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This week in Pac-12 Men's Basketball: Final Four edition - April 1, 2021

Apr 1, 2021
NCAA Photos

COMPLETE RELEASE

#PAC12HOOPS STARTING FIVE:

Final Four - UCLA will represent Pac-12 Men’s Basketball in the 2021 NCAA Tournament Final Four after the Bruins knocked off the top two seeds (No. 2 seed Alabama, No. 1 seed Michigan) in the East Regional semifinals and final.
• For No. 11 seed UCLA, it marks the program’s 19th all-time Final Four appearance and first since 2008.
• The Bruins are the first Pac-12 entrant into the Final Four since Oregon in 2017, the 11th for the league since the field expanded to 64 teams in 1985 and the Conference’s 41st national semifinalist all-time.
• It marks the first Final Four appearance in 12 career trips to the NCAA Tournament for head coach Mick Cronin, who is in just his second season at UCLA.
• UCLA will be seeking its 14th NCAA Title Game appearance, first for its program and first for the Conference since 2006, and 12th National Championship, which would be the Pac-12’s first since 1997 and 17th all-time for league members.

2 - Thanks to the efficient performances of its five NCAA Tournament participants, the Pac-12 (+16.12) has climbed to No. 2 in the KenPom.com conference rankings behind only the Big Ten (+18.61).
• It marks the highest ranking and rating for the Conference since finishing No. 1 in 2008-09 (+16.15) and 2007-08 (+16.86).

3 - Coupled with Final Four trips for the ARIZONA and STANFORD Women’s Basketball teams, the Pac-12 will have a combined three basketball programs in the national semifinals for the first time in Conference history.
• The three combined Final Four teams are the most nationally (no other league has more than one).

6, 7, 8, 9, 10 - So far in the 2021 NCAA Tournament, Pac-12 programs have combined for:
• Six upsets (team seeded five spots lower than opponent)
• Seven victories over Associated Press Top 25 teams
• Eight wins by teams seeded lower than opponent
• Nine wins over Power Conference opponents (inclusive of USC/Oregon), the most ever for the Conference in a single NCAA Tournament
• 10 victories by double digits

13-4 - Pac-12 programs have combined for a 13-4 record* (.765 win%) so far in the 2021 NCAA Tournament. *OREGON was advanced past the First Round via No Contest vs. VCU.
• The 13 wins are tied for the most in the Conference’s history and mark just the sixth time the league reached double-digit wins in an NCAA Tournament: 13 - 2021, 2001, 1997; 11 - 1998; 10 - 2017, 2007.

PAC-12 TIPOFF

HISTORIC & UNIQUE FINAL FOUR: The long and winding road of the 2020-21 college basketball season will end this week at the 2021 NCAA Final Four in Indianapolis, a conclusion to an event held exclusively in the state of Indiana due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
• The unique March Madness has so far created the most upsets (win by a team seeded five spots lower than opponent) ever with 14 - six coming from Pac-12 teams.
• The 2021 tourney has been historic, not just for the Pac-12 but for the West in general as for the first time in event history all Final Four teams (Baylor, Gonzaga, Houston, UCLA) come from west of the Mississippi River.
• It also marks only the second time ever in NCAA Tournament history with two Final Four teams from the Pacific Time Zone (2017 - Oregon, Gonzaga).

#BACKTHEPAC: The combined success of Pac-12 Men’s & Women’s Basketball programs in the 2021 NCAA Tournaments has been historic from a league perspective.
• The 11 combined NCAA Tournament participants (5 MBB/6 WBB) were the second-most ever for the Conference (12 - 2016).
• The seven combined Sweet 16 teams were the most (by two) of any league in the country and just one shy of the league’s record of eight set in 2017 (5 WBB/3 MBB).
• The five combined Elite 8 teams were the most (by two) of any league in the country and the most in Conference history.
• The three combined Final Four teams are the most (by two) of any league in the country and the most in Conference history.
• The 25 combined NCAA Tournament wins are tied for the most in Conference history (2017 - 10 MBB/15 WBB).

5 x 20: Despite playing a pandemic-shortened season which cut the maximum allowable number of regular-season games by four (27 from 31), the Pac-12 still had five teams reach the 20-win plateau in 2020-21.
• The five 20-win programs is one off the league’s record of six (achieved five times, most recently in 2019-20).
• The five 20-win programs are the most of any NCAA Division I conference in 2020-21.

PAC-12 ANNUAL PERFORMANCE AWARDS, PRESENTED BY NEXTIVA
PLAYER OF THE YEAR, PRESENTED BY NEXTIVA: Evan Mobley, Fr., F, USC
DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR, PRESENTED BY NEXTIVA: Evan Mobley, Fr., F, USC
FRESHMAN OF THE YEAR, PRESENTED BY NEXTIVA: Evan Mobley, F, USC
MOST IMPROVED PLAYER OF THE YEAR, PRESENTED BY NEXTIVA: Jaiden Delaire, Jr., F, STANFORD
SIXTH MAN OF THE YEAR, PRESENTED BY NEXTIVA: Jordan Brown, R-So., F, ARIZONA
SCHOLAR-ATHLETE OF THE YEAR: Oscar da Silva, Sr., F, STANFORD
JOHN R. WOODEN COACH OF THE YEAR: Andy Enfield, USC

