Pac-12 Progression

[PointGuard]

Pac-12 Tournament

Day 1:

#12 seed Oregon State vs #5 seed Colorado—Colorado won both games they played against Oregon State this season. RESULTS: Lowly Oregon State (7-21, 3-15) put on an offensive show scoring 44 points in the first half and 50 in the 2nd half to drub Colorado 94-70. The Beavers hit 56% of the FG attempts including knocking down 17 of 29 three’s. PF Mark Homer scored 20 while C Todd Malloy hit for 19. Colorado had 4 starters score in double figures but their bench was totally ineffective.

#11 seed California vs #6 seed Southern California—Southern California beat California twice this season, but both games were relatively close. RESULTS: Led by SG Brian Thornton’s 23 points, Southern California steadily pulled away from California enroute to an 86-67 beatdown. California’s reserve PG Sam Silva scored 19 points in 17 minutes of play.

#10 seed Washington vs #7 seed Utah—These teams split the games they played against each other, both games ending with 12 point differentials. RESULTS: While Utah controlled the game throughout, they never led by more than 11 points and finished with an 80-71 victory over the Huskies. All 5 starters for the Utes scored in double figures.

#9 seed Washington State vs #8 seed Stanford—Stanford won both games they played against the Cougars, each time by 7 points. RESULTS: Stanford took a 34-24 halftime lead but the Cougars played tough in the 2nd half but were unable to take over the lead. Stanford edged Washington State 67-61 with the Cardinals’ PF Greg Reese scoring 17 points.

Sidebar Note: The South Florida Bulls finished coach Trey Porter’s 1st year when they lost 76-66 to Wichita State in the first round of the American Athletic Conference tournament. Porter’s Bulls season record was 6-22 and their conference record was 3-15. So nothing to crow about. The team was led by the guard tandem of David Hamilton (12.5 ppg) and Robert Smith (12.3 ppg). Smith along with starting PF Brett Ilver (7.2 ppg and 5.3 rpg) will be graduating.

Day 2:

#8 seed Stanford vs #1 seed Arizona—Arizona beat Stanford by 15 at home and 11 on the road in the regular season. RESULTS: Arizona’s defense held Stanford’s shooting to just 35%. The Wildcats built a 15 point halftime advantage and expanded their lead to as much as 25 points before finishing with a 78-58 trouncing of the Cardinal. Arizona was led by SF Terry Haslem’s 17 points and C John Rencher’s double-double (12 points and 14 rebounds).

#7 seed Utah vs #2 seed Oregon—The Ducks easily rolled over Utah 93-70 in their only meeting this season. RESULTS: Oregon had no trouble handling Utah. The Ducks knocked down 57% of their FG attempts and 50% of their 3P attempts and ran away to a resounding 85-65 win. PG Tyrone Singletary led all scorers with 19 points.

#6 seed Southern California vs #3 seed UCLA—In their 2 meetings, UCLA won by double-digit margins both times this season with Bruins’ SG Shannon Greenleaf totally 47 points in those contests. RESULTS: UCLA took a 35-26 halftime lead and seemed to be on their way to an easy win. But the Trojans came out in the 2nd half with a withering defense that limited the Bruins to just 23 second half points. Southern California overtook UCLA and went on to come away with a 65-58 upset win. UCLA hit just 33% of their shots for the entire game.

#12 seed Oregon State vs #4 seed Arizona State—The Sun Devils beat the Beavers 70-59 in their sole contest this year. RESULTS: Arizona State held a wire-to-wire lead and crushed Oregon State 81-57. PF Ed Dabbert scored 26 points and C Roy Cage had 19 points and 11 rebounds for the Sun Devils.

Day 3 (Semi-Finals):

#4 seed Arizona State vs #1 seed Arizona—These teams split their series this season. RESULTS: The first half was a defensive battle with Arizona State coming away with a slim 24-23 halftime lead. The Wildcats’ stingy defense continued in the 2nd half but Arizona was able to infuse life in their offense and pulled away to garner a 66-51 win. Arizona’s C John Rencher had another double-double with 13 points and 12 rebounds and PF Shawnelle Kosik scored 17 points. Arizona State could only put in 26% of their shots.

