Pac-12 Hotline men's basketball week in review: The conference race tightens; Boogie Ellis soars; the Ducks and Wildcats sweep; the Sun Devils and Buffalos stumble.
Theme of the week: The race tightensUSC’s victory in the crosstown showdown helped bring conference-leading UCLA back to the pack. The Bruins have a one-game lead in the loss column over Arizona and USC, with Oregon and Utah hovering two games back. The scramble for a top-four seed in the conference tournament, which carries an opening-round bye, will be at least as riveting as the race for the regular-season title.
Game of the week: Washington 69, ASU 66 On a weekend that produced few close games, this was the only one-possession affair. The Huskies led by three in the final seconds of regulation, but a foul on veteran forward Keion Brooks with less than one second left sent ASU’s Austin Nunez to the line for three shots. The freshman drained them all, but the Huskies controlled overtime and came away with the victory when ASU missed a 3-pointer with one second remaining.
Freshman of the week: OSU’s Jordan PopeThe rookie guard scored 17 points in the second half of Oregon State’s victory over Colorado and reminded all observers, including the Hotline, that he warrants strong consideration for Pac-12 Freshman of the Year honors. Pope leads the Beavers in scoring and has been impressively efficient with his shooting percentages and assist-to-turnover ratio.
Splat of the week: ASUThe Sun Devils began the week with a two-game losing streak and urgent need for at least a split in Washington. They departed the Pacific Northwest with two defeats, a four-game losing streak and rapidly fading NCAA hopes. One reason for the double stumble: They made just 14 of 47 shots from 3-point range .
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