Pac-12 Basketball Notes: USC Owns UCLA; Arizona Rules the Conference
We pose three questions this week to start things off:
---Question No. 1: How has USC’s Andy Enfield become the king of L.A.?
USC’s 67-64 victory over UCLA on Saturday was the Trojans’ fifth straight win over the Bruins, even though the Bruins had a better conference record than USC, excluding the games against each other, in all three of the seasons included in the run.
And Saturday’s win was by far the Trojans’ best win of the season, and they did it without their best player, Isaiah Mobley, who is sidelined with an injury.
UCLA was picked to win the conference title in the preseason coaches poll this season and last season, and USC is the major reason the Bruins fell short last season and will fall short this season after being ranked No. 2 in the preseason AP poll.
How have Andy Enfield's Trojans done it?
Two things: 1. Defense; 2. Pivotal shots in the final second.
1. USC has held UCLA below 38% shooting in four of the five consecutive wins over UCLA. The Bruins shot 29.7% in Saturday’s loss.
2. Three of the games in the five-game streak ended with a last-second shot that went USC’s way – two last-second shots made by USC and one-last-second shot missed by UCLA.
Tahj Eaddy’s game-winner inf USC’s win at Pauley in 2021
Jonah Matthews’ game-winner win at Galen Center in 2020
Tyger Campbell, who was 2-for-3 on three-pointers, misses a hurried, but open three-pointer Saturday at Galen Center.
Trivia question: Who was UCLA's head coach the last time the Bruins beat USC? (Answer appears just before Question No. 2)
Enfield did not start out dominating UCLA, losing his first four games to the Bruins as USC’s head coach. But look at the progress of the USC program under Enfield since he arrived from Florida Gulf Coast:
2013-14 – 2-16 record in the Pac-12 – 0-2 record vs. UCLA by a combined margin of 44 points
2014-15 – 3-15 in Pac-12 – 0-2 vs. UCLA by a combined margin of 28 points
2015-16 – 9-9 in Pac-12 – 2-0 vs. UCLA
2016-17 – 10-8 in Pac-12 – 1-1 vs. UCLA
2017-18 – 12-6 in Pac-12 – 0-2 vs. UCLA
2018-19 – 8-10 in Pac-12 – 1-1 vs. UCLA
2019-20 – 11-7 in Pac-12 – 2-0 vs. UCLA
2020-21 – 15-5 in Pac-12 – 2-0 vs. UCLA
2021-22 – 10-4 in Pac-12 – 1-0 vs. UCLA
And Enfield’s winning streak against UCLA would be seven in a row if Bennie Boatwright, an excellent three-point shooter, had made an open three-point shot at the buzzer of regulation time in a game USC lost to UCLA in overtime in 2019.
Trivia answer: Murry Bartow was UCLA's interim head coach when the Bruins beat USC 93-88 in overtime on Feb. 28, 2019. UCLA has not defeated USC since.
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---2. Is the Pac-12 regular-season title race over?
Yes.
By winning both games in the state of Washington while UCLA and Oregon both lost, Arizona has a three-game lead in the loss column. Does anyone think the Wildcats will lose three of their remaining seven games before the Pac-12 tournament starts? Arizona, picked to finish fourth in the Pac-12, is likely to be No. 2 in the country when the rankings come out Monday.
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---3. What has happened to Oregon’s big homecourt advantage at Matthew Knight Arena?
There was a time not long ago when the Ducks simply did not lose home games. They were 17-0 at home in 2019-20, and their 11-2 home record last season needs an asterisk since there were no fans in the stands.
But the fans are back, and Oregon has lost four games at home this season, including three in Pac-12 play. Those three losses were to Colorado, Arizona State and Cal, none of whom has a winning conference record and have a combined Pac-12 record of 15-27.
The Ducks had won 10 of their last 11 games and were 9-3 in the Pac-12, tied for second place, heading into Saturday’s home game against Cal, which had lost 10 of its previous 11 games and was 3-11 in the conference.
And the Golden Bears crushed Oregon, which never got closer than 11 points in the second half.
That’s no way to impress the NCAA tournament selection committee, especially since Oregon is a bubble team.
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Top Five Pac-12 Teams (at the moment)
---1. Arizona (22-2, 12-1 Pac-12) – The Wildcats showed something when they overcame an early 14-point deficit to beat a hot Washington team by 24 points on the road.
---2. UCLA (17-5, 9-4) – The gap between No. 1 and No. 2 is large, but the Bruins’ win over Arizona a couple weeks ago earns them this spot.
---3. USC (21-4, 10-4) – The Trojans have only one impressive win, but it is fresh in our memory.
---4. Oregon (16-8, 9-4) – The inexplicable home loss to Cal makes us wonder about the Ducks.
---5. Washington (13-10, 7-5) – Washington State’s home loss to Arizona State pushed the Huskies ahead of the Cougars.
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Pac-12 Player of the Year Standings (The Magnificent Seven):
----1. Bennedict Mathurin, Arizona – Two solid games in wins over Washington and Washington State push Mathurin and his 17.0-point scoring average back to the top. He’s probably the best pro prospect in the Pac-12, but he is atop this list because Arizona is in control of the Pac-12 race.
