Roundup: Johnson among Pac-12 trio on Wooden Award late season list

Arizona basketball freshman Stanley Johnson was named to the Wooden Award late season top 20, it was announced Wednesday. He is one of three Pac-12ers on the list, with Utah’s Delon Wright and Stanford’s Chasson Randle being the others.

It’s the state of Oregon against SoCal Wednesday night in men’s hoops. First off will be Oregon taking on USC in Troy (6 p.m. PT, ESPN2), and Steve Mims of The Register-Guard writes that this is the beginning of the stretch run for Oregon as it tries to put itself on the right side of the NCAA tournament bubble. Also, check out this Grantland feature of Vernon Adams by Michael Weinreb.

UCLA greets Oregon State on the Pac-12 Networks (7 p.m. PT), so watch what coach Steve Alford has to say before the Oregon schools come to town.

Dan Bickley of The Arizona Republic writes that the Curtain of Distraction could spark a new era of Arizona State basketball.

After missing the Utah game with a hip injury, Colorado guard Askia Booker expects to play against Cal on Thursday, reports Brian Howell.

Despite dealing with a sore knee, Utah guard Delon Wright expects to play against Stanford Thursday night.

Oregon State coach Wayne Tinkle talks about his transition from Montana to Corvallis on “The Drive: Pac-12 Basketball” Wednesday night at 9 p.m. PT, and there’s a snippet of that chat.

The California Golden Blogs staff discusses whether or not Cal men’s basketball can keep up its recent play that has sparked a four-game win streak.

Read this SB Nation feature on Klay Thompson. The Dubs have one more game before the former Cougar makes his NBA All-Star Game debut.

Washington pitcher Tyler Davis was named to the Golden Spikes Award watch list Tuesday by USA Baseball. Davis is one of eight Pac-12 players on the list. The college baseball season starts this weekend, yo.

USC hired Bob Connelly as its offensive line coach to replace Tim Drevno (off to Michigan as the Wolverines’ OC). Connelly was an O-line coach at Oklahoma State prior to his hiring at USC.

Remember when Kevin Hogan led Stanford to an upset of UCLA to keep the Bruins out of the Pac-12 Football Championship Game? Ted Miller is here with a reminder in case you forgot.