Pac-12 Progression

[PointGuard]

Week 7:

Arizona held a small lead throughout most of the game, but Utah pulled ahead late and went on to eke out an 81-80 victory over the visiting Wildcats.
Arizona State won on the road oveger Southern Cal 79-72 with C Roy Cage hitting for 18 points and recording 15 rebounds for the Sun Devils.
UCLA opened an early 12 point lead but Washington State came back in the late stages of the first half to pull ahead by 12 at the break and then pull ahead by as much as 18 in the 2nd half before stopping UCLA 76-66 as SG Luke Criddle tossed in 23 points for the Cougars.
In a game that was close the entire way, Washington came away with a slim 72-70 win over Oregon.
Oregon State’s C Rahsaan Fisher scored 26 and pulled down 10 boards to lead Oregon State to a decisive 69-49 beating of Stanford.
Led by C David Boyd’s 18 points and 10 rebounds and after leading by as much as 18 points, Colorado escaped with a close 87-84 win over Southern Cal.
In a hard played game that was close throughout, Utah and Arizona state were tied 75-75 at the end of regulation play. In OT, Arizona State scored last to come away with an 85-84 victory. C Andre McDermott had 20 points and 10 rebounds for Utah.
Washington’s C Tony Collins scored 25 but Stanford’s PG Matt Gottlieb hit for 23 and SF Ike Jensen added 18 to carry Stanford to a 78-69 victory.
Oregon State journeyed to Pauly Pavilion and dominated UCLA by a final score of 73-57.
SG Luke Criddle scored 21 for Washington State but SF Nick Minor had 24 points, 7 rebounds , 3 steals and 4 blocks to carry Oregon to an 80-73 win.
Kevin French of UCLA is among the semi-finalist candidates for the Norton Award. French is averaging 15.1 ppg and 11.7 rpg.

As UCLA (9-5) and Arizona (9-5) continued to slump, Oregon State and Arizona State moved into the conference lead with identical 10-4 records. The Pac-12 continues to eat its own.

The Pac-12 Player of the Week award went to Oregon State’s Rahsaan Fisher (41 points and 16 rebounds) while the Freshman of the Week was awarded for the 2nd straight week to Oregon’s Nick Minor (36 points, 12 rebounds).

Will California’s recent 3 wins in their last 6 games be enough to allow head coach Wyking Jones to keep his job? The jury is out for that one.

[PointGuard]

Week 8:

The Golden Bears looked bad at home as Cal trailed by as much as 24 and lost to Utah 78-65 with no one on the team scoring in double figures. California then followed that up with another home court equally unimpressive performance and loss to Southern California by a score of 78-66. Is the tap-tap-tap, nails being pounded into Coach Jones coffin?
Oregon led by 22 and coasted to a 72-62 win over Stanford with SG Andrew Kincade scoring 21, grabbing 8 boards, dishing out 7 assists, and getting 3 steals and a block.
C Rahsaan Fisher continued his hot streak, scoring 38 points and pulling down 10 boards to lead Oregon State to an 80-74 victory over Washington State.
In a game that was tightly contested the entire way, UCLA’s SG Chris Sheppard scored 20 and C Kevin French had 12 points and 12 rebounds to beat Washington at Hec Edmundson Pavilion 81-78.
Arizona State’s SF Pat Voskuhl scored 24 and grabbed 10 boards but it wasn’t enough for the Sun Devils who lost to Arizona 81-71.
In nearly identical performances as in their previous game, UCLA’s SG Chris Sheppard scored 24 and C Kevin French had 12 points and 12 rebounds. But the home town Bruins who had led by 26 points nearly let the game get away from them before finishing with a slim 72-68 win over Oregon.

Oregon State (12-4) now is in sole possession of first place but only a game ahead of Arizona, UCLA, and Arizona State with 2 games to remaining on the schedule for each team.

Oregon State’s starting SG VInston Fisher broke a finger and will likely miss the remainder of the season. Colorado’s starting PG Ronny Wampler sustained a torn Achilles which finished his collegiate career since he’s a senior.

Rahsaan Fisher (47 points, 14 rebounds) of Oregon State won his second straight conference Player of the Week award while Colorado’s PF Josh Wallace (35 points) was named the Freshman Player of the Week.

