This week in Pac-12 Men's Basketball - Feb. 9, 2021

COMPLETE RELEASE

#PAC12HOOPS STARTING FIVE:

IV > 1st - COLORADO senior McKinley Wright IV (1,660p/589r/614a) is 11 rebounds shy of what would be a unique benchmark in Conference history. The senior guard can become the first player in Pac-12 Men’s Basketball history to reach 1,600 points, 600 rebounds and 600 assists in his career; two weeks ago, he became only the second in Conference history to reach 1,600 points and 600 assists.
• McKinley Wright IV, COLO - 1,660p/589r/614a
• Payton Pritchard, ORE - 1,938p/550r/659a
• *Andre Miller, UTAH - 1,618p/643r/721a (prior to UTAH joining Pac-12)

5 x 12 - Five Pac-12 programs (ARIZONA, COLORADO, STANFORD, UCLA, USC) have reached 12 overall victories so far this season, 1-of-5 conferences in the country with as many teams with 12-or-more wins (Big Ten - 7; Big 12 - 6; Mountain West - 5; SEC - 5).
• COLORADO & USC are among the 20 NCAA Division I teams to reach 15 wins so far this season, including two of the five from power conferences (Baylor - 17; Ohio State - 16; Alabama - 15). 

5 - According to BracketMatrix.com, an aggregator of bracketologies, the Pac-12 is currently slated for five NCAA Tournament bids (5-USC; 7-COLORADO; 7-UCLA; 11-OREGON; 12-STANFORD).
• Five bids would be the most for the Pac-12 since a record seven in 2015-16 (Bracket Matrix predicted six postseason teams prior to the cancellation of the 2020 NCAA Tournament). 

#20, 24 - With its rivalry win on Saturday, USC climbed into a tie for first place in the Pac-12 standings along with UCLA. The win also helped move USC into this week’s AP Top 25 at No. 20.
• It marks the first AP ranking for the Trojans since Dec. 4, 2017 (#25) and highest since Nov. 27, 2017 (#14).
• Using the second week of February as the benchmark, it marks the first time the Trojans have held the league lead this late in a season since they were tied at 8-3 with the Bruins in Feb. 1997 - a span of 24 years.

83.0% - COLORADO is currently shooting 83.0 percent (288-347) from the free throw line as a team, which ranks first in NCAA Division I.
• Not only is Colorado’s free throw rate the best in the country so far, it is currently ahead of ARIZONA’s Conference-record rate of 78.6 percent (511-650) set in 2003-04 as well as the NCAA Division I record of 82.2 percent (535-651) set by Harvard in 1983-84.

PAC-12 TIPOFF

NATIONAL RECOGNITION:A Pac-12 standout picked up the league’s first national weekly honor as USC’s Evan Mobley was named NCAA.com National Player of the Week on Monday.
• Per KenPom.com, Mobley along with STANFORD’s Oscar da Silva and COLORADO’s McKinley Wright IV are top candidates for Pac-12 Player of the Year.
• Mobley is tied with Iowa’s Luka Garza for the national lead with 12 Game MVP honors, a distinction bestowed each game on KenPom.com. da Silva and Wright are tied for 10th nationally with seven Game MVPs apiece.

TRACKING LEAGUE PLAY: Through 69 league games as of Feb. 9, the average scoring margin is 10.7 points.
• 36 games have been decided by single digits
• 12 games has been decided by one possession (3 pts. or less)
• 3 overtime game (4 OT periods)
• 3 decided on team's final possession
• 20 games have been postponed (3 rescheduled and played)

NON-CONFERENCE: Pac-12 programs have combined to post a .732 win percentage (52-19) in countable NCAA Division I non-conference contests so far in 2020-21.
• The .732 win percentage is the second-best for the Pac-12 over the past five seasons, just behind the .739 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

PAC-12 NATIONAL AWARDS CANDIDATES:

WOODEN AWARD PLAYER OF THE YEAR
LATE SEASON TOP 20 WATCH LIST
Evan Mobley, USC

NAISMITH TROPHY DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR
TOP 15 WATCH LIST
Evan Mobley, USC

NAISMITH MEMORIAL BASKETBALL HALL OF FAME AWARDS
TOP 10 CANDIDATES

Bob Cousy Point Guard of the Year
McKinley Wright IV, Colorado

Jerry West Shooting Guard of the Year
Chris Duarte, Oregon

Julius Erving Small Forward of the Year
Ziaire Williams, Stanford

Karl Malone Power Forward of the Year
Oscar da Silva, Stanford

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Center of the Year
Evan Mobley, USC

SENIOR CLASS AWARD
TOP 30 CANDIDATES
Oscar da Silva, Stanford
Chris Smith, UCLA

CONFERENCE STANDINGS (Expanded Standings) 

*Ineligible for Pac-12 & NCAA Tournaments due to self-imposed postseason ban. Remains eligible for Pac-12 regular-season championship.

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

PAC-12 PLAYERS OF THE WEEK

NATIONAL HONORS