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Stephen Vilardo’s Week 16 Pac-12 Men’s Hoops Stat Previews

Tommy Lloyd's 24 debut wins ties him for the third-most ever by a Conference coach
, 8 min read
Arizona basketball coach Tommy Lloyd is off to one of the hottest starts of any Pac-12 coach in his inaugural season. | Rebecca Noble/Getty Images

Posted on February 24, 2022


  By Stephen Vilardo, SuperWest Sports

Pac-12Arizona has climbed to number two in the national polls this week and sit at 24-2 on the season.

The 24 wins for Tommy Lloyd are tied with Steve Lavin in 1996-97 for the third-most ever by a league coach in their debut season.

Lloyd could move into a tie for the second-most with a sweep this week over Utah and Colorado.

Gary Cunningham won 25 games in his inaugural season with UCLA in 1977-78 and Tony Bennett got 25 wins with Washington State in 2006-07.

The standard for a debut season in Conference history is Oregon’s John Warren, whose team won 30 games in 1944-45 as they marched to the final four.

The “Webfoots,” as they were known then,  finished third with a win over Utah in the consolation game, compiling a 30-15 record on the season.

The 30 wins for Warren are the sixth most in NCAA history in a debut season.

This Week’s Games
Apple Cup Series
Washington State and Washington will meet twice this week with Beasley Coliseum hosting Wednesday and Alaska Airlines Arena the venue on Saturday.

The Cougars have won three of the last four in the series. The Huskies won the last meeting in the closing seconds in Pullman last year.

The all-time series is 79-66 in favor of Washington when the teams have met in Pullman. The meetings in Seattle have been much more one-sided with the Huskies owning a 104-39 advantage.

Washington’s Terrell Brown Jr. | Jeff Halstead/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images

Recently, things have tightened up when UW has hosted with the Huskies owning just a 6-5 edge in the last 11 played in Seattle.

Kyle Smith is 2-0 in his career against Washington in Seattle and the last time WSU went east to play their rival they won by 15, the largest on the road against the Huskies since 1994.

In four career games against Washington, Noah Williams has averaged 14.4 points, 6.3 rebounds, and 1.8 steals. He is shooting 83.3% (25-30) from the free throw line against the Huskies.

Desert Schools Head to the Mountains
We all know that Arizona has the longest current win streak in the Pac-12 at eight, the seventh-longest in the nation. But who has the second-longest win streak in the conference?

Colorado, winner of their last five. Those teams will meet in Boulder on Saturday and one of those streaks will be finished.

Also, on display in that game will be the reigning Pac-12 player of the week in Bennedict Mathurin, who averaged 22.0 points in a pair of wins last week and has now scored at least 20 in four straight games.

He is averaging 21.5 in his last five games.

K.J Simpson took home Freshman of the Week honors from the Conference for his 13.0 points per game off the bench for the Buffs.

The first meeting between the teams was a 76-55 Arizona win in Tucson. The Wildcats are 17-7 against Colorado as Pac-12 foes.

Prior to that matchup they each have mid-week meetings with ASU and Utah.

Colorado also has a current five-game winning streak against Arizona State and has won the last six over the Sun Devils in Boulder.

The last time ASU left the Colorado Events Center with a victory was 2012-13 a 63-62 win, which is also the only time the Sun Devils have gotten a road win in the series since Colorado joined the Pac-12.

Arizona State’s Luther Muhammad | Kevin Abele/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images

The first meeting this season was a 75-57 win for the Buffs in Tempe.

That was a game in which ASU shot 33.9% from the floor and just 2-10 on three-pointers in the second half. CU has outscored ASU 38-23 after halftime to get the win.

Arizona is 13-3 against Utah as Pac-12 opponents, and the Wildcats were 18-point winners in the first meeting in Tucson. The home team has won the last five in the series.

The Wildcats opened up the game in the second half outscoring Utah 48-33 in the second stanza. The teams combined to hit 25 of 28 FTs in that game.

The 18-point margin in January was on form for the series as the last three have been decided by 16.3 per game. The 16 times they have played since the Utes joined Pac 12 the average margin is 11.4.

Arizona State was a two-point winner in the first meeting with Utah in Tempe in January. It was the third win in the last four games in the series for ASU.

Utah has a 10-7 lead in the series since joining the Pac-12 and is 7-2 the last nine meetings in Salt Lake City.

Last March when the teams met at the Huntsman Center it was a 98-59 Utah win. Utah’s last seven wins at home in the series have been by an average of 25.6 points.

Southern California Teams visit Oregon
Oregon has won three in a row over UCLA including an overtime win in LA in January. The Ducks are 7-3 all-time against the Bruins in Matthew Knight Arena.

The first meeting of the season saw the Ducks with a 17-11 edge in points off turnovers and not surprisingly an 18-11 advantage in fastbreak points.

The last 48 meetings in the series have leaned slightly towards UCLA at 26-22. The home team is 35-16 in the series since 1995.

Oregon State and USC are meeting for the 144th time with the Trojans leading the series, 77-67. The Beavers have a 42-32 advantage in games played in Corvallis.

The teams have split the last six played at Gill Coliseum dating to 2016. USC took the first meeting 81-71 in Los Angeles.

SC erased a five-point OSU halftime lead with a 44-29 advantage in the second half. The Trojans have left Corvallis with a win in eight of their last 20 trips.

Oregon’s De’Vion Harmon | Andy Nelson/Associated Press

Oregon won the first meeting with USC by 10 in Los Angeles, breaking a string of five straight in the series won by the home team.

USC is 6-3 in the last nine meetings with Oregon and 1-2 in Eugene during that time. Prior to that nine-game run, the Ducks had won 13 in a row over the Trojans.

Oregon is 8-1 against USC at Matthew Knight Arena and has won nine of the last 10 played in Eugene.

UCLA is 10-4 in the last 14 meetings with Oregon State. The Beavers have won two of the last three at Gill, however, and earned an OT win in Las Vegas during the Pac-12 Tournament a season ago.

The Bruins got a 16-point win in the first meeting this season at Pauley Pavilion. UCLA shot 61.7 percent from the field in the first meeting.

Tyger Campbell had four steals in the first meeting and led the Bruins to 16 points off turnovers.

Bay Area Schools go Head-to-Head
Stanford and Cal go at it at Haas Pavilion on Saturday for the second time this season. The Cardinal got the first meeting at Maples Pavilion. Stanford is 6-3 in the last nine meetings in Berkeley.

The Cardinal were 15-point winners the last time the teams met at Cal last February as Stanford swept the regular-season series.

The Bears won the meeting in the Pac-12 Tournament in Las Vegas last season. The last eight meetings between the rivals have been split four apiece.

Washington State at Oregon State
Due to some rescheduling, Washington State has back-to-back games with Washington this week followed by two in a row with Oregon State. The first with the Beavers will be Monday night in Corvallis.

The Beavers have won six straight over the Cougars at Gill. Last season the teams split the season series with the home team winning both games.

The two games last season were decided by a total of six points. The home team has won nine of the last 12 meetings.

UCLA at Washington
UCLA won the first meeting this season in LA by 14 last week. It was the fifth-straight win in the series for the Bruins.

UCLA has won in their last two trips to Seattle and in five of their last seven in Alaska Airlines Arena.

UCLA’s five-game win streak in the series has seen an average margin of just six points per game. Jaylen Clark and David Singleton combined for 47 of UCLA’s 76 points in the meeting at Pauley Pavilion on February 19.

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

Visit his website at sercstats.com.



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