Pac-12 Basketball Power Rankings: Arizona No. 1, Cal on the rise, Stanford falling
By Mason Duhon
Playing spoiler
Cal. . Last week: 9. . 2287. . 6. . . 13-15, 9-8 in Pac-12
After setting a precedent of winning at least one game each week despite not being impressive record-wise, Cal pleasantly surprised with the sweep of the weekend. The Golden Bears were the only team in the conference to play two games this weekend and come out wholly unscathed.
The Golden Bears nailed a program-record 16 3-pointers and Fardaws Aimaq finished with a 21-point, 11-rebound double-double in the 81-73 win over Oregon State. Cal was down 71-66 with just under five minutes remaining before ripping off a win-sealing 15-2 run. In the final home game of the regular season against Oregon, Jaylon Tyson showed out with 27 points on the way to a stunning 69-64 upset.
Next week: The Golden Bears will look to keep rolling on the road against Colorado on Wednesday and Utah on Saturday.
Last week: 8. 7. 512. ASU. . 14-14, 8-9 in Pac-12. . . .
Arizona State gets a slight bump, but this team proved itself to be the most hot-and-cold in the conference in just these two games over the weekend. Failing to outlast Washington and then turning around and beating a much better Washington State squad is baffling, but it's right on brand with how Bobby Hurley's Sun Devils have been playing. The Sun Devils surprisingly received 17 votes in this week's AP Poll for their upset over now-No. 19 Washington State.
Against Washington, Arizona State found itself in a 45-24 hole at halftime before storming back with 51 points in the second half to force overtime. However, Frankie Collins' 21 points weren't enough to seal the win, and Arizona State fell just 2 points short in the 84-82 loss. The story played out differently against No. 21 Washington State, where the Sun Devils found themselves in control of a lead for nearly 36 minutes of the game. Arizona State knocked off Washington State 73-61 to end the Cougs' short stint at the top of the standings.
Next week: Arizona State will look to avoid getting swept by the 'Cats when Arizona comes to town on Wednesday.
. Last week: 10. . 521. . . team. UW. 15-13. 7-10 in Pad-12. 8
Washington could have had a much better week. Arizona State never should have been able to take that game to overtime, and there were moments when the Huskies could have stepped on Arizona's throat. Instead, it ended as a weekend split with even the win not being very convincing. Puzzlingly, the Huskies earned four votes in the most recent AP Poll.
Washington, like mentioned above, held a 45-24 lead going into intermission in the first game. However, that lead was quickly squandered and the game was sent into the extra period knotted up at 75-75. A pair of last-minute free throws by Braxton Meah sealed the nail-biting 84-82 win over Arizona State. No. 4 Arizona struck fast and came out the gates hot, but slowed down and allowed the Huskies to move within less than 10 points. However, Washington couldn't keep on the gas and never got any closer than that in the 91-75 loss.
Next week: The SoCal schools will head to Seattle to play Washington, with UCLA coming on Thursday and USC on Saturday.