Click here for the complete Pac-12 All-Conference Teams

2021 PAC-12 ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM
All-Tournament Team
Evan Mobley, F, USC
Evan Battey, F, COLORADO
McKinley Wright IV, G, COLORADO
Jarod Lucas, G, OREGON STATE
Ethan Thompson, G, OREGON STATE

Most Outstanding Player
Warith Alatishe, F, OREGON STATE

PAC-12 NATIONAL AWARDS

CONSENSUS ALL-AMERICA
Evan Mobley
, USC (Second Team)

ASSOCIATED PRESS ALL-AMERICA
Evan Mobley
, USC (Second Team)
Chris Duarte, Oregon (Third Team)
Remy Martin, Arizona State (Honorable Mention)
McKinley Wright IV, Colorado (Honorable Mention)

USBWA ALL-AMERICA
Evan Mobley
, USC (Second Team)
Chris Duarte, Oregon (Third Team)

SPORTING NEWS ALL-AMERICA
Evan Mobley
, USC (Second Team)

NABC ALL-AMERICA
Evan Mobley
, USC (Second Team)

JOHN R. WOODEN AWARD
MEN'S ALL-AMERICA TEAM
Evan Mobley
, USC

NAISMITH TROPHY DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR
TOP 4 FINALISTS
Evan Mobley
, USC

USBWA WAYMAN TISDALE
FRESHMAN OF THE YEAR TOP 4 FINALIST
Evan Mobley
, USC

NAISMITH MEN’S COACH OF THE YEAR
LATE SEASON TOP 15 WATCH LIST
Andy Enfield, USC

NAISMITH TROPHY PLAYER OF THE YEAR
TOP 10 SEMIFINALIST
Evan Mobley
, USC

NAISMITH TROPHY DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR
TOP 4 FINALISTS
Evan Mobley
, USC

NAISMITH MEMORIAL BASKETBALL HALL OF FAME AWARDS
TOP 10 CANDIDATES/FINALISTS

Bob Cousy Point Guard of the Year
McKinley Wright IV
, Colorado (Top 10 Candidate)

Jerry West Shooting Guard of the Year
Chris Duarte
, Oregon (Finalist)

Julius Erving Small Forward of the Year
Ziaire Williams
, Stanford (Top 10 Candidate)

Karl Malone Power Forward of the Year
Oscar da Silva
, Stanford (Top 10 Candidate)

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

NETSCOUTS INTERNATIONAL ALL-AMERICA
Chris Duarte
, Oregon (Player of the Year)
Oscar da Silva, Stanford (First Team)
Eugene Omoruyi, Oregon (Third Team)

SENIOR CLASS AWARD
TOP 10 CANDIDATE
Oscar da Silva
, Stanford


CONFERENCE STANDINGS (Expanded Standings

Teams Pac-12 Record Overall Record
Oregon! (NCAA) 14-4 21-7
#24 USC (NCAA) 15-5 25-8
#22 Colorado (NCAA) 14-6 23-9
UCLA (NCAA) 13-6 22-9
Arizona* 11-9 17-9
Oregon State# (NCAA) 10-10 20-13
Stanford 10-10 14-13
Utah 8-11 12-13
Arizona State 7-10 11-14
Washington State 7-12 14-13
Washington 4-16 5-21
California 3-17 9-20

! Pac-12 regular-season champion (based on Conference win percentage) | # Pac-12 Tournament champion
*Ineligible for Pac-12 & NCAA Tournaments due to self-imposed postseason ban.


2021 NCAA TOURNAMENT FINAL FOUR SCHEDULE (Full NCAA Tournament bracket)
All games in Indianapolis, Ind., unless otherwise denoted; * if advances

Saturday, April 3 TV Time (PT)
2-#6 Houston vs. 1-#2 Baylor CBS 2:14 p.m. PT
11-UCLA vs. 1-#1 Gonzaga CBS 5:34 p.m. PT
Monday, April 5 TV Time (PT)
*11-UCLA vs. 2-#6 Houston/1-#2 Baylor CBS 6:00 p.m. PT

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 Oscar da Silva, Stanford Evan Mobley, USC
Jan. 18 McKinley Wright IV, Colorado Jabari Walker, Colorado
Jan. 25 Jamal Bey, Washington Evan Mobley, USC
Feb. 1  Alfonso Plummer, Utah Michael O'Connell, Stanford
Feb. 8 Evan Mobley, USC Evan Mobley, USC
Feb. 15 Johnny Juzang, UCLA Evan Mobley, USC
Feb. 22 Noah Williams, Washington State Azuolas Tubelis, Arizona
March 1 McKinley Wright IV, Colorado Azuolas Tubelis, Arizona
March 8 Chris Duarte, Oregon Evan Mobley, USC

NATIONAL HONORS

Week of Award - Recipient
Jan. 11 Naismith Trophy National Player of the Week - Ziaire Williams, Stanford
Feb. 8 NCAA.com National Player of the Week - Evan Mobley, USC
Feb. 15 Naismith Trophy National Player of the Week - Evan Mobley, USC
Feb. 22 NCAA.com National Player of the Week - Noah Williams, Washington State
Feb. 23 USBWA National Player of the Week - Noah Williams, Washington State