The non-conference season produced no shortage of storylines in the Pac-12, which collected a record number of AP Top 25 wins, saw several coaches reach milestones and came away with multiple MTE championships thanks to some incredible individual performances.
Here's a rundown if you need a refresher...
Pac-12 sets record for ranked wins
By at least one metric, the Pac-12 had one of its best non-conference seasons ever, capturing 10 AP Top 25 wins, the most of any conference and the most the league has had since expanding to 10 teams in 1978-79. The Pac-12's 13 Power-6 victories are the most for the league since registering 15 in 2019-20.
Arizona leads the way with a nation-best four AP Top 25 wins, beating No. 17 San Diego State, No. 10 Creighton, No. 14 Indiana and No. 6 Tennessee.
UCLA and Colorado have two ranked wins apiece while USC and Arizona State each captured one. The full list is as follows:
Conference of Champions shows out in MTEs
Two of the aforementioned wins capped a multi-team event that a Pac-12 team won. Arizona secured its third Maui Invitational championship in program history, knocking off Cincinnati, San Diego State and Creighton in as many days.
Arizona State beat VCU and Michigan to win the Legends Classic at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn. That started a nine-game winning streak that helped the Sun Devils go 11-2 in the non-conference season and appear in AP Top 25 for the first time since the Dec. 7, 2020 poll. The Devils are leaning on a defense that ranks No. 32 in the country, according to KenPom.com.
Washington won the Wooden Legacy in Anaheim by defeating Fresno State and Saint Mary's, part of a 9-4 start for the Huskies, who nearly doubled last year's non-conference win total.
Three coaches reach milestones
Colorado head coach
Tad Boyle
won his 292nd game with the Buffaloes on Dec. 21 an 86-78 victory over Southern Utah to put him atop the program's all-time wins list. The record was previously held by Russell "Sox" Walseth, who coached the Buffaloes for 20 seasons (1956-76). Boyle has only needed 13 to catch him.
Jerod Haase
eclipsed 100 career wins at Stanford on Nov. 18 when the Cardinal crushed Cal Poly. He has compiled a 103-97 record in seven seasons on The Farm.
Arizona's
Tommy Lloyd
will reach the century mark in no time as his 45-5 head coaching record is tied for the second-best 50-game start in NCAA Men's Division I history. The Wildcats went 33-4 in his first season and are off to a 12-1 start in his second.
The reigning Pac-12 and AP Coach of the Year appears to have his team in prime shape to repeat as Pac-12 champions, currently ranking No. 5 in the AP poll. The Wildcats are thriving in Lloyd's high-octane offense, ranking No. 2 in the country in points per game (90.2) and No. 1 efficiency while playing at the 11th-fastest pace in the country, according to KenPom.com.
Triple-doubles, tournament MVPs highlight standout performances
Arizona's
Kerr Kriisa
and Oregon's
Will Richardson
joined exclusive company by recording triple-doubles for their respective teams.
Richardson recorded the fourth triple-double in Oregon history and first since Luke Jackson in 2002 when he posted 19 points, 11 assists and 10 rebounds in a win over Nevada on Dec. 10.
Kriisa had 14 points, 11 rebounds and 12 assists in a Nov. 11 win over Southern for the 11th triple-double in Wildcat history. His 12 assists were the most by an Arizona player since Mustafa Shakur had 12 against Stanford in 2006.
It was the second triple-double of Kriisa's career, as he also had one at Utah last season.
Arizona has had several impressive individual performances this season, including a torrid three-game stretch by
Oumar Ballo
in the Maui Invitational, where he was named the tournament's MVP after averaging 21 points and 10.7 rebounds per game on 79 percent shooting. The 7-footer scored a career-high 30 points in the title-clinching game over Creighton.
Ballo (17.8 PPG) and frontcourt mate
Azuolas Tubelis
(20.1 PPG) are the Pac-12's leading scorers. Tubelis has been remarkably consistent for the Cats, scoring 20 or more points in eight of Arizona's 13 games, including a 30-point, 11-rebound outburst in Arizona's Maui Invitational opener vs. Cincinnati.
Keion Brooks Jr.
, a transfer from Kentucky, has made an instant impact for Washington, leading the Huskies at 16.6 points per game. He was the MVP of the Wooden Classic, stuffing the stat sheet by averaging 15 points, 8 rebounds, 2.5 blocks and 2 steals per game. The 6-foot-7 forward recently dropped a career-high 30 points in a win over Cal Poly on Dec. 13, his fourth game this season scoring 20 or more points.
Arizona State's
Desmond Cambridge Jr.
, a transfer from Nevada, was the MVP of the Legends Classic after averaging 15 points per game, including a 20-point outing in the win over Michigan.
While we're here, let's look back at the top scoring performances of the non-conference season:
-
31 - Stanford's
Michael Jones
vs. Pacific (Nov. 7)
-
30 - Colorado's
KJ Simpson
vs. then-No. 24 Texas A&M (Nov. 18)
-
30 - Arizona's
Azuolas Tubelis
vs. Cincinnati (Nov. 21)
-
30 - Arizona's
Oumar Ballo
vs. then-No. 10 Creighton (Nov. 23)
-
30 - Washington's
Keion Brooks Jr.
vs. Cal Poly (Dec. 13)
-
28 - Oregon's
Will Richardson
vs. then-No. 12 Michigan State (Nov. 25)
-
28 - USC's
Boogie Ellis
vs. then-No. 18 Auburn (Dec. 18)
-
27 - USC's
Boogie Ellis
vs. BYU (Nov. 23)
-
27 - UCLA's
Jaime Jaquez Jr.
vs. Bellarmine (Nov. 27)
-
27 - Colorado's
KJ Simpson
vs. Colorado State (Dec. 8)
-
27 - Utah's
Branden Carlson
vs. UTSA (Dec. 13)