INSIDE PAC-12 MEN'S BASKETBALL PODCAST:
The Inside Pac-12 Men's Basketball Podcast hosted by Mike Yam provides a new level of detail and nuanced insight into all things Pac-12 hoops, deep-diving into current conference play, Pac-12 alumni in the NBA, professional potential of current Pac-12 student-athletes, and much more. All-time Pac-12 scoring leader Don MacLean offers a unique perspective on the collegiate and professional basketball landscapes, stories from his career, and projections on student-athletes around the conference.

 

#PAC12HOOPS STARTING FIVE:
4 x NET 25 - As of Feb. 4, the Pac-12 boasts four teams ranked inside the top 25 - ARIZONA, COLORADO, OREGON, STANFORD - of the NCAA Evaluation Tool (NET) - the third-most in the nation.
• Based on current NET rankings, Pac-12 programs have a combined 51 Quadrant 1 and 30 Quadrant 2 opportunities remaining in the regular season, including nine Q1 and seven Q2 chances this week.

 

5 + 2 - According to the Feb. 4 Bracket Matrix, five Pac-12 teams - OREGON, COLORADO, ARIZONA, STANFORD, USC - are currently projected for 2020 NCAA Tournament berths along with a sixth - ARIZONA STATE - among the Next Four Out and one other - WASHINGTON - receiving votes.

 

187 - OREGON STATE senior and Naismith Defensive Player of the Year Midseason Top 15 candidate Kylor Kelley enters the week with 187 career blocks, which ranks 14th all-time in Conference history. Within striking distance this week are #13 Jelani McCoy (188; UCLA, 1996-98), #12 Josh Huestis (190; STAN, 2010-13), #11 Mario Bennett (191; ASU, 1991-95) and #10 Sam Clancy (195; USC, 1999-02).

 

621 - OREGON senior, Wooden Award Late Season Watch List and Cousy Award Top 10 member Payton Pritchard enters the week with 621 career assists, which ranks 12th all-time in Conference history. Within striking distance this week are #11 Jason Gardner (622; ARIZ, 2000-03) and #10 Darrick Martin (636; UCLA, 1989-92).
• Pritchard currently leads the Pac-12 in both scoring (19.6 ppg) and assists (5.8 apg), one of only three players nationally accomplishing the feat and the only one from a major conference.
 

2,084 - OREGON STATE senior and Wooden Award Midseason Watch List member Tres Tinkle enters the week with 2,084 career points, which ranks 11th all-time in Conference history. Within striking distance this week are #10 Ron Lee (2,085; ORE, 1973-76), and #8 Reggie Miller (2,095; UCLA, 1984-87) and Jason Kapono (2,095; UCLA, 2000-03).
• Tinkle is also tied for 61st on the Conference’s career rebounds list (820) and is attempting to become only the fifth member of the league’s 2,000-point, 900-rebound club (Lew Alcindor-UCLA, Don MacLean-UCLA, Adam Keefe-STAN, Chris Welp-WASH).

 

MIDPOINT MADNESS: The midpoint of this year’s Conference race looks much different than it did a season ago as Washington owned a three-game lead in the league standings and was nine games clear of 12th place in Feb. 2019.
• Currently, the top eight teams in the league standings are separated by just two games, the fewest games separting the top eight teams in any NCAA Division I conference.
• Five games separate first from 12th place - only the Big West (4 gms, 9 tms), Ivy League (4/8) and MAAC (4/11) are closer from top-to-bottom.
• It marks the earliest point in a season in a decade that all league teams have at least three Conference losses (1/31/10).

TRACKING LEAGUE PLAY: Through 54 league games as of Feb. 4, the average scoring margin is 11.4 points.
• 28 games have been decided by single digits
• 10 games has been decided by one possession (3 pts. or less)
• 6 overtime games (7 total OT periods)
• 3 games decided on a team’s final possession (Verge Jr., ASU vs. ARIZ; Austin, CAL vs. STAN; Elleby, WSU vs. ASU)

ROAD SWEEPS: They have proven difficult - only one so far in 2019-20 and just 53 in total in 408 tries since the Pac-12 expanded for 2011-12.
• For the first time since expansion to the Pac-12, there were no January road sweeps in league play.
• Arizona secured the first sweep in league play this season last week, its league-leading 14th in the Pac-12 era.

A school-by-school total of road sweeps in the Pac-12 era:
ARIZ - 14
ORE - 10
UTAH - 7
CAL - 6
UCLA, WASH - 4
USC - 3
COLO - 2
OSU, STAN, WSU - 1
ASU - 0

COLORADO CANDIDATES: COLORADO boasts one of the league’s top award nominee combos as junior guard McKinley Wright IV was among this week’s 10 finalists for the Bob Cousy Point Guard of the Year award, and junior forward Tyler Bey is a midseason top 15 finalist for the Naismith Defensive Player of the Year honor.
• Wright is top 20 in the league in scoring (16th, 13.4 ppg), rebounds (20th, 5.3 rpg) and assists (3rd, 5.3 apg), while Bey is top 20 in scoring (17th, 13.3 ppg), rebounds (3rd, 8.9 rpg), blocks (5th, 1.3 bpg) and steals (4th, 1.7 spg).