Pac-12 Basketball Power Rankings: Arizona, Washington State hit 20 wins, Utah slips
By Mason Duhon
Bubble watch
. 17-8, 9-5 in Pac-12. . . 515. . . Last week: 3. UO. 3
I always say that the records can be thrown out the window for rivalry games because they just mean more. That's not entirely the case here; Oregon State is only as good as Jordan Pope is and Oregon took this game down to the last second (literally). Theatrics in an in-state rivalry game are great to watch, but the Ducks should have run away with this and proven they can beat up on bad teams.
That said, ending the game on Oregon missing two straight shots before feeding it to N'Faly Dante for the big-man dunk to seal the 60-58 win with one second left is beautiful. Dante finished the game with 22 points to lead the team, while Jermaine Couisnard finished with 13 points, a team-lead tying eight rebounds, and three assists including the feed to Dante to finish the game.
Next week: Oregon will look to fully right the ship when they play Stanford on the road on Thursday and cross the Dumbarton Bridge to play Cal in Berkeley on Saturday.
17-9, 8-7 in Pac-12. 514. 4. . . . CU. Last week: 4. .
Colorado became the latest school to fall victim to UCLA's hot streak before narrowly escaping a lowly USC team in an extremely shaky trip to sunny Southern California that saw both contests decided by a combined 7-point margin. The Buffaloes have now lost four out of their last six and are in danger of falling off completely.
Colorado drew the short end of the stick and had to face UCLA first, and it didn't end well for the Buffs. The Buffs fell into a hole early and weren't ever able to climb out. Cody Williams posted 18 points, but KJ Simpson posted a season-low 4 points to pair with his seven rebounds. CU shot 52% from the field and Colorado tied the game twice down the final stretch, but they couldn't pull away as UCLA took the 64-60 win.
It was the same story with a different ending against USC. Simpson bounced back from his uncharacteristically quiet game with a 30-point and J'Vonne Hadley posted a 13-point, 10-rebound double-double. Colorado trailed by 16 points with under 10 minutes in the game before storming back to force two overtime periods that ended in a 92-89 win.
Next week: Colorado will be hosting Utah in a rivalry rematch on Saturday looking to avenge the earlier 73-68 loss on the road.
Last week: 6. . . 14-12, 9-6 in Pac-12. UCLA. . . 5. 518.
UCLA finally saw the win streak come to an end against Utah, but not before outlasting Colorado. The Bruins rattled off six straight and flipped the script on a 7-10 record and now sit at fourth place in the conference standings with a 14-12 (9-6) record.
Looking to build off a thrilling 1-point win over Cal the weekend prior, UCLA punched Colorado in the mouth right from the jump and didn't let off the gas the whole time. Sebastian Mack finished with 19 points, while Adem Bona finished with 14 and seven rebounds. The Bruins never let the Buffs take a lead in the 64-60 win.
The Bruins saw the streak come to an end in dramatic fashion against Utah on Saturday. UCLA was led by Lazar Stefanovic's 19 points and eight rebounds, while Will McClendon made an impact off the bench with a team-best nine boards. The final seven minutes saw four lead changes, though, and UCLA came out on the wrong end of the hotly-contested 70-69 game.
Next week: UCLA will play host to cross-town rival USC on Saturday and look to get back on track in a big way.
Last week: 5. UU. . . . 843. . . 16-10, 7-8 in Pac-12. 6
Utah, much like their rivals to the East, have struggled as of late; they've lost five of the last seven and the two wins came by a combined 6 points. They also didn't have the greatest showing over the weekend, but still managed to steal a win.
Utah continued to struggle on the road, this time against a USC team that still hadn't quite found its footing. Deivon Smith led the way and nearly posted a double-double with 19 points and nine rebounds, with Branden Carlsen following him up with 15 points and seven rebounds. Utah had the chance to steal the lead in the final two minutes being down 66-64, but the Utes never scored again and the game ended as a brutal 68-64 loss.
The tides turned a few days later when Utah stunned UCLA in Pauley Pavilion with a last-second game-winner. Carlson, who finished with 17 points and took a major elbow to the face from UCLA's Mack, was the deciding factor as he made the put-back basket to put Utah up 70-69 with just 0.2 seconds left. Smith also hit the double-double he narrowly missed the game before, finishing with 17 points and 10 assists in the thrilling 70-69 win.
Next week: Utah will head to Boulder for the rivalry rematch against Colorado on Saturday and will look for the season sweep.