#6 seed Southern California vs #2 seed Oregon—Oregon blasted the Trojans 88-66 in their only game this year. RESULTS: Oregon poured in 52 first half points while holding Southern California to 33 points. The Ducks never let the Trojans get close in the 2nd half and cruised to an 87-64 blowout of the Trojans. SG Andrew Kincade scored 25 for Oregon and C Bernie Cook had 19 points and 11 boards.

Day 4 (Championship):

#2 Oregon vs #1 Arizona—Arizona’s defense limited Oregon to 59 points and the Wildcats went on to win by 13 in their only meeting this season. Four of Arizona’s starters are averaging in double figures and the 5th is averaging 9.6 ppg which has presented a big problem for their opponents this year. RESULTS: The first half was tight until Oregon opened a seven point advantage at the end of the half. The Ducks then continued to dominate early in the 2nd half to build a 15 point lead. But Arizona roared back late in the game and nearly overtook Oregon. But the Ducks were able to hold on to score a 92-87 upset win. Oregon hit 57% of their FG attempts and 50% of their 3P attempts and were led by C Bernie Cook and SF Nick Minor who both scored 19 points. Arizona’s loss cost them a chance to be a #1 seed in the NCAA tournament.

[PointGuard]

Tournament Selections

NCAA:

#1 seeds: Syracuse, Purdue, Texas, Auburn

Mediocrity in the Pac-12 again cost the conference as only 3 teams will be a part of March Madness.

Oregon is the #8 seed in the East Region
Arizona is the #3 seed in the South Region
UCLA is the #9 seed in the South Region

NIT:

Arizona State is the #1 seed in the South Region
Colorado is the #3 seed in the South Region

CIT:

Southern California is the #3 seed in the Midwest Region

[PointGuard]

Tournament Results

CIT:

Round 1:

Southern California had 5 players score in double figures as they easily handled Oakland 80-71.

Round 2:

Southern California trailed by a point at the end of the first half, but came back to dominate in the 2nd half enroute to an 80-66 victory over Southern Utah.

Round 3:

Southern California led for most of the game and came away with a 78-66 win over George Mason.

Round 4 (Semi-finals):

Southern California and Illinois saw the lead switch back and forth throughout the first half which ended in a 37-37 tie. But the Trojans caught fire in the 2nd half and won 85-72.

Round 5 (Championship):

Southern California was overconfident in their game against Austin Peay. Their confidence soon faded and they went down to a 83-69 defeat.

NIT:

Round 1:

Following a very close first half, Arizona State pulled away in the 2nd half to beat New Mexico State 75-66.

Colorado led most of the game but had to hang on at the end to edge Hofstra 79-73.

Round 2:

After trailing by 9, Arizona came back to take a 46-33 halftime lead and then cruised to a 79-70 victory over Kansas.

Colorado and Wyoming battled to a 34-34 tie at the intermission. The second half ended in a tie as well at 72-72. The overtime was all Wyoming with Colorado going down to a 86-74 loss.

Round 3:

In a game that was very close the entire way, Arizona State eventually put down Wyoming by a score of 70-64.

Round 4 (Semi-finals):

Arizona State trailed by just a single point at the end of the first half but then ran into a solid defensive effort by Boise State in the 2nd half and fell 75-61 to the Broncos.

NCAA:

Round 1:

Defense predominated in the 1st half in the game between Oregon and LSU with the Ducks trailing 26-22 at the break. LSU gradually pulled away in the 2nd half and the Ducks went down to a 67-57 defeat.

Arizona led from beginning to end and drubbed Texas-El Paso 71-52.

UCLA broke out on top and never trailed but could never rest easy as they won 99-92 over South Carolina.

Round 2:

UCLA held their own against talented Texas in the first half and trailed by just a single point at the break. But Texas took control in the 2nd half and pulled away to defeat UCLA 80-62.

Arizona’s defense held Maryland’s shooting to just 35% and the Wildcats went on to crush the Terrapins 81-62.

Round 3 (Sweet 16):

Arizona stayed close in the first half but trailed 35-32 at the break. But the 2nd half was disastrous for the Wildcats as they couldn’t solve Texas Christian’s defense and were drubbed 75-53.

Championship: Texas Tech-73, Texas-70

[PointGuard]

The HeinekenVirus shut down collegiate basketball and therefor this dynasty.