[PointGuard]

Week 9 (final week of regular season):

Arizona State clobbered California 81-46 with everyone on the Sun Devils bench playing extensively.
With C David Boyd scoring 10 and grabbing 17 rebounds, Colorado held off Arizona 86-83.
In a game with an amazing 34 lead changes and 16 ties in which Oregon State seemed to have the edge most of the way, Oregon came back late to score the final 4 points and drop the Beavers 98-97. SF Nick Minor scored 20 for the Ducks and C Rahsaah Fisher had 23 points for Oregon State.
C Kevin French had 21 points and 13 rebounds but it wasn’t enough as Stanford, led by PG Matt Gottlieb’s 20 points and SG Bob Williams’s 17 points, bested the Bruins 79-69.
PG Jonathan Smith netted 31 points and dished out 6 assists for Washington State which came back in the 2nd half to tie Washington 82-82 at the end of 40 minutes and then go on to beat the Huskies 94-87
California used 20 points by sub Matt Kellogg to beat Washington State 85-73.
Oregon State got 19 points and 13 points, respectively, from subs Jim Baker and Andy Smith to help the Beavers top Utah 88-67.
Behind SF Pat Voskuhl’s 29 points and 9 rebounds, Arizona State led all the way but had to hold off the charging Washington Huskies to record a 68-63 victory.

Arizona State’s two wins this week combined with Oregon State’s split of its two games left both teams with 13-5 records to tie for 1st place in the Pac-12. UCLA and Arizona tied for 3rd with 12-6 records.

Oregon State and Arizona State played just one game against each other so with the Beavers winning that game 78-69, Oregon State will be seeded #1 in the Pac-12 tournament.



Wayne Tinkle, head coach of Oregon State, said, “No one expected us to be up at the top this season. But our guys just continually hustled and fought to win. But now everyone is going to be gunning for us in the conference tourney, so we’re going to have to be at our best each and every game.” Arizona State’s head coach Bobby Hurley echoed those remarks saying, “We were picked to be in the middle of the pack but I’m proud how our team never gave up. Pat Voskuhl was outstanding and set the standard for our entire team.”

The 10 finalists for the Norton Award were announced. Kevin French, UCLA’s outstanding center, failed to make the cut. He said, “I’m disappointed but not surprised. The finalists that were chosen are excellent players and had great seasons. But this just makes me even more committed to helping our team win the Pac-12 Championship in the upcoming tournament and then to do well in the NCAA tournament.”

[PointGuard]

Pac-12 Tournament

Day 1:

#12 seed California vs #5 seed Colorado—These team split against each other during the season. GAME RESULTS: The first half was close all the way, but Cal dominated in the 2nd half with C Kenny King scoring 20 points to lead the Golden Bears to a surprising 78-66 upset of the Buffaloes. A strong defense by Cal in the 2nd half was the difference. SF Josh Wallace topped Colorado’s scoring with 18 points.

#11 seed Oregon vs #6 seed Washington St.—Both teams beat the other when playing at home. Even though the Ducks had a very disappointing season they played better in the last few weeks whereas the Cougars did just the opposite. GAME RESULTS: Similarly to the previous game, the Ducks held a small lead at the end of the first half and then pulled away in the 2nd half to send the Cougars packing by a score of 84-69. Oregon won it on the inside, dominating the boards 40-27 and scoring 36 points in the paint with PF Greg Morrison and C Bernie Cook scoring 22 points each. The leading scorer for Washington State was SG Luke Criddle with 12 points.

#10 seed Utah vs #7 seed Stanford—Stanford won the only game these teams played against each other. GAME RESULTS: Utah maintained the pattern of the night by taking a 2 point halftime lead and they pulling away in the 2nd half. Utah won by a score of 72-60 with Utes PF Andre McDermott scoring 18 points. C Bob Williams had 15 points for Stanford.

#9 seed Southern Cal vs #8 seed Washington—Washington beat Southern Cal in their only head to head contest this season, but the Huskies finished the season with a 5-game losing streak whereas the Trojans won their final 3 games. GAME RESULTS: Washington broke the pattern. The lead shifted back and forth in poured it on in the 2nd half, outshooting and outrebounding the Trojans. Washington stomped Southern Cal 86-66. PG Peter Thomas had 16 points and 8 assists and C Tony Collins contributed 14 points and 10 rebounds for the Huskies. Southern Cal’s PG Andre Davis was high point man for the game with 18 points.

Day 2:

#8 seed Washington vs #1 seed Oregon State—Washington lost twice to Oregon State during the regular season. GAME RESULTS: After the two teams felt each out in the first 10 minutes of the game, the Huskies tightened their defense. UDub also shot well the entire game which kept the Beavers from seriously challenging once they fell behind. The result was a convincing 78-64 win by Washington with 5 of their players scoring in double figures, led by PG Peter Thomas with 15 points and 10 rebounds. Top scorer for Oregon State was PG Ivan Greer with 15 points.

