Pac-12 Conference Men's Basketball Weekly Recap (2/6/2021)

By Ben Martinez

@ON_a_HEATER

Welcome to my Conference of Champions, Pacific 12 (PAC-12) men’s college basketball weekly review and recap column. With this article, my goal is to give you the information you need to become a more knowledgable sports bettor, delivered to you each week in a simple and easy-to-read format. I'm both a Los Angeles local and proud L.A. native who grew up watching UCLA's Tyus Edney and his famous coast to coast buzzer beater, USC big man Sam Clancy bully defenders in the post, the dominant, dynamic duo of Arizona's Miles Simon and Mike Bibby and everything in between. The 2020-21 season now brings us even more excitement and unpredictability then ever before, and we will break it down here together each week, from the marquee top 25 matchups to the classic in-state college rivalries from year's past.

Author's Note: Pac-12 conference games are typicall played on Thursday/Saturday, but some are being played on other days of the week due to COVID-19. Any questions? Ask me on twitter @ON_a_HEATER.

Arizona Wildcats @ Utah Runnin Utes

• Thursday (2/4): Utah 73-58 (Utah +1.5, UNDER 142.5)
• Last Meeting: N/A
• Last Year: Arizona 1-0 SU, 1-0 ATS, 1-0 O/U

The Wildcats traveled to Utah on Thursday, with the Utes coming off one of the most impressive comebacks of the college basketball season versus Colorado on the previous Saturday. Led by Junior Timmy Allen (18pts, 9rebs) the Utes tamed the Wildcats by shooting well above their season averages. The Utes shot 50% from the field, 53% from three, took a double digit lead at the 16:06 mark of the 2nd half and never looked back. The red hot Utes were out of action on Sunday, as they were originally set to host Arizona State. The Sun Devils are now dealing with COVID-19 developments within their program.

Stanford Cardinal @ California Golden Bears

• Thursday (2/4): Stanford 70-55 (Stanford -5.5, UNDER 130.5)
• Last Meeting: N/A
• Last Year: Stanford 1-1 SU, 1-1 ATS, 0-2 O/U

Two of the Pac-12's best scorers faced off Thursday at Haas Pavillion with California's junior guard Matt Bradley entering this contest averaging 18.6 PPG and Stanford's senior forward Oscar de Silva leading the Pac-12 with 19.2 PPG. Both players scored 24 points in this matchup, and it was Stanford held the lead for a majority of the game and fought off a 2nd half comeback attempt by the Golden Bears. Down 42-29 at the half, California stormed out of the locker room with a 14-4 run, capped off by a four-point play by Bradley. The Bears closed the gap to 46-43, but Oscar da Silva and the Cardinal blew the lead back up to double digits and never looked back. Shooting 54% from the field - 10% points higher than their season average - Stanford (17th AdjD Kenpom) only allowed Cal to score 8 points in the game's last 14 minutes

Washington Huskies @ Oregon State Beavers

• Thursday (2/4): Oregon State 91-71 (Oregon State -4.5, OVER 142.5)
• Last Meeting: N/A
• Last Year: Washington 1-0 SU, 1-0 ATS, 0-1 O/U

The Beavers seemingly never felt threatened in this matchup against the Huskies. Behind Jarod Lucus (19pts) and Warith Alatishe (15pts, 11rebs) and the 93rd ranked (AdjO) per Kenpom, Oregon State came out the gate on fire, Shooting 49% from the field and taking a QUICK 21-6 in the first seven minutes of the game. The Huskies fought back, however, going on their own 11-0 run to get within four points behind Marcus Tsohonis' 22 points off the bench. Oregon State on the game had 11 steals and turned the visiting Huskies over 14 times. The host Beavers led by double digit points for the entirety of the second half.

Washington State Cougars @ Oregon Ducks

• Thursday (2/4): Washington State 74-71 (Washington State +11.5, OVER 134.5)
• Last Meeting: N/A
• Last Year: Washington State 1-0 SU, 1-0 ATS, 0-1 O/U

A 12 day COVID-19 layoff did the -11.5 favorite Oregon Ducks no favors here. The Cougars' Isaac Bonton jumped at the opportunity to take advantage of a slow-starting Ducks defense, and despite a 56th ranked AdjD per Kenpom, Oregon struggled to stop Washington State from knocking down 10 total three pointers pointers and a 45% shooting clip from three. The layoff looked to hurt Oregon offensively as well, as the host Ducks scored just 71 points, their 3rd lowest total on the year. The Cougars get the easy +11.5 cover.

