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:
9 x NET 75 - As of Feb. 11, the Pac-12 boasts nine teams ranked inside the top 75 of the NCAA Evaluation Tool (NET) - tied for the second-most in the nation.

• With nine in the top 75, Pac-12 programs currently have a combined 49 Quadrant 1 and 23 Quadrant 2 opportunities remaining in the regular season, including 12 Q1 and eight Q2 chances this week.

 

7 - Seven Pac-12 standouts were named to the Naismith Starting Five Top 10 Watch Lists last week, a total which ties for the most of any conference in the country.
• Bob Cousy Award: Payton Pritchard, OREGON; McKinley Wright IV, COLORAD
• Julius Erving Award: Tres Tinkle, OREGON STATE
• Karl Malone Award: Tyler Bey, COLORADO; Zeke Nnaji, ARIZONA
• Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Award: Onyeka Okongwu, USC; Isaiah Stewart, WASHINGTON

 

#16 vs. #17 - For the second time this Pac-12 regular season, two AP Top 25 teams will meet as No. 16 COLORADO visits No. 17 OREGON on Thursday in the marquee matchup of this week’s 12-game slate.
• For CU, the No. 16 ranking is its highest of the season, first appearance in the top 20 since Jan. 2014 (#15) and just its third top-20 weekly ranking in the past 23 seasons.
• At No. 17, Oregon appeared in the AP poll for the 15th week this season, which is now the second-most in a season in program history (19 - 2016-17).
 

51 - COLORADO enters the week alone atop the Pac-12 standings at 8-3. The only other time that has occured in Pac-12 play was the week of Jan. 9, 2012 when the Buffaloes opened league action 3-0 and led by a half game.
• It marks the first time that CU has been in sole possession of first place in league play this late in a season in 51 years. The last time it happened came when Colorado won the 1969 Big 8 Conference title outright - the program’s most recent regular-season league crown.

 

2,097 - OREGON STATE senior and Julius Erving Small Forward of the Year Watch List member Tres Tinkle enters the week with 2,097 career points, which ranks 8th all-time in Conference history. At No. 7 on the list is OSU all-time leading scorer Gary Payton (2,172; 1987-90).

 

PAC-12 TIPOFF:
CALL IT A COMEBACK: 14 times in Pac-12 play this season has a team overcome a double-digit deficit to win.

Winning Team - Opponent (Largest Deficit)
Arizona State vs. Arizona (22)
USC vs. Stanford (21)
Colorado vs. Stanford (16)
Oregon at Washington (16)
California vs. Washington State (14)
Arizona State vs. USC (13)
Oregon State at Colorado (12)
Stanford vs. Washington (12)
Utah vs. Washington (12)
California vs. Stanford (11)
Oregon vs. Arizona (11)
Washington State vs. UCLA (11)
Oregon State vs. Oregon (10)
USC at Utah (10)

TRACKING LEAGUE PLAY: Through 64 league games as of Feb. 9, the average scoring margin is 11.1 points.
• 33 games have been decided by single digits
• 11 games has been decided by one possession (3 pts. or less)
• 7 overtime games (8 total OT periods)
• 4 games decided on a team’s final possession (Verge Jr., ASU vs. ARIZ; Austin, CAL vs. STAN; Elleby, WSU vs. ASU; Martin, ASU vs. USC)

ROAD SWEEPS: They have proven difficult - only one so far in 2019-20 and just 53 in total in 412 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.
• The single-season league low for road sweeps is four in the inaugural 2011-12 campaign. Only ARIZONA has secured a sweep so far in 2019-20.
• Road teams are 18-46 so far in Pac-12 play, the third-most difficult league to win on the road to date (Big Ten - 22-65, Missouri Valley - 16-44).

COACHING MILESTONES: Two of the Pac-12’s longest-tenured coaches recently reached or will reach noteworthy career milestones.
• At 663 career victories, OREGON’s Dana Altman is one victory shy of tying the legendary John Wooden’s 664 wins. Among coaches with multiple years experience at league programs, only Lute Olson (781) and Mike Montgomery (677) have more career wins.
• ARIZONA’s Sean Miller recorded his 400th career victory in last week’s win over USC. He reached the marker in just 543 games, the 23rd-fastest in Division I history to reach 400 career wins. Only the late former UTAH coach Rick Majerus (538 games) reached the milestone faster among coaches with experience at current Conference programs.

ASSISTS, BLOCKS & FTM WATCH: Several Pac-12 standouts are climbing in all-time stats lists:
• OREGON’s Payton Pritchard (630) is six assists shy of moving into the league’s top 10.
• OREGON STATE’s Kylor Kelley (189) is six blocks shy of moving into the league’s top 10.
• USC’s Onyeka Okongwu (69) is four blocks shy of moving into solo fifth on the league’s single-season freshman blocks list.
• OSU’s Tres Tinkle (532) is one made free throw shy of moving into the league’s top 10.