Upsets, thrillers highlight start of Pac-12 men's basketball league play

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#PAC12HOOPS STARTING FIVE

2 (of 4) - COLORADO was named the NABC Division I Team of the Week on Tuesday, Jan. 9.
>> In the inaugural year of the award, Pac-12 programs have won two of the first four NABC Team of the Week honors with ARIZONA STATE claiming the award on Dec. 12.

3 - Three Pac-12 players were among the 30 candidates for the Senior CLASS Award announced on Jan. 4. The three candidates are the most ever for the league in the award’s 18 seasons. Candidates must be seniors and have notable achievements in four areas of excellence: community, classroom, character and competition.
>> Kodi Justice, ARIZONA STATE
>> Marcus Lee, CALIFORNIA
>> Jordan McLaughlin, USC

IV - COLORADO freshman guard McKinley Wright IV was named USBWA Wayman Tisdale National Freshman of the Week on Tuesday, Jan. 9.
>> Wright IV is the second Pac-12 player to earn the award this season (Deandre Ayton, ARIZONA - Dec. 10) and the national-best seventh recipient from the Conference over the past two years.

10.4 - Through 20 league games as of Jan. 8, the average scoring margin is 10.4 points.
>> 10 games have been decided by single digits
>> 5 have been decided by one possession (3 pts. or less)
>> 2 have gone into overtime (3 total OT periods)
>> 1 decided on final play (Daejon Davis, STANFORD - 1/7 vs. USC)

+31 - According to NCAA records, three Pac-12 teams are currently among the top 25 most improved in the nation through Jan. 7, highlighted by OREGON STATE at the top of the list.
>> 1. OREGON STATE - +13.5 (10-5 from 5-27)
>> 7. WASHINGTON - +11.5 (12-4 from 9-22)
>> T23. ARIZONA STATE - +7.0 (13-2 from 15-18)

PAC-12 TIPOFF

RECORDS WATCH: Several Pac-12 players have set marks or are climbing game, season or career records lists:

Jordan McLaughlin, USC
>> Pac-12 game record-tying 19 assists vs. UC Santa Barbara (12/17/17)
>> 592 career assists, 30 shy of Pac-12 career top 10
>> 178 career steals, 47 shy of Pac-12 career top 10

Tra Holder, ARIZONA STATE
>> 467-of-615 FT, 65 FTM and 80 FTA shy of Pac-12 career top 10

Thomas Welsh, UCLA
>> 855 career rebounds, 46th all-time in Pac-12

Matisse Thybulle, WASHINGTON
>> 3.3 spg, on pace for most since Jason Kidd’s Pac-12 season record 3.8 spg in 1993

Kingsley Okoroh, CALIFORNIA
>> 173 career blocks, 18 shy of Pac-12 career top 10
>> 20.4 ppg, on pace for Pac-12 freshman season top 5

Deandre Ayton, ARIZONA
>> 11.6 rpg, on pace to break Pac-12 freshman season record (10.6, Kevin Love, UCLA 2008)

Kenny Wooten, OREGON
>> .768 FG%, on pace to break Pac-12 season record (.756, Jelani McCoy, UCLA 1997)
>> 50 blocks, four shy of Pac-12 freshman season top 10

ROAD SWEEPS: They’ve come at a premium since the Pac-12 expanded prior to the 2011-12 season. Below is a list of the number of road sweeps through each region and the most recent team to accomplish the feat:
ARIZ/ASU - 4 times, most recently by UCLA in 2016-17.
ORE/OSU - 4 times, most recently by Utah in 2017-18.
COLO/UTAH - 4 times, most recently by UCLA in 2016-17.
CAL/STAN - 6 times, most recently by Oregon in 2016-17.
UCLA/USC - 7 times, most recently by Arizona in 2016-17.
WASH/WSU - 13 times, most recently by Arizona in 2016-17.

A school-by-school total of road sweeps in the Pac-12 era:
ARIZONA - 11
OREGON - 9
CALIFORNIA - 6
UCLA, UTAH - 4
WASHINGTON - 2
COLORADO, USC - 1
ASU, OSU, STANFORD, WSU - 0

NATIONAL AWARD WINNERS: Below is a list of national honors secured by Pac-12 players and teams during the 2017-18 season.
Dick Vitale Player of the Week (POW) - Allonzo Trier, Arizona (Nov. 13)
NBCSports.com POW - Allonzo Trier, Arizona (Nov. 13)
Dick Vitale Freshman of the Week (FOW) - Jaylen Nowell, Washington (Nov. 13)
NBCSports.com Team of the Week (TOW) - Washington State (Nov. 27)
Dick Vitale FOW - Deandre Ayton, Arizona (Dec. 4)
NCAA.com TOW - Arizona State (Dec. 11)
NBCSports.com TOW - Arizona State (Dec. 11)
Dick Vitale TOW - Arizona State (Dec. 11)
Dick Vitale FOW - Deandre Ayton, Arizona (Dec. 11)
Dick Vitale Coach of the Week (COW) - Bobby Hurley, Arizona State (Dec. 11)
NABC Team of Week (TOW) - Arizona State (Dec. 12)
USBWA POW - Shannon Evans II, Arizona State (Dec. 12)
USBWA FOW - Deandre Ayton, Arizona (Dec. 12)
NBCSports.com TOW - UCLA (Dec. 25)
NCAA.com POW - Deandre Ayton, Arizona (Jan. 1)
NBCSports.com POW - Deandre Ayton, Arizona (Jan. 1)
NCAA.com TOW - Colorado (Jan. 8)
USBWA TOW - Colorado (Jan. 8)
Dick Vitale TOW - Colorado (Jan. 8)
Dick Vitale FOW - McKinley Wright IV, Colorado (Jan. 8)
USBWA FOW - McKinley Wright IV, Colorado (Jan. 8)