#10 seed Utah vs #2 seed Arizona State—Each team won at home when playing each other and both games were close (4 points and then a 1 point in OT). GAME RESULTS: Utah scored first and by the end of the first half led by 18 points. The Utes coasted through the 2nd half and won 94-81. SF Dereck Strange scored 29 points, pulled down 7 rebounds and had 3 steals for Utah. The Wildcats’ SF Pat Voskuhl hit for 23 and had 8 rebounds, but a porous defense by Arizona State led to their downfall.

#11 seed Oregon vs #3 seed UCLA—UCLA beat Oregon twice but by just 2 points and 4 points. GAME RESULTS: Oregon held a 2 point advantage halfway through the game, but UCLA combined a potent offense with a stingy defense and control of the boards in the 2nd half to leave the Ducks in the dust. The final score was 84-71 in favor of the Bruins as C Kevin French dominated play with 21 points, 12 rebounds, and 5 assists. Oregon’s top scorer was reserve Zack Cummings with 11 points.

#12 seed California vs #4 seed Arizona—The Wildcats beat Cal twice, both times by double digit differences, but the Golden Bears have shown some life recently. GAME RESULTS: Arizona struck first and often enroute to a 74-55 trouncing of California. SF Terry Haslem scored 20 and corralled 8 rebounds for Arizona. C Kenny King had 11 points for the Golden Bears.

Day 3 (Semifinals):

So much for the conference co-champs. With both gone its 2 also rans vs 2 low seeds.

#4 seed Arizona vs #8 seed Washington—Washington whipped Arizona by 14 points earlier in the season. Arizona’s C John Rencher, who missed the final 6 weeks of regular season play with a broken foot, is returning to the starting lineup. GAME RESULTS: This was a close game all the way. But Arizona’s PG Jordie Jackson tossed in 27 points and dished out 7 assists and SF Terry Haslem scored 21 to lead the Wildcats to a narrow 75-72 victory. Washington’s top scorer was sub DeJuan Scott who hit for 15 points in the 16 minutes he was on the court.

#3 seed UCLA vs #10 seed Utah—In the battle of the "U"’s, UCLA beat Utah in their only meeting this season. GAME RESULTS: Utah took an early 7 point lead but by the end of the half UCLA was on top 34-31. The refs called 22 fouls against Utah and just 8 against UCLA so that the Bruins scored 14 more points than the Utes at the line. That was the difference in the game as UCLA won by a score of 76-67. UCLA’s C Kevin French hit for 20 points and yanked down 8 boards. Reserve Lamar Wagner scored 17 points in his 14 minutes on the court for Utah.

Day 4 (Championship):

#3 seed UCLA vs #4 seed Arizona—UCLA won the only game between these 2 teams this season. Arizona has 4 starters averaging in double figures while UCLA relies upon the inside-outside combination of C Kevin French (15.6 ppg and 11.4 rpg and SG Chris Sheppard (18.4 ppg). GAME RESULTS: The first half held up to the pre-game hype and was close throughout with Arizona coming out on top at the intermission by a score of 32-29. The Wildcats jumped out to a 10 point lead early in the 2nd half and then UCLA slowly whittled down the lead with the game tied 63-63 as the buzzer sounded. In overtime, what had been a defensive battle turned into a run and gun game with Arizona outscoring UCLA 21-11 to win the championship by a final score of 84-74. In his 2nd game back as a starter, Arizona’s C John Rencher scored just 4 points, but made his presence known with 12 rebounds and 7 blocks. Arizona had 5 players score in double figures, topped by PG Jordie Jackson’s 15 points. UCLA was led by SG Chris Sheppard who dropped in 26 points. The Bruins’ C Kevin French had 14 rebounds but John Rencher’s defense held French to just 7 points.

[PointGuard]

Pac-12 Leaders:

Scoring (ppg):

SF Pat Voskuhl, Ariz St: 19.3
SG Chris Sheppard, UCLA: 18.7
C Tony Collins, Wash: 18.3
C Rahsaan Fisher, Oreg St: 16.6
C Kevin French, UCLA: 15.3
SF Nick Minor, Oreg: 14.6
SG Luke Criddle, Wash St: 14.5
PF Josh Wallace, Colo: 14.1
C Andre McDermott, Utah: 13.7
SG Bob Williams, Stan: 13.4

Rebounding (rpg):

