Out of the country? Living under a rock? Here’s what you missed in the fifth week of Pac-12 basketball.
Power Rankings (as voted upon by Connor Pelton, Andrew Murawa, and Adam Butler)
For the second consecutive week, we’ve got the same four teams at the top of the poll. We’ve also got consensus on all of those teams, with every ballot listing the top four teams in the same order. From there, however, things get tricky, but there is very clearly a second tier of four teams, with Arizona State, California, Utah and Stanford all bunched together before there is another drop off to Oregon State, Washington State, USC and Washington locked into a group. But perhaps the most notable thing, and likely the most surprising occurrence around the conference this season, is Washington polling last. Expectations were not particularly high for the Huskies this season, but I doubt many expected that.
- Arizona
- Oregon
- Colorado
- UCLA
- Arizona State
- California
- Utah
- Stanford
- Oregon State
- Washington State
- USC
- Washington
Team of the Week
Arizona – The Wildcats are the no-brainer here, not only for their #1 national ranking but also for the way in which they maintained that ranking — by going on the road to an unfriendly arena; bouncing back from a slow start that led to a double-figure second half deficit; fighting through a key injury and some foul trouble on an already intentionally short rotation; and making enough big-time plays down the stretch to knock off last year’s national runner-up. Yes, Arizona earned this honor.
Player of the Week
Jordan Loveridge, Sophomore, Utah – Loveridge’s outburst in the early minutes against BYU on Saturday night — when he scored 15 points prior to the under-12 media timeout — will rightly get most of the attention, but he was spectacular all week. Check out these numbers over two games: 24.0 PPG, 6.5 RPG, 4.5 APG, 2.0 BPG, seven three-pointers, and a 64.1% eFG. Yep, that’ll do. And to think, just last week we were talking about how he was slumping.
In the Wake Of Jordan Loveridge’s Big Week, Utah Has It’s Second RTC Pac-12 Player of the Week This Year. (AP)
Newcomer of the Week
Mike Moser, Senior, Oregon – Moser is beginning to round into shape. This week he followed up the first truly dominant performance of his Oregon career (a 24/10 display at Ole Miss) with a less gaudy but no less important performance over Illinois on Saturday night. Not only did he chip in 14 points and nine boards, but he used his length and athleticism to display that defensive difference-making we know he’s capable of.
Freshman of the Week
Que Johnson, Freshman, Washington State – It’s taken some time for Johnson to get comfortable in Ken Bone’s offense, but it looks like he may be getting there. On Sunday night against Pepperdine, Johnson put up a career high in playing time, field goal attempts, and scoring, knocking in 14 points on 6-of-11 shooting in 26 minutes of action. Expect his role to tick upwards going forward.