Pac-12 Men's Basketball seeks to repeat history with this week's key matchups

#PAC12HOOPS STARTING FIVE:
1 (of 11) - ARIZONA STATE (7-0) is one of 11 remaining unbeaten teams in NCAA Division I and is currently riding a 20-game regular season non-conference win streak dating back to the 2016-17 season.
- The Sun Devils’ current regular-season OOC streak is the longest of any team in the nation:
ASU - 20; Michigan/Texas Tech - 13; Virginia - 12; Iowa - 11; Kansas/St. John’s - 10.
10-1 - With a victory at Connecticut on Sunday, ARIZONA improved to 10-1 in true non-conference road games over the past seven seasons including a streak of five straight victories.
- The Wildcats put the mark on the line again this Sunday at Alabama in their final OOC road test.
16 - This week’s 16-game Pac-12 schedule features eight opponents to appear in the 2018 NCAA or NIT fields, seven road/neutral contests, three power league opponents, three preseason favorites, and two top-6 matchups including WASHINGTON visiting No. 1 Gonzaga and a ranked showdown between No. 20 ARIZONA STATE and No. 6 Nevada.
- This week a year ago, the Pac-12 scored a trio of top-10 upsets with ARIZONA beating No. 7 Texas A&M (12/5/17) and WASHINGTON (12/6/17) and ARIZONA STATE (12/10/17) both upsetting No. 2 Kansas. It equaled the most top-10 non-league victories in one week for a league dating back to the 1996-97 season according to STATS, Inc.
#20 - ARIZONA STATE checked into the AP Top 25 this week at No. 20 following a 7-0 non-conference start for the second consecutive season. The Sun Devils have now been ranked in the AP poll in consecutive seasons for the first time since the 2007-08 and 2008-09 seasons.
- ASU also has ranked programs in women’s basketball (#17), men’s ice hockey (#15) and wrestling (#15) - the only school in the country to be ranked in those four NCAA Division I winter sports.
37 - OREGON STATE has equaled its best start in 37 seasons - since the 1980-81 campaign in which the Beavers opened 26-0 - and is 6-1 for just the eighth time over that span.
- OSU will look to start 7-1 for only the third time since 1980-81 (1984-85, 1986-87) when it visits Saint Louis on Sunday.
PAC-12 TIPOFF:
SULTANS OF STEAL: NCAA Division I’s career steals leaders both hail from the Pac-12 as OREGON’s Ehab Amin (227) and WASHINGTON’s Matisse Thybulle (227) are currently tied for first.
- Thybulle currently ranks 10th in Conference history with his 227 thefts, 94 shy of Gary Payton’s league record. Thybulle totaled 101 thefts in 2017-18.
- 218 of Amin’s career steals came in three seasons at Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, including an NCAA-leading 105 in 2016-17.
TRES’ TOP 5 TRIO: OREGON STATE’s Tres Tinkle enters the week as the lone Pac-12 player to rank in the top 5 in the league in scoring (20.7 ppg, 4th), rebounding (9.7 rpg, 3rd) and assists (4.6, T-4th). He’s one of two nationally (Justin James, Wyoming) currently hitting those marks.
According to College Basketball Reference, only one player has averaged 20-9-4 for a full season dating back to 1992-93 - Ohio State’s Evan Turner in 2009-10.
CONFERENCE STANDINGS (Expanded Standings)
Teams | Pac-12 Record | Overall Record |
---|---|---|
Arizona State | 0-0 | 7-0 |
Oregon State | 0-0 | 6-1 |
Colorado | 0-0 | 5-1 |
Arizona | 0-0 | 6-2 |
UCLA | 0-0 | 6-2 |
Washington | 0-0 | 6-2 |
Washington State | 0-0 | 4-2 |
USC | 0-0 | 5-3 |
Oregon | 0-0 | 4-3 |
Utah | 0-0 | 4-3 |
Stanford | 0-0 | 4-4 |
California | 0-0 | 2-4 |
UPCOMING SCHEDULE (All Times Pacific - Expanded Schedule Details)
Tuesday, Dec. 4 | TV | Time |
South Dakota at COLORADO | PAC12 | 6 p.m. |
Wednesday, Dec. 5 | TV | Time |
Idaho at WASHINGTON STATE | PAC12 | 6 p.m. |
San Francisco at CALIFORNIA | PAC12 | 8 p.m. |
WASHINGTON at #1 Gonzaga | ESPN2 | 8 p.m. |
Thursday, Dec. 6 | TV | Time |
Utah Valley at ARIZONA | PAC12 | 6 p.m. |
Friday, Dec. 7 | TV | Time |
TCU vs. USC (1) | FS1 | 6:30 p.m. |
#6 Nevada vs. #20 ARIZONA STATE (1) | ESPN2 | 9 p.m. |
Saturday, Dec. 8 | TV | Time |
BYU vs. UTAH (2) | ESPNU | 11 a.m. |
UIC at COLORADO | PAC12 | 3 p.m. |
Nebraska-Omaha at OREGON | PAC12 | 5 p.m. |
San Diego State at CALIFORNIA | PAC12 | 7:30 p.m. |
Notre Dame at UCLA | ESPN2 | 7:30 p.m. |
Sunday, Dec. 9 | TV | Time |
ARIZONA at Alabama | ESPN | 10 a.m. |
Oregon State at Saint Louis | ESPNU | 12:30 p.m. |
Montana State vs. WASHINGTON STATE (3) | PAC12 | 4 p.m. |
Seattle at WASHINGTON | PAC12 | 6 p.m. |
1 - Air Force Reserve Basketball Hall of Fame Classic, Los Angeles, Calif. (STAPLES Center); 2 - Beehive Classic, Salt Lake City, Utah (Vivint Smart Home Arena); 3 - Kennewick, Wash. (Toyota Center)
PAC-12 PLAYERS OF THE WEEK
Date |
Player |
Nov. 12 | KZ Okpala, So., Stanford |
Nov. 19 | Jaylen Nowell, So., Washington |
Nov. 26 | Luguentz Dort, Fr., Arizona State |
Dec. 3 | Zylan Cheatham, R-Sr., Arizona State |
NATIONAL HONORS
NCAA.com Player of the Week:
Luguentz Dort, Arizona State (Nov. 26)