Oregon’s Payton Pritchard, center, celebrates sinking a 3-point shot with teammate Will Richardson, left, as Texas Southern’s Tyrik Armstrong runs up the court during the second half of an NCAA college basketball game in Eugene, Ore., Saturday, Dec. 21, 2019. | AP Photo/Chris Pietsch
SALT LAKE CITY — After a couple of down seasons, things are looking up for Pac-12 basketball as several of the teams in the league have already been nationally ranked this year and the majority of conference schools have favorable NET rankings, the NCAA’s new barometer for selecting teams for postseason tournaments.
Conference play begins Thursday night with five games on the docket, including Oregon State at Utah. Four schools are heading into league play with 11-2 records and three more schools have 10 wins already. Only one school has a losing record (Cal at 6-7) and nine teams have NET rankings of 78 or better out of the 353 schools in Division I.
Utah coach Larry Krystkowiak said winning 75% of non-conference games “has always been kind of a magic number” for the league for getting schools in position for postseason play. This year, Pac-12 schools won 79.2% of their nonconference games.
“We’ve all cheered for each other and I believe we’re above 75%, which always bodes well for postseason,” he said. “There’s been a lot of communication between myself and other coaches congratulating each other and pulling for each other. Now it’s time to take off the gloves and prepare to beat up on each other. You’re no longer friends once conference play starts.”
Krystkowiak says the successful nonconference by most of the league’s teams will help everyone’s rankings increase as league games are played.
“There’s enough power teams and highly ranked teams in our league and now you have opportunities to get quality wins,” he said. “Rather than cannibalize ourselves, we can enhance our resumes as we get into conference play.”
Here’s a look at each team heading into the start of conference play, in order of their projected finish from media day nearly three months ago:
Oregon (11-2) — The Ducks came on strong at the end of last season and made it all the way to the NCAA Sweet 16. This year they’re off to a good start and are ranked No. 4 in the latest AP poll and many are talking about a historic year for the program. Their only two losses were by one point to No. 1 Gonzaga and by four to North Carolina and they have wins over ranked teams Memphis and Seton Hall. Senior guard Payton Pritchard leads the team with an 18.5 scoring average on 51.2% shooting and three other players, Chris Duarte (12.3 ppg), Anthony Mathis (10.8 ppg) and Will Richardson (10.3 ppg) are all averaging in double figures.
Colorado (11-2) — The Buffs who have been ranked for much of the season, have a balanced team with four starters averaging between 12.8 and 9.8 ppg. Junior guard McKinley Wright leads the way at 12.8 ppg and 4.2 apg, while 6-7 forward Tyler Bay averages 12.5 ppg and leads the team at 9.4 rpg. The Buffs’ best win was 78-76 in overtime over No. 13 Dayton.
Washington (10-3) — The Huskies dominated the Pac-12 last year, winning the regular-season title with a 15-3 record and advancing to the NCAA Tournament second round. They have one of the top freshmen in the conference in 6-9 forward Isaiah Stewart, who averages 19.2 points and 8.8 rebounds per game. Another 6-9 freshman Jaden McDaniels, averages 14.3 ppg and 5.6 rpg. Washington’s losses have come to Gonzaga, Tennessee and Houston, the latter in the finals of the Diamond Head Classic.
Arizona (10-3) — Coming off a 17-15 record, their worst season in a decade, the Wildcats have counted on three freshmen to get off to a solid start. Zeke Nnaji, a 6-11 freshman from Minnesota, leads the team in scoring (16.6 ppg) and rebounding (7.9 rpg), and highly touted Nico Mannion, the son of former Ute Pace Mannion, leads the Pac-12 in assists at 6.2 apg, while scoring 14.6 ppg. Another freshman, Josh Green, a 6-6 guard from Australia, averages 13.1 ppg. Those three are joined by a pair of seniors, 6-9 Chase Jeter and Dylan Smith, in the starting lineup.
USC (11-2) — The Trojans don’t have any big wins yet this year and have won the games they should have won. In 6-9, 245-pound freshman Onyeka Okongwu (17.7 ppg, 9.0 rpg) they have one of the Pac-12’s top big men. Other top players are senior forward Nick Rakocevic (12.5 ppg, 8.6 rpg) and senior guard Jonah Mathews (12.4 ppg). The Trojans have good depth with seven players averaging between 20 and 29 minutes per game
Arizona State (9-4) — The Sun Devils have wins over St. John’s, Georgia and Princeton and a 3-point loss to defending national champion Virginia, but also an inexplicable 40-point home loss to Saint Mary’s. Remy Martin leads the Sun Devils at 19.0 ppg, while Alonzo Verge averages 14.8 ppg and has a 43-point effort in the loss to Saint Mary’s to his credit.
Oregon State (10-2) — The Beavers haven’t won an NCAA Tournament game since 1982 and their 2016 appearance was the only one in the past 30 years. The Beavers hope to make the tournament again with a veteran team led by Tres Tinkle, the 6-7 senior who is the son of coach Wayne Tinkle, who averages 20.4 ppg and 7.3 boards per game, junior guard Ethan Thompson (15.8 ppg) and 7-foot Kylor Kelley, who is second in the nation in blocked shots.
UCLA (7-6) — Under new coach Mick Cronin, the Bruins have been the most disappointing team in the league this season with losses to the likes of Hofstra and Cal State Fullerton, both at home. Eight different players have started already and seven players average between 7.0 ppg and 11.1 ppg, led by 6-9 junior Chris Smith.
Utah (9-3) — You have to wonder where the Utes would be without sophomore forward Timmy Allen, who has led the team in scoring in all 12 games and leads the Pac-12 with a 21.0 average. The Utes have impressive victories over Kentucky, Minnesota and BYU, three teams they lost to last year, bad losses to Coastal Carolina and Tulane and a whipping by San Diego State. Rylan Jones is one of the league’s top freshmen and if the Utes can get better consistency from Both Gach and Riley Battin, they could make it to postseason play.
Stanford (11-2) — The Cardinals have been the surprise of the league so far with the second-best NET ranking at No. 21 heading into conference play. Their best win was over Oklahoma by 19 points and the two losses were to ranked teams Kansas and Butler. Oscar da Silva, a junior from Germany leads the team with a 17.7 average on 61.8% field goal shooting, while freshman Tyrell Terry chips in 15.2 ppg.
Washington State (9-4) — Kyle Smith has taken over for Ernie Kent to try to turn around a WSU program that hasn’t finished with a winning conference record since the 2007-08 season. After losing four of their first seven games, the Cougars have run off six straight victories. Sophomore forward CJ Ellerby scores 20.1 ppg, 6.7 junior guard Isaac Bonton 13.0 ppg and Bountiful native Jeff Pollard, a 6-9 senior forward is third in scoring at 10.2 ppg.
Cal (6-7) — Former Nevada and Georgia coach Mark Fox is one of three new coaches in the conference. Sophomore guard Matt Bradley leads the team in scoring at 17.6 ppg, followed by graduate transfer Kareem South at 11.8.
Team Record NET Ranking
Oregon 11-2 11
Colorado 11-2 28
Washington 10-3 40
Arizona 10-3 20
USC 11-2 65
Arizona State 9-4 60
Oregon State 10-2 78
UCLA 7-6 171
Utah 9-3 62
Stanford 11-2 21
Washington St. 9-4 125
Cal 6-7 185
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