Washington Huskies @ Oregon Ducks

• Saturday (2/6): Oregon 86-74 (Washington +12.5, OVER 147.5)
• Last Meeting: (12/12) Oregon 74-71 (Oregon -7.5, O/U 134.5)
• Last Year: Oregon 1-0 SU, 1-0 ATS, 0-1 O/U

The Ducks "rebounded" (literally) on Saturday against the Huskies after being upset on Thursday by Washington State. Oregon out-rebounded Washington 32-20, with 12 of their 32 rebounds being offensive boards. Eugene Omoruyi (25pts) dominated a Huskies defense that has struggled to stop anyone this season (214th AdjD rank per Kenpom). Oregon sat leading scorer Chris Duarte and still won by double digits. Jalen Terry also chipped in 15 points for the Ducks, which all came from behind the arc.

Washington State Cougars @ Oregon State Beavers

• Saturday (2/6): Oregon State 68-66 (Oregon State -1.5, OVER 132.5)
• Last Meeting: (12/2) Washington State 59-55 (Washington State +3, O/U 137.5)
• Last Year: Washington State 1-0 SU, 1-0 ATS, 1-0 O/U

The Cougars did seemingly everything right to beat Oregon State, but the struggles of Isaac Bonton, the Cougars leading scorer (18.8 ppg) led to their downfall on Saturday versus the Beavers. Bonton went 2-14 from the field overall, while fellow Cougar teammates DJ Rodman and Ryan Rapp helped pick up the slack in combining for 29 points and grabbing five of Washington State's 12 offensive rebounds. Oregon State's Jarod Lucas and Ethan Thompson had 12 points each, with Thompson scoring all 12 with less than 9 minutes to go in the game. Washington State lost this game from the free throw line, sending Oregon State to the charity stripe 31 times, where the host Beavers sank 23 free throws and won by two points.

Arizona Wildcats @ Colorado Buffaloes

• Saturday (2/6): Colorado 82-79 (Arizona +7.5, OVER 140.5)
• Last Meeting: (12/28) Arizona 88-74 (Arizona -2.5, OVER 140.5)
• Last Year: Arizona 1-0 SU, 1-0 ATS, 0-1 O/U

The Buffaloes stampeded out of the gate versus the Wildcats, taking a 19-2 lead to start the game and were led on the night by Evan Battey's 21 points. The Wildcats and their 18th ranked AdjO (KenPom) scratched and clawed their way back, however, and behind freshman guard Bennedict Mathurin (22 pts) they were able to take their first lead (53-52) with less then 11 minutes remaining in the game. Arizona also out-rebounded Colorado 29-22 and grabbed six more offensive rebounds as well, but it was Battey who drained four free throws in the final 15 seconds of the contest to help seal the win for the Buffaloes.

UCLA Bruins @ USC Trojans

• Saturday (2/6): USC 66-48 (USC -4.5, UNDER 136.5)
• Last Meeting: N/A
• Last Year: USC 2-0 SU, 1-1 ATS, 0-2 O/U

The USC Trojans took advantage of the short-handed #21 UCLA Bruins on Saturday at home. With Cody Riley (right ankle) and Jalen Hill (personal reasons) both out, the Bruins had a steep hill to climb and made just 3 of 19 shots from beyond the arc. Senior Tahj Eaddy (16pts) and sophomore Ethan Anderson (19pts) led the way for the host Trojans, who took a 10-point lead into the half and never looked back. The Mobley brothers also made sure UCLA was limited in its second chance looks, snatching 20 of the Trojans' 40 rebounds overall. In the end, it was the Trojans' 15th ranked AdjD per Kenpom that locked up a Bruins 21st ranked Adj O here. So were the two missing Bruins the key to the Trojans success on this day? We will hopefully find that out when these two teams match up again on Saturday, March 6th, in Los Angeles.

California Golden Bears @ Stanford Cardinal

• Sunday (2/7): Stanford 76-70 (California +10.5, OVER 131.5)
• Last Meeting: (2/4) Stanford 70-55 (Stanford-5.5, UNDER 130.5)
• Last Year: Stanford 1-1 SU, 1-1 ATS, 0-2 O/U

Sunday night after the Super Bowl we were treated to a rematch between California and Stanford. And it was nearly a mirror image of their battle on Thursday (Stanford won 70-55) - Stanford again dominated inside the paint, outscoring the Golden Bears 44-22 and shooting 58% from the field. Matt Bradley (15pts) did all he could and got some help from Jarred Hyder (13 pts) and Ryan Betley (12 pts), but it wasn't enough for the visiting Golden Bears. Oscar da Silva (23pt) dominated inside the paint for the Cardinal, and California simply had no answer for him down low. With the win, Stanford swept this series for the first time in six years (!) and hopes to keep climbing the Pac 12 standings against Colorado on Thursday.