Pac-12 Basketball Power Rankings: Arizona storms back against UCLA in McKale
By Mason Duhon
What is happening here?
Colorado and Utah get their own tier since they've proven to be the most inconsistent teams in the conference. On any given day, either team has the potential to lose to an inferior team or win against a superior team, and it's all a matter of how the game flows and if panic begins to set in. This just happened to be a monster week for the mountain schools.
14-5, 5-3 in Pac-12, 1 vote in Poll. . 514. . team. . Last week: 4. 3. Colo.
Colorado caught fire this weekend, starting when a rolling Oregon team came to town on Thursday. The Buffaloes shut that down in short order thanks to a career 23-point night by freshman standout Cody Williams and 22 points from KJ Simpson just trailing him. The Buffs went on a 30-13 run over the final minutes to seal the statement win.
Building off the great showing against the Ducks, Colorado thrashed Oregon State 90-57 on Saturday and put six players in double-digit scoring figures despite missing regular starter J'Vonne Hadley. Jordan Pope, Oregon State's best shooter and leading scorer, was held to just 10 points, and Colorado moved to 12-0 at home on the season.
Next week: Colorado heads to the Pacific Northwest to take on a middling Washington squad on Wednesday in Seattle before heading to Pullman to play a surprisingly good Washington State group on Saturday.
team. Last week: 3. . . 4. 14-5, 5-3 in Pac-12, 20 votes in Poll. 4. 843. .
Utah is establishing itself as a force at home after running through the weekend starting with Oregon State on Thursday. Keba Keita, who was making his first start in place of an injured Lawson Lovering, led the Utes with 18 points on their way to a 74-47 trouncing of the Beavers and their 10th straight home win.
The real statement win came in the 80-77 nail-biter win over Oregon on Sunday. Deivon Smith showed out and logged a career-high 24 points in a staggering 38 minutes on the hardwood. Cole Bajema sealed the game for the Utes at the charity stripe when he knocked down four straight to push Utah to 11-0 in Salt Lake City. They slide back down to No. 4 because Colorado had a much easier time in this same matchup (and their home win streak is longer).
Next week: Utah, like Colorado, won't have its home magic when taking to the road to play a solid Washington State squad on Wednesday before facing an unimpressive Washington team on Saturday.