Pac-12 Men's Basketball 

Stephen Vilardo’s Week 14 Men’s Hoops Stat Previews

A statistical preview this week's Pac-12 basketball matchups
, 9 min read
Oregon guard Will Richardson shoots over Utah's Marco Anthony last Saturday. | Alex Goodlett/Associated Press

Posted on February 9, 2022


  By Stephen Vilardo, SuperWest Sports
Prior to last weekend, the question seemed to be if UCLA could head to the desert and even up the Pac-12 standings with a sweep of Arizona and ASU.

Pac-12Instead, the Bruins left the Grand Canyon State with their first two-game losing streak of the season and in a tie with Oregon for second place in the Pac-12 as Arizona now has a two-game cushion.

It marked the first time UCLA went winless on the Desert Road trip since the 2014-15 season. UCLA reversed that two-game skid on Tuesday night, winning a rescheduled game at Stanford.

One surprise team sitting just a half-game behind Oregon and UCLA (entering Wednesday night) is Washington State.

Last week, the Cougars completed their first road sweep of the Bay Area schools since 1993. It has run WSU’s win streak to five games and has given the Cougs wins in six of their last seven games.

That current conference win streak is the longest for the program since they also won five conference games in a row during the 2006-07 season.

The five-game winning streak is the longest active streak among Pac-12 teams and is currently tied for the 17th longest in the nation.

Washington State’s 7-3 conference record is also the best 10-game start to conference play for them since that 2006-07 season.

All seven of Washington State’s losses this season have been within two scores at the end and six of the seven have been decided by five points or less.

A big reason for the Cougars’ success has been their ability to get multiple scoring chances.

Washington State has an offensive rebound rate of 34.7 percent, 11th best in the nation, and second only to Arizona among Pac-12 teams.

That has helped lead the Cougars to an average of 5.8 more scoring chances per game than their opponents.

WSU’s Mouhamed Gueye | Matt Cohen/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images

That is also the 11th best mark in the nation and trails only UCLA among Pac-12 teams.

The Bruins entered Tuesday night’s game with Stanford getting an average of 7.6 more scoring chances per game than opponents, fourth-most in the country.

Oregon has also worked itself into the top quarter of the Pac-12 behind the strength of a five-game road winning streak which is tied for the eighth-longest active streak in the nation.

The Ducks will have to wait a week to extend that one as they have three home games prior to heading to Arizona State on the 17th.

On the other side of the streaking teams, before Wednesday’s victory at Oregon State, was California. The Bears had lost 10 in a row, which was tied for the sixth-longest streak in the nation.

The Utes are at Colorado on Saturday.

Here’s a look at this week’s Pac-12 schedule.

Bay Area Schools head to Oregon
California erased that 10-game losing streak and 12-game road streak with a Wednesday night win over Oregon State in Corvallis.

The Beavers have had their struggles as well with an active eight-game losing streak and just four wins in 2a tries on the season.

All-time Oregon State now owns a 39-36 edge in the series in Corvallis. The Beavers have won the last five meetings at home and six of the last seven played at Gill Coliseum.

OSU has a 6-2 mark the last eight times the teams have met.

The first meeting of the season was won by Cal, 73-61 in Berkeley as the Bears shot 50 percent from the field and got 25 points and 8 rebounds from Jordan Shepard.

The last time Cal left Corvallis with a with was the 2016-17 season.

Oregon has won five straight and six of the last seven times the teams have played at Matthew Knight Arena with the last Cardinal win in Eugene, being an 82-80 victory in 2014.

The first time the squads met this season was a 72-69 home court win for Stanford. The Ducks missed seven free throws in that one and saw the Cardinal outscore them 19-11 in second-chance points.

Oregon’s De’Vion Harmon | Brian Murphy/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images

Oregon did force 17 Stanford turnovers resulting in 19 points. The last two times the teams have met have been a pair of three-point games, last season it was Oregon getting the win by a triple at Stanford.

During the Ducks’ current five-game home court win streak over the Cardinal, the average margin of victory for Oregon has been 16.6 points.

Oregon State has won three of the last four meetings with Stanford and the teams split last season with the road team claiming both wins.

Stanford has gone 7-4 in the last 11 meetings between the teams and have left Corvallis with a win four of their last five trips. The last 11 games between the teams have had an average margin of 12.2 points per game.

Oregon has gone 11-1 in their last 12 against California, including a current nine-game win streak in the series.

