The Town Crier

[Ddevore65]

4 wins in a row and now moving on up in the standings. Still a chance (albeit probably a long shot) to get to 500 in conference play. Thinking if you can get 1-2 conference wins and get a PAC-12 tourney game win that you should be NIT bound. That would be a tremendous accomplishment considering where you started with this team.

[PointGuard]

Game #25: Utah Utes (16-9, 8-7) @ Colorado Buffaloes (14-10, 6-9)

Utah ripped us, winning by 20, when we played them on their home court. They were in the Top 25 in the polls until recently after losing 4 of their last 5 games. All 4 of those losses were road games for the Utes and were played against ranked Pac-12 teams. PG Billy Rychart (12.6 ppg, 4.2 apg) and PF Mark Wall (13.3 ppg, 6.6 rpg) lead their team. Even without their most talented player, freshman SG Robert McClain (13.0 ppg) who was placed on academic probation the end of December, they remain a very talented team and will be very tough opponent.

Since I had a bout with the flu, 1st Assistant Coach Bryant Marshack coached the team. I think I got the flu from C Ryan Erickson who also sat out the game.

The first half was a donnybrook with only a few points separating the two teams throughout the entire 20 minutes of play. We scored the final 5 points in the half to give us a 33-29 lead.

Our team totally squelched the Utes offense in the 2nd half and we gradually pulled away to achieve a solid 63-47 knockout win. Utah hit just 26% of their field goal attempts and 17% of their 3’s. While they out-rebounded us 37-28 our defense contributed to our 16-8 turnover advantage.

SG/PG Matt Conley topped our scoring with 16 points while PG Chris Smith added 10. PF Mark Wall had a double-double (13 points and 11 rebounds) for Utah.

Some surprises in the Top 25: Fresno State (26-3) has climbed steadily upward and is now ranked #3. Miami (OH) (28-2) has similarly progressed and now stands at #7. Rice (24-4) has made their way into the Top 25 and is ranked #22. Four Pac-12 teams remain in the Top 25: Arizona is #1, California is #10, Oregon is #12, and UCLA is #17.

[Wayne23]

Marshack for head coach!

[PointGuard]

Marshack for head coach!

HEY! Don't tell the AD that!

[PointGuard]

Game #26: Colorado Buffaloes (15-10, 7-9) @ #1 Arizona Wildcats (28-0, 16-0)

We come into this game with a 5 game win streak and 7 wins in our last 9 games. But having to take on Arizona is a herculean task, particularly having to do it in McKale Center in Tucson. The Wildcats gave us a 72-51 beatdown earlier this season. Four of their starters are scoring in double figures and their entire roster is made up of extremely talented players. It’s no wonder they have not only won all their games but have been yet to be seriously threatened. They’re averaging 84 ppg while their opponents have only averaged 61 ppg.

Arizona continued to show why they’ve gone wire-to-wire as the #1 ranked team in the nation. We trailed 47-26 at the half and fell behind by as much as 32 points in the 2nd half before the Wildcats eased up a little. We still endured a 78-55 drubbing. Not much more to say about this game.

C Ryan Erickson had 11 points and pulled down 9 rebounds while SG/PG Matt Conley also scored 11. Arizona’s PG Kelvin Smith hit for 26 points and SG Darrell Walker had 13 points and 10 assists.

Elsewhere, UCLA hosted Stanford. The lead was exchanged 13 times and there were 10 ties. At the end of regulation, the teams were tied 72-72. The Bruins prevailed in OT, edging Stanford 85-81.

After the game, I was told that Steve Jackson mouthed off about not getting enough playing time and that he should be starting instead of Matt Conley. I immediately pulled Jackson aside to counsel him. He’s frustrated and competitive and feels he’s done well with the limited playing time he’s been given. Since he was a starter his entire season at Prairie View, I think he expected that to continue after he transferred here. I reminded him this was an entire different level of competition and then gave him some things to work on so that his playing time next season will increase.

[PointGuard]

Game #27: #17 UCLA Bruins (18-8, 10-7) @ Colorado Buffaloes (15-11, 7-10)

UCLA has a very good team but has lost 6 Pac-12 games on the road this season. C Jamal Magloire is their leader, averaging 17.3 ppg and 7.3 rpg. If UCLA wins this game they will finish alone in 5th place rather than tied for 5th. If we win we finish alone in 7th place rather than tied for 7th. And if we tie with Stanford for 7th, the Cardinal will be seeded 7th and we will be seeded 8th since we lost the lone game we played against them this season. We’d then play USC rather than Washington State, but more importantly, if we then beat USC, we’d have to play Arizona in the next round. If we are the 7th seed, if we beat Washington State, then we’d play Cal in the 2nd round.

We fell behind 26-9 and could never really slow down the Bruins in the first half, although we did begin scoring ourselves. The half ended with us trailing 44-29. UCLA hit 60% of their shots and their two big men, C Jamal Magloire and PF George Mahorn poured in 13 and 10 points respectively. We were led offensively by SG/PG Matt Conley’s 8 points.

