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This week in Pac-12 Men's Basketball - Jan. 5, 2021

Jan 5, 2021

COMPLETE RELEASE

#PAC12HOOPS STARTING FIVE:

8 - The Pac-12 currently boasts eight teams in the top 70 of the KenPom.com rankings - with seven of this week’s adjusted 11-game schedule set to feature these teams.
• USC at ARIZONA, UCLA at ARIZONA STATE, OREGON at COLORADO on Thursday; UCLA at ARIZONA, USC at ARIZONA STATE on Saturday; OREGON at UTAH on Sunday; COLORADO at UTAH on Monday.

8 - No. 17 OREGON has jumped out to an early lead in the Pac-12 standings at 3-0 along with preseason favorite UCLA. The Ducks have won eight consecutive games since dropping their season opener on a neutral court to current No. 13 Missouri - an eight-game streak that currently ranks eighth in NCAA Division I.
• OREGON will put that streak - as well as its league-best seven-game Conference win streak dating back to 2019-20 - on the line Thursday at Colorado. The Buffaloes are unbeaten all-time against the Ducks in Boulder (9-0) and at CU Events Center (8-0).

10.5 - Through 17 league games as of Jan. 4, the average scoring margin is 10.5 points.
• 8 games have been decided by single digits
• 4 games has been decided by one possession (3 pts. or less)
• 1 overtime game (2 OT periods)
• 11 games have been postponed (2 rescheduled and played)

28 - OREGON has won 28 consecutive games at Matthew Knight Arena, the third-longest home win streak in NCAA Division I, including the longest among major conference programs (Gonzaga 44, Liberty 29, Oregon 28, Prairie View A&M 27).
• UCLA climbed into a tie for 11th nationally by extending its Pauley Pavilion win streak to 13 consecutive games with victories over UTAH and COLORADO last week.

34.2% - WASHINGTON STATE leads the Pac-12 and NCAA Division I in field goal percentage defense at 34.2 percent, including holding ARIZONA to a season-low 37.3 percent in its only loss of the season this past Saturday.
• The Cougars will see if their NCAA-leading defense travels when they venture away from Pullman for the first time this season to take on CALIFORNIA and STANFORD.

PAC-12 TIPOFF

ROAD WARRIORS: STANFORD is 1-of-2 power conference programs with multiple non-conference road victories (Oklahoma State 3).
• The Cardinal is the only power conference program yet to play a game at its traditional home venue so far this season, having won three true road games and a neutral site contest along with two wins at its temporary home venue of Kaiser Permanente Arena in Santa Cruz, Calif.

IV WOULD BE FIRST: COLORADO senior McKinley Wright IV (1,525p/550r/553a) is quickly approaching what would be a unique benchmark in Conference history. The senior guard is on pace to become the first player in Pac-12 Men’s Basketball history to reach 1,600 points, 600 rebounds and 600 assists in his career.

Below is a list of the others in the 1,500/500/500 club:
• Ron Lee, ORE - 2,085p/580r/543a
• Payton Pritchard, ORE - 1,938p/550r/659a
• *Andre Miller, UTAH - 1,618p/643r/721a (prior to UTAH joining Pac-12)

NON-CONFERENCE: Pac-12 programs combined to post a .729 win percentage (51-19) in countable NCAA Division I non-conference contests in 2020.
• The .729 win percentage is the second-best for the Conference over the past five seasons, just behind the .739 mark posted in 2019-20 when the league was projected to earn as many as six NCAA Tournament bids.

KEY NON-CONFERENCE VICTORIES:

POWER 6 OPPONENTS (5-9)
at Oregon State 71, California 63
Colorado 76, at Kansas State 58
Stanford 82, Alabama 64 (Asheville, N.C.)
#21 Oregon 83, Seton Hall 70 (Omaha, Neb.)
at UCLA 69, Marquette 60

PRESEASON CONFERENCE FAVORITES (5-4)
at Washington State 56, Texas Southern 52
at Washington State 71, Eastern Washington 68
at Arizona 70, Eastern Washington 67
at Oregon 69, Eastern Washington 52
at USC 91, UC Irvine 56

CONFERENCE STANDINGS (Expanded Standings

Teams Pac-12 Record Overall Record
Oregon 3-0 8-1
UCLA 3-0 7-2
Arizona State 1-0 4-3
Arizona 3-1 9-1
Stanford 2-1 6-3
Washington State 1-1 8-1
USC 1-1 6-2
Colorado 1-2 7-3
Utah 1-2 4-3
Oregon State 1-2 5-4
Washington 0-3 1-7
California 0-4 5-6

PAC-12 WEEKLY SCHEDULE  (All games, tip times & TV broadcasts are subject to change)
For the most up-to-date schedules, visit Expanded Schedule

Wednesday, January 6 TV Time (PT)
OREGON STATE at UTAH*   PPD
Thursday, January 7 TV Time (PT)
#17 OREGON at COLORADO* FS1 2:00 p.m. PT
USC at ARIZONA* ESPN2 6:00 p.m. PT
WASHINGTON at STANFORD* (Santa Cruz, Calif.) FS1 6:00 p.m. PT
WASHINGTON STATE at CALIFORNIA* PAC12 7:00 p.m. PT
UCLA at ARIZONA STATE* ESPN 7:30 p.m. PT
Saturday, January 9    
OREGON STATE at COLORADO*   PPD
WASHINGTON at CALIFORNIA* PAC12 12:00 p.m. PT
WASHINGTON STATE at STANFORD* (Santa Cruz, Calif.) PAC12 2:00 p.m. PT
USC at ARIZONA STATE* PAC12 4:00 p.m. PT
UCLA at ARIZONA* ESPN 6:00 p.m. PT
#17 OREGON at UTAH* PAC12 6:30 p.m. PT
Monday, January 11    
COLORADO at UTAH* PAC12 TBD

PAC-12 PLAYERS OF THE WEEK

Week of Player Freshman
Nov. 30 McKinley Wright IV, Colorado Josh Christopher, Arizona State
Dec. 7 Eugene Omoruyi, Oregon Evan Mobley, USC
Dec. 14 Jemarl Baker Jr., Arizona Evan Mobley, USC
Dec. 21 Oscar da Silva, Stanford Ziaire Williams, Stanford
Dec. 28 McKinley Wright IV, Colorado Efe Abogidi, Washington State
Jan. 4 Chris Duarte, Oregon Bennedict Mathurin, Arizona
Jan. 11    
Jan. 18    
Jan. 25    
Feb. 1     
Feb. 8    
Feb. 15    
Feb. 22    
March 1    
March 8