The Ducks have taken the last five meetings at Matthew Knight Arena, but Cal did earn a win in each of their first three trips to MKA.

Last season Oregon swept the Bears for the third consecutive time the teams met multiple times. The last three have been decided by an average of 19.3 points per game.

Oregon has won the last five in Eugene by 15.6 points per game.

Washington Welcomes Desert Schools
As we touched on previously, two of the hottest teams in the Conference (and perhaps the country) meet on Thursday in Pullman when Arizona visits Beasley Coliseum.

Arizona has won four in a row in the series and eight in a row in Pullman. Since the 2010-11 season, the Wildcats are 15-1 against the Cougars.

Last season it was a sweep for Arizona with a 16-point win in Tucson, but just a four-point double-overtime win in the game played at Beasley.

That is the only game in the last 12 meetings that has been decided by single digits.

Arizona’s last 11 wins in the series have been by an average of 20.3 points, while the Cougars lone win in the last 16 games was a 69-55 win in Tucson in 2019.

Since the start of the 1983-84 season, Arizona is 65-8 against Washington State.

Arizona State earned a sweep of Washington last season with both games coming in Tempe. The teams will meet in Seattle for the first time since February 1, 2020.

The Sun Devils have won four of the last five meetings and six of the last eight. The 2020 meeting in Seattle was an 87-83 win for ASU.

Since the turn of the century, the Huskies have owned a 25-15 advantage in the series, going 12-6 vs ASU at home and 13-9 on the road.

Washington’s PJ Fuller | Matt Cohen/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images

Arizona State is looking to win three in a row over Washington for the first time since a three-game streak from 2002-03.

The first meeting between Washington and Arizona this season was a 95-79 win for the Wildcats in Tucson.

Terrell Brown Jr had 28 points to go along with eight rebounds and five steals against his former teammates, but it was not enough for the Huskies.

Arizona shot 50 percent for the game and opened with a 60.7 percent first half. It ran the ‘Cats win streak to four games over UW.

The last time Washington picked up a win in the series was March 2020. Arizona has been victorious in their last two trips to Seattle. Arizona is 13-3 in the last 16 meetings between the teams.

The last time Washington State and Arizona State met it was not the prettiest of games. In the December meeting, WSU allowed the fewest points in a conference game in program history as they were 51-29 winners.

The 29 points for the Sun Devils were their lowest in any game since 1946. The combined total points in the first half (28) was the fewest in a conference game since at least 1996.

That win for WSU snapped a three-game losing streak to the Sun Devils. The last time the teams met in Pullman it was a 67-65 win for Washington State in 2020.

The home team is 26-18 in the last 42 meetings on campus between the schools.

Utah Travels to Colorado
Since the teams joined the Pac-12, Utah holds a 12-9 series lead over Colorado.

The Buffaloes have won three of the last four meetings in Boulder, but it was the Utes getting the win at Colorado last season 77-74.

Colorado’s Keeshawn Barthelemy | Rebecca Noble/Getty Images

The teams have split the season series in each of the last four seasons with the home team winning all of them except the two last year.

That has been a familiar theme throughout this series with the home team holding a 39-18 lead when meeting on campus. All-time, the teams have met 59 times with Colorado holding a slim 30-29 lead.

UCLA Plays at USC
When UCLA and USC meet, it will be the fourth time this season that two Pac-12 teams have met while each were ranked, the most for the Pac-12 since there were eight such matchups in the 2016-17 season.

This will be the 12th time the rivals have met on the hardwood with each carrying a ranking besides their name, and UCLA is 9-2 in the prior 11 contests.

UCLA’s Peyton Watson | Brian Rothmuller/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images

The most recent was in 2007 when No. 1 UCLA beat No. 19 USC 70-65. The last time a ranked Trojans squad got a win over a ranked Bruins team was in 1992.

USC has won the last four in the series, sweeping the last two meetings. The Trojans have won the last three times the teams have played at the Galen Center. The last 10 meetings have been split 5-5.

Monday Bonus: Washington State at Oregon
Washington State has won the last two meetings between the teams including a 74-71 win in Eugene last season.

That was the Cougars’ first win at Matthew Knight Arena and their first win in Eugene since 2009. Oregon has won 24 of their last 28 home games against Washington State.

The Ducks are 18-5 against the Cougars since the 2009-10 season.

Follow Stephen on Twitter @StephenVilardo and his organization @SERCenter.

Visit his website at sercstats.com.



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