., G, USC  
Caleb Love, Sr., G, Arizona  
Jordan Pope, So., G, Oregon State

Honorable Mention  
Kwame Evans Jr. (Fr., ORE), Pelle Larsson (Sr., ARIZ), Aday Mara (Fr., UCLA), Cody Williams (Fr., COLO).

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