We made a couple runs in the 2nd half but could never get that 11 points. Abysmal shooting (32%) was our downfall. Ultimately though, UCLA was a helluva lot better than we were. We fell apart at the end of the game to go down to an ignominious defeat by a score of 82-55. The loss left us in a tie for 7th with Stanford.

PF/SF Charles Maors had 13 points and SG/PF Matt Conley scored 11. UCLA’s C Jamal Magloire was unstoppable, scoring 25, grabbing 14 rebounds, and getting 2 steals and 5 blocks plus holding down everyone we had at C to a total of 4 points.

In other Pac-12 games, #1 ranked Arizona had there closest game of the season, edging Stanford by a 78-72 score. #12 ranked California barely held off Washington State 75-74. Washington had to come back in the 2nd half to top Arizona State 73-68, and #9 ranked Oregon scored 60 points in the first half and went on to stomp USC 99-64. Utah closed out a strong season by ripping Oregon State 81-56.

[PointGuard]

Pac-12 Conference Final Standings for 2024-2025 Season

[Ddevore65]

Man 16-13 with an RPI of 72 going into the conference tourney. A win in the opening game would clinch the NIT in my mind, but you might sneak in even with a loss. The way the standings show they have Stanford at 7th and Colorado at 8th so if that holds true ( even though CU has more overall wins and a better RPI), that would give you USC in the opening round. Then if you won a date to make history if you can upset Arizona. Although it doesn’t look like anyone is going to beat AU this season. Good luck

[PointGuard]

Man 16-13 with an RPI of 72 going into the conference tourney. A win in the opening game would clinch the NIT in my mind, but you might sneak in even with a loss. The way the standings show they have Stanford at 7th and Colorado at 8th so if that holds true ( even though CU has more overall wins and a better RPI), that would give you USC in the opening round. Then if you won a date to make history if you can upset Arizona. Although it doesn’t look like anyone is going to beat AU this season. Good luck

We'll be the 8th seed because we only played one game against Stanford and lost that game.

[PointGuard]

Pac-12 Conference Tournament—Qualifying Round

12th seed Oregon State Beavers (10-17, 4-14) vs 5th seed #20 ranked UCLA Bruins (19-8, 11-7): UCLA was up 29-18 at the half and finished the game with a 70-44 annihilation of the Beavers. C Jamal Magloine scored 22 and had 9 rebounds for UCLA. SF Steffon Trotman was the top scorer with Oregon State with 14 points.

11th seed Arizona State Sun Devils (10-17, 4-14) vs 6th seed Utah Utes (18-10, 10-8): It took a while for Utah to get untracked, but by the end of the half they led 44-35. Then in the 2nd half they surged to a 24 point lead before finishing with an easy 84-69 victory over Arizona State. C Mark Fife scored 24 and had 15 rebounds for Utah. For the Sun Devils SG Travis Hawkins tossed in 30 points.

10th seed Washington State Cougars (9-18, 4-14) vs 7th seed Stanford Cardinal (13-15, 7-10): Stanford broke out on top and never looked back. By the endo the first half the Cardinal were in charge 45-36 and then they expanded their lead to 25 in the 2nd half and romped over Washington State by a final score of 94-72. Reserve C Jon Montross scored 22 points while playing just 13 minutes for Stanford. The Cougars were led by SG Ryan Diggs who scored 19 points.

9th seed USC Trojans (15-14, 5-13) vs 8th seed Colorado Buffaloes (15-12, 7-11): We split with USC, both winning on the other team’s court. The winner of this game gets the pleasure of playing #1 ranked and 30-0 Arizona in the next round, but we want to take on that challenge.

The game was close for most of the first half with 9 lead changes and 2 ties. Late in the half our offense clicked and we drew away for a 37-30 halftime advantage. We forced the Trojans to turn the ball over 14 times in the half. SF Rick Coffey dropped in 10 points. USC’s SG Ryan Kincade scored 8.

USC edged ahead of us after 5 minutes of play in the 2nd half. Even though we tried to recapture the lead, we were unable and midway through the half we were behind 53-50. But SG Steve Jackson hit a 12 foot turn around jumper from the baseline to give us a 54-53 lead with 8:50 to play. The lead shifted back and forth, but Jackson continued to chip in shots and we led 64-61 with 4 minutes left. The score remained unchanged until PF Charles Maors drilled a 3 at the 2:17 mark to put us ahead 67-61. We held on to win 69-64. We won by making just 8 turnovers while USC turned the ball over 23 times.

Leading our scoring was SF Rick Coffey with 16 points. PG Chris Smith scored 12 and had 9 assists. Reserve SG Steve Jackson hit for 12 points in his 14 minutes on the court. For USC, PG Matt Flanders tossed in 19 points and C Courtney Sanders had 13 points and 10 boards.