C Kevin French, UCLA: 11.5
C John Rencher, Ariz: 10.4
C Roy Cage, Ariz St: 7.9B
SF Pat Voskuhl, Ariz St: 7.1
C David Boyd, Colo: 7.0
SF David Gamble, Wash: 7.0

Assists (apg):

PG Jordie Jackson, Ariz: 5.1
PG Peter Thomas, Wash: 5.1
PG Jonathan Smith, Wash St: 5.0
PG Brian Holmes, Ariz St: 4.8
PG Casey Fife, UCLA: 4.6
SG Andrew Kincade, Oreg: 4.6

Blocks (bpg):

C John Rencher, Ariz: 2.1

Steals (spg):

SF Chris Shumpert, Oreg St: 2.4

3-point pct (%):

SG Brian Turner, Wash St: 54.7

Double doubles (number of games):

C Kevin French, UCLA: 21

[PointGuard]

Top 5 in the Polls:

Kentucky (28-3)
Michigan State (28-5)
Duke (28-4)
Texas (26-7)
Florida (25-7)

NCAA Selections:

No respect for the Pac-12 and rightfully so as no team stood out.

Arizona State—10th seed in the South Region
Arizona—10th seed in the West Region
Oregon State—8th seed in the West Region

#1 seeds: Kentucky, Duke, Michigan State, Miami (FL)

[What da hell? Apparently the selection committee was composed solely of University of Miami alumni to have make a team a #1 seed that was at the bottom end of the Top 10 in the polls!]

NIT Selections:
UCLA—1st seed in the Midwest Region
Colorado—6th seed in the South Region

[PointGuard]

Tournament Results:

NIT Round 1: St. Louis (17-12) vs UCLA (20-11)—The Bruins trailed by 8 at the end of the first half but turned things around in the 2nd half to pull out a 74-69 victory. SG Chris Sheppard scored 25 points and C Kevin French had 18 points and 11 rebounds.

NIT Round 1: Colorado (17-11) vs Illinois State (20-10)—The first half ended in a 42-42 tie but Illinois State came out of the locker room roaring in the 2nd half and opened a 15 point lead before Colorado rallied. While the Buffaloes got close, they lost 88-84. SF Josh Wallace had 20 points.

NIT Round 2: Pepperdine (18-11) vs UCLA (21-11)—UCLA never trailed in this game. At the half they led 37-32 and opened a 16 point lead in the 2nd half before winning 77-66. PG Casey Fife and SG Chris Sheppard both scored 15 points with Fife also recording 7 assists.

NCAA Round 1: Arizona State (20-8) vs Georgia (18-12)—The Sun Devils were overwhelmed in the first half and trailed 39-25 going into the 2nd half. They played evenly with Georgia in the 2nd half, losing 76-64 with SF Pat Voskuhl scoring 16 points.

NCAA Round 1: Arizona (22-8) vs Clemson (18-12)—Arizona started slow but improved as the game went on and led 41-35 at the break. They then crushed Clemson in the 2nd half to win big, 86-57. Arizona was led by PG Jordie Jackson who scored 24 and had 6 rebounds and 4 assists.

NCAA Round 1: Illinois 20-11) vs Oregon St (21-7)—Oregon State was burned in the first half and trailed 50-39 when it ended. The Beavers were unable to significantly close the deficit in the 2nd half and lost 91-80. C Rahsaah Fisher dropped in 27 points for the Beavers.

NCAA Round 2: Arizona (23-8) vs Tennessee (24-9)—This was a tough challenge for the Wildcats and they weren’t up to the task. By the end of the first half Arizona trailed by 13 points. They then fell behind by as much as 21 points in the 2nd half and were bounced out of the tournament by a final score of 70-55. PF Rashaan Wilkins with 15 points was the only Wildcat to score in double figures.

Following the game here are some comments by Conroy McMurdo, analyst for CBS TV: “Arizona’s loss makes the lackluster Pac-12, which could only manage to place 3 average teams in the Big Dance, finish their NCAA competition early having achieved just one win against three losses with all four of their games against unimpressive competition. The once mighty Pac-12 conference this year has performed worse than a mid-major conference. It’s a real embarrassment for the entire conference. You gotta wonder how long will it take for the Pac-12 to regain a semblance of prominence?

NIT Round 3: Duquesne (21-11) vs UCLA (22-11)—UCLA jumped out on top and never trailed. By the end of the first half the Bruins were in control 36-28. Their lead ballooned to 17 points in the 2nd half and they settled for a 72-62 victory. SG Chris Sheppard hit for 20 points and C Kevin French scored 16 while hauling down 20 rebounds.

