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Pac-12 Men's Basketball Weekly Rundown - January 3, 2024

by Pac-12 Conference
Jan 3, 2024
Uncredited/Sun Devil Athletics

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

#PAC12MBB STARTING FIVE

2 - This week’s Pac-12 Men’s Basketball Performance Award recipients also landed a pair of National Players of the Week honors from standout performances during the opening week of league play:

2-0 - ARIZONA STATE, COLORADO, OREGON and UTAH all opened Pac-12 play 2-0, with the Sun Devils securing the league’s first road sweep of the season with its pair of wins in the Bay Area. 

  • It marks ASU’s second consecutive and its sixth ever 2-0 start to Pac-12 play (1979-80, 1987-88, 2007-08, 2012-13, 2022-23, 2023-24). It was ASU’s fourth road sweep in the past three seasons after not recording any during the first decade of the Pac-12 era.

  • Colorado is 2-0 for the first time since 2014-15 and seeking to match-or-better its best Pac-12 start this week (3-0 in 2013-14 and 2011-12).

  • Oregon is 2-0 for the first time since 2020-21 and seeking its best Pac-12 start since opening 8-0 in 2016-17.

  • Utah is 2-0 for the second consecutive season after starting a Pac-12-era best 5-0 in 2022-23.

8 & 6 - The Pac-12’s longest active overall win streaks - UTAH at eight straight wins, and COLORADO at six - head to the desert this week to take on fellow league unbeaten ARIZONA STATE and No. 10 nationally ranked ARIZONA.

  • The eight-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. A sweep through the desert - which no team has done since 2020-21, and only a league-low eight have accomplished in the Pac-12 era - would give Utah its longest win streak since 2004-05 (18 games).

11 & 10 - The Pac-12’s second- and third-longest active series streaks will be contested this week when UCLA (11 straight series wins) and USC (10) host CALIFORNIA. ARIZONA won its league-leading 14th straight game versus Cal last week.

  • The Bruins have also won 10 in a row against the Golden Bears at Pauley Pavilion dating to the 2010-11 season. 

9.7 - Through 12 league games as of Dec. 31, the average scoring margin is 9.7 points.

  • 8 games have been decided by single digits

  • 2 games have been decided by one possession (3 pts. or less) 

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 (11-23) 
#12 ARIZONA 78, at #2 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.)
UTAH 78, at Saint Mary’s (Calif.) 71
at ARIZONA STATE 72, San Francisco 61
at ARIZONA STATE 76, SMU 74
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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