Pac-12 Men's Basketball Weekly Rundown - January 30, 2024

Jan 30, 2024

#PAC12MBB STARTING FIVE

3+ - The midpoint of Pac-12 Men’s Basketball play arrives this week with all 12 teams having at least three league losses.

Dating to the first season of non-divisional PCC play in 1955-56 (a span of 69 seasons), it marks only the third time that every team has had three league losses midway through Conference play (1986-87, 2009-10, 2023-24). In both prior instances, the league title was decided by one game and clinched outright on the final week of the regular season.
The Pac-12 is the first Power Conference to have all its teams with three-or-more league losses through nine games since the Pac-10 in 2009-10. It marks the 10th instance for a Power Conference dating to 1980-81 (Pac-12 3x; Big East 3x, last 1990-91; SEC 3x, last 1989-90; ACC 1x, last 1984-85).

5 x 55 - For the first time since before Christmas (Dec. 20), the Pac-12 has five teams inside the top 55 of the NCAA Evaluation Tool (NET) - ARIZONA 3, COLORADO 29, UTAH 36, WASHINGTON STATE 41, OREGON 52.

Washington State has won five of its last six games and improved 31 spots since Jan. 6.
Current league co-leader Oregon has dropped just two spots despite losing three of its last four.

6 x 1.0 - Six teams are currently within a game of the lead in the Pac-12 standings, the second-closest league race in NCAA Division I (SWAC - 8 teams within 1.0 games).

The Pac-12 is 1-of-2 conferences nationally in which every member has at least three league losses (Horizon).

11.7 - Through 56 league games as of Jan. 27, the average scoring margin is 11.7 points.

31 games have been decided by single digits
10 games have been decided by one possession (3 pts. or less)
2 overtime games (2 OT periods)
3 games decided on team’s final possession (ORE at WASH; WASH at CAL; OSU vs. ARIZ)

28.6% - Road teams are 16-40 (.286) through 56 Pac-12 contests, tied as the second-most difficult league to win on the road so far this season, and the most difficult among Power Conferences (CUSA 1st, ASun T-2nd).

It is currently on pace to be the Conference’s most difficult season on the road since expansion to the Pac-10 in 1978-79 (.287/31-77 in 2015-16).

OFF THE BENCH

DIVINE CORVALLIS: OREGON STATE guard Jordan Pope became the sixth different Pac-12 player to earn a National Player of the Week honor this week, receiving recognition from the USBWA, Naismith Trophy and ESPN.com.

Pope joins ARIZONA’s Oumar Ballo, USC’s Boogie Ellis, STANFORD’s Kanaan Carlyle, UTAH’s Branden Carlson and WASHINGTON STATE’s Isaac Jones as Pac-12 players to be recognized with a national weekly award this season.

LOVE BOOGIE, BUT WHERE’S KJ?: ARIZONA’s Caleb Love and USC’s Boogie Ellis were among the top 10 finalists for the Naismith Hall of Fame’s Jerry West Shooting Guard of the Year award.

Love ranks third in the Pac-12 in scoring (19.3 ppg) with 11 20-point outings.
Ellis is fifth in the Pac-12 in scoring (18.1 ppg) while shooting 45 percent from deep on 3.3 threes per game.
A curious ommission from both the Cousy and West finalists is COLORADO’s KJ Simpson, who ranks fourth in the Pac-12 in scoring (19.2 ppg/50.8% FG/46.8% 3FG/89.2% FT) while being the only NCAA Division I player to eclipse 50% FG/40% 3FG/89% FT (5 FGM/2.5 FTM minimum).

PAC-12 AWARDS CANDIDATES

JOHN R. WOODEN AWARD NATIONAL PLAYER OF THE YEAR
LATE SEASON TOP 20 WATCH LIST
Caleb Love, Arizona
KJ Simpson, Colorado

MIDSEASON TOP 25 WATCH LIST
Caleb Love, Arizona
KJ Simpson, Colorado

PRESEASON 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/Top 10 Finalists

Bob Cousy Point Guard of the Year
Isaiah Collier, USC

Jerry West Shooting Guard of the Year
Caleb Love, Arizona (Top 10 Finalist)
Boogie Ellis, USC (Top 10 Finalist)

Julius Erving Small Forward of the Year
Jaylon Tyson, California (Top 10 Finalist)
Keion Brooks Jr., Washington (Added as Top 10 Finalist)

Karl Malone Power Forward of the Year
Keshad Johnson, Arizona (Top 10 Finalist)
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).