Predicting every Quarterfinals game of the 2024 Pac-12 Tournament

Arizona: Arizona laid an egg against USC in the regular-season finale, there's no way around it. That said, the game was on the road and first place in the Pac-12 was already locked up, which may explain the questionable-at-best effort. The 'Cats have officially moved into tournament time where it's "win or go home", so the motivations to win are much higher. When Caleb Love, Oumar Ballo, and especially Kylan Boswell are on top of their shooting, Arizona is a difficult team to slow down. Arizona has already beaten USC once this season, and the rubber match will decide whose tournament hopes stay alive.

USC: This is the USC team that head coach Andy Enfield was expecting to have at the beginning of the season before getting wracked with injuries. Now, the Trojans are riding a four-game winning streak after they dispatched the Huskies 80-74. Every time Washington made a scoring push, USC responded with a run of its own to stay at arms' length. This win streak also includes the convincing 13-point win over Arizona — the 'Cats' second-worst loss of the season. However, the Trojans don't have the advantage of five days of rest and recovery like Arizona does.

Prediction: Arizona wins 90-86

Oregon: The Ducks are the most vulnerable of the four teams with a bye week. They secured 20 wins in the regular season, but they're 2-3 in their last five games and already lost to UCLA earlier in the season. They tend to go quiet at times and just let Jermaine Couisnard do his work, but that's not a winning formula. Couisnard will also need N'Faly Dante and Jackson Shelstad to step up if they want to break the pattern of beating the bad teams but falling short against stiffer competition.

UCLA: The Bruins are still looking to get fully out of their funk, considering No. 12 seed Oregon State made a game of it for the first half and only fell 10 points short in the end. However, Dylan Andrews put on a 31-point masterclass and has emerged as a threat on both ends of the court. Adem Bona — the 2024 Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Year — will loom large in the post as a great matchup against Oregon's Dante, and it will be enough to throw off the Ducks' rhythm.

Prediction: UCLA wins 65-63

Washington State: The Cougars are finally back in action after six days' rest, and the cards couldn't have fallen any better. Stanford is the lowest-seeded team to move on, and Washington State is poised to crush them. Myles Rice, Isaac Jones, and Jaylen Wells are all legitimate scoring threats for the Cougars, and they should be able to keep up even if Stanford is hitting 3-pointers the way it has all season. This is a great draw for Washington State, and I fully expect them to capitalize.

Stanford: After a wild second-half comeback against Cal, Michael Jones nailed the dagger 3-pointer to send the game into OT. Stanford proceeded to lay into the cross-town rivals and walked away with the 87-76 win. The game against Washington State will not play out the same way. The Cardinal dropped both games against Washington State by over 13 points, and those games feel prescriptive to how this matchup will go.

Prediction: Washington State wins 79-70.

Utah: After a phenomenal showing against a cratering Arizona State team in the first round, Utah will be put to the test in the third meeting against Colorado. Star center Branden Carlson is dealing with a non-dominant elbow injury, but he'll be hitting the hardwood with a long shot at an NCAA Tournament berth on the line. If triple-double machine Deivon Smith falls into a rhythm while Gabe Madsen and Cole Bajema contribute at a significant clip, it could be enough to both overcome a hobbled Carlson and push the Utes past Colorado.

Colorado: Colorado will look to cement its status as an NCAA Tournament team in the third showdown of the season between two rival schools. They're already projected as one of the Last Four In by Joe Lunardi's Bracketology, and would likely need to make the conference championship game to retain that spot. With two other power conference teams on the Buffaloes' tails in Texas A&M and Wake Forest in the First Four Out, Colorado will have the motivation to power them to a win.

Prediction: Colorado wins 83-78.

Don’t forget to follow us at @ZonaZealots on Twitter, follow us at @ZonaZealotsFS on Instagram, and like our fan page on Facebook for continued coverage of Arizona news, opinions, and recruiting updates!