NIT Round 4 (Semi-finals): UCLA (23-11) vs Tulsa (21-11)—UCLA had a 6 point lead midway through the first half but was down by 7 at the break. They tanked in the 2nd half and fell 66-48. C Kevin French tossed in 16 points and grabbed 12 rebounds.

Tournament Champions:

CIT: Utah State
CBI: Robert Morris
NIT: Tulsa
NCAA: North Carolina

[PointGuard]

Miscellaneous 2019-2020 Season Ending Items:

Pac-12 Awards:

Player of the Year: C Kevin French, UCLA
Freshman of the Year: SF Terry Haslem, Arizona
Defensive Player of the Year: SF Chris Shumpert, Oregon State
Coach of the Year: Wayne Tinkle, Oregon State
1st Team All Conference: SG Chris Sheppard, UCLA; SF Pat Voskuhl, Arizona State; SG Andrew Kincade, Oregon; C Kevin French, UCLA; C Tony Collins, Washington
2nd Team All-Confernce: PG Jordie Jackson, Arizona; SF Terry Haslem, Arizona; SF Chris Shumpert, Oregon State; C Rahsaan Fisher, Oregon State; C Andre McDermott, Utah

Coaching Changes:

California’s head coach Wyking Jones was fired as expected. But other Pac-12 coaches joining him on the unemployment line were: UCLA’s Steve Alford, Washington’s Mike Hopkins, and Washington State’s Ernie Kent.

Subsequent hirings included: California—Ernie Kent (previously head coach at Washington State); UCLA—Archie Miller (previously head coach at Indiana); Washington—Bryce Drew (previously head coach at Vanderbilt); Washington State—Steve McClain (previously head coach at Illinois-Chicago).

And here’s where the 3 other fired coaches ended up: Steve Alford is now the head coach for Arkansas; Mike Hopkins is now the head coach for Vanderbilt; and Wyking Jones was picked to be coach at High Point.

Interesting that Washington and Vanderbilt simply switched out head coaches.

Miscellaneous Notes:

NBA Draft:

Just three Pac-12 players were selected in the draft, another indication of how weak the Pac-12 is presently viewed. PF Rashaun Williams of Arizona was the #6 selection; SG Chris Sheppard of UCLA was the #31 selectee; and PG Jordie Jackson of Arizona was the 49th player selected.

Recruiting:

Washington’s recruit class this season was the 20th best in the nation. Arizona had the 27th best class. Oregon State’s recruit class was ranked as the 40th best. UCLA had the 49th best class. Colorado’s class was ranked #55.

Sidebar Note:

And on the opposite coast, a new and unheralded young head coach was hired by South Florida: 26 year old Trey Porter who played for Central Florida and then was an assistant coach at Tulane. Porter’s father and uncle are well-respected college coaches, which likely helped him to land the coaching job at such a young age. His job was to resurrect the moribund South Florida Bulls team that finished with a 12-17 record last season. We’ll see how he fares.

[FYI: Porter’s career will also be simmed so he will rise or fall on the whims of the game’s AI, although any changes in where he coaches will be chosen by me from what’s available at the end of each season.]

[PointGuard]

2020-2021 Season

Conference Prestige is 67 (a drop of 1 from the previous season) and prestige for each team is:

Arizona St—57 (+3 from previous season)
Arizona—81 (+1 from previous season)
California—49 (+2 from previous season)
Colorado—51 (-2 from previous season)
Oregon—63 (-7 from previous season)
Oregon St—48 (+3 from previous season)
Southern Cal—50 (-5 from previous season)
Stanford—16 (-5 from previous season)
UCLA—71 (+12 from previous season)
Utah—49 (-6 from previous season)
Washington—56 (-7 from previous season)
Washington St—41 (+2 from previous season)

[PointGuard]

Recruiting:

UCLA had the most success of any Pac-12 team, signing the #23, 32 and 36 ranked recruits. Other schools signing top 100 recruits included: Arizona (the #44 ranked recruit); Arizona State (the #50 ranked recruit); Oregon State (the #83 ranked recruit); Southern California (the #81 ranked recruit); Stanford (the #54 ranked recruit); and Washington (the #97 ranked recruit).

Pre-Conference Play:

Eight Pac-12 teams had better than .500 records in pre-conference play. Arizona was 10-1; Colorado was 8-2; UCLA, Southern Cal, Washington and Oregon were all 6-3; and Arizona State and Stanford were 5-4. The only team ranked in the polls was Arizona at #5.

Hard luck player SF Gerrick Townes of California who broke his hand last season, broke his ankle on November 22 this season and won’t be back on the court until early February.