---2. Terrell Brown Jr., Washington – His 22.1 points per game lead the Pac-12 and rank sixth in the country. He’s the main reason the Huskies are just one game out of second place in the loss column.
---3. Will Richardson, Oregon – His seven turnovers in the loss to Cal and his 2-for-12 three-point shooting in last week’s two games were unsightly, but his late-game scoring in both games was impressive.
---4. Azuolas Tubelis, Arizona – He averaged 18.25 points and 9.25 rebounds over the past four games, all Arizona wins, three of which were against teams with winning Pac-12 records.
---5. Johnny Juzang, UCLA – He’s second in the Pac-12 in scoring at 17.8 points, but he shot just 39.1 percent from the field over the past five games and was 4-for-16 against USC.
---6. Isaiah Mobley, USC – The fact that USC got its best win of the season with Mobley sidelined did not enhance his resume, but he’s sixth in the conference in scoring and second in rebounding for a 21-4 team.
---7. Tyger Campbell, UCLA – Jabari Walker nearly took over the last spot on our list, but Walker’s Colorado club is just 6-6 in the conference, while Campbell is a key reason the Bruins are nationally ranked.
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Player of the Week:
Drew Peterson, USC
This was a close call between Peterson and Cal’s Jordan Shepherd, who averaged 24 points in the road sweep of the Oregon schools and scored 33 points, the most by a Pac-12 player this season, in the dominating win over Oregon.
However, Peterson’s performance in the win over UCLA, with Isaiah Mobley sidelined, gets the winning vote. Peterson finished with 27 points, hit 4-of-5 three shots, collected 12 rebounds, blocked five shots, handed out four assists and controlled USC’s offense throughout the second half.
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Team on the Rise
---Cal (11-15, 4-11) – The Bears had lost 10 games in a row and were winless away from home before winning both games on its Oregon trip this week, and that included a near-perfect performance in the dominating 14-point win at Oregon.
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Team on the Skids
---UCLA (17-5, 9-4) -- The Bruins were 16-2 and ranked No. 3 two weeks ago, but they have lost three of their four games since then, and probably will drop out of the top 15.
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Team on a Mystery Tour
---Washington (13-10, 8-5) – We still don’t know what to make of the Huskies. Their Pac-12 record says they could be on the bubble for an NCAA tournament berth, but their NET ranking of 128 says they aren’t even close. Their next four games, against USC, UCLA and Washington State (twice), will give us the lowdown.
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Numbers of Note:
0-5 – Mick Cronin’s record against USC as UCLA's head coach.
9 – Years since UCLA won a regular-season Pac-12 title, and the Bruins won’t win one this year either. They were picked to finish first last year and this year.
14 – Years since UCLA has had a conference Player of the Year. Seven teams have had a Pac-12 Player of the Year since then, and Cal, Arizona and Oregon each has had three POYs since UCLA’s Kevin Love won it in 2008.
0-for-12 – Drew Peterson’s three-point shooting over the four games prior to Saturday’s game against UCLA, when Peterson was 4-for-5 on three-pointers.
0 – Points scored by Oregon’s Will Richardson in the first 30 minutes of Thursday’s game against Stanford, going 0-for-7 on three-pointers.
12 – Points scored by Oregon’s Will Richardson in the final 10 minutes of the win over Stanford.
2 – Points scored by Oregon’s Will Richardson in the first half against Cal, his only points coming 1:43 before halftime.
20 – Points scored in the second half against Cal, which beat the Ducks by 14 points.
8 – Number scholarship players available for Oregon State this past week.
0-5 – Oregon State’s record in games decided by three points or fewer.
8 – Years since a Pac-12 team has been ranked No. 1 in the AP poll. Arizona was No. 1 on Jan. 27, 2014, and Arizona might be No. 2 when the AP top 25 is released Monday.
9 – Overtime games played by UCLA since the start of the 2020-21 season. And it would have been 10 if Tyger Campbell had made his desperation three-point shot at the buzzer of the Bruins’ 67-64 loss to USC Saturday. UCLA went 4-5 in those overtime games.
25-11 – Washington’s lead over Arizona 9:21 into Saturday’s game.
65-43 – Arizona’s lead over Washington 17 minutes later.
47 – Washington State’s NET ranking as of Sunday morning, which is why the Cougars still have a shot at an NCAA tournament berth
62 – Oregon’s NET ranking as of Sunday morning, which is why the Ducks’ NCAA tournament berth, which seemed solid before the loss to Cal, is now in danger.
23.1 – Three-point shooting percentage of Washington guard Terrell Brown Jr., who leads the Pac-12 in scoring by more than four points per game.
1 – Number of three-point shots made by 6-foot-3 Terrell Brown Jr. in 10 attempts over the past eight games while averaging 24.25 points in that eight-game span.
22 – Number of times in the 23 games in which he played more than four minutes this season that Colorado’s Jabari Walker scored in double figures.
12 – Number of times in the 23 games in which he played more than four minutes this season that Colorado’s Jabari Walker had 10 rebounds or more.
2 – Number of players who rank among the top eight in the Pac-12 in both scoring and rebounding – Jabari Walker and Isaiah Mobley.
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Cover photo of USC's Drew Peterson after Saturday's win is by Kirby Lee, USA TODAY Sports
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