Roundup: Tempe bar won't allow Arizona gear for UA-ASU game

Feb 15, 2018

Gotta love this — Katherine Fitzgerald of The Arizona Republic lets us know that there is a bar in Tempe that will not allow anybody to wear Arizona gear for Thursday night’s Arizona-Arizona State men’s basketball showdown.

‘Tis a big trip to SoCal for the Oregon men’s basketball team this weekend, and Steve Mims of The Register-Guard reminds us that Oregon has played well on the road when it counts the most over the years (think 2014, when the Ducks swept the LA trip at 6-8 and then swept the Arizona schools to get an at-large bid to the Big Dance).

Joey Kaufman writes that USC men’s basketball is in another “February slide.” They’ve lost three straight games, but they were all on the road against NCAA tournament-caliber teams, so I wouldn’t be worried yet. Lose at home to one of the Oregons and there might be an issue.

Our very own Michelle Smith looks ahead to the Monday night women’s basketball showdown between Oregon and UCLA, with the winner getting a major leg up in the conference race. UCLA can’t afford to look past No. 15 Oregon State, however.

Lindsay Schnell of USA TODAY Sports whips up this story on Stanford women’s basketball guard Brittany McPhee, a former model who turned down the runway for the hardwood. The Cardinal has two games this week against rival Cal, starting with a Thursday nighter on The Farm.

Utah men’s basketball wants to see more growth from freshman Donnie Tillman, notes Lynn Worthy. He has been sidelined a lot recently with a foot sprain and an illness but did play against Cal on Saturday. The Utes are at Washington Thursday night.

Theo Lawson tells us that Washington State men’s basketball’s goals are “evolving” as the Cougs head into their final six games of the regular season.

In the wake of the shooting massacre at a Florida high school Wednesday afternoon, Steve Kerr criticized the government’s handling of gun violence in a pre-game press scrum before Golden State’s game at Portland Wednesday night.

Oregon State’s Amar Dhesi was named Pac-12 Wrestler of the Week after beating No. 5 Nathan Butler of Stanford, 8-5, and backing that up with a tech fall against CSU Bakersfield. Dhesi looks to be a surefire All-American come NCAAs in Cleveland in March.

Cal’s Abbey Weitzeil was named Pac-12 Women’s Swimmer of the Week after setting a Stanford pool record in the 50 free with a time of 22.04 in a dual with the Card.

Larry Stone of The Seattle Times features Washington shortstop A.J. Graffanino, who has MLB dreams like his father, Tony. Pops had a 13-year Big League career and played for the Braves, Rays, White Sox, Royals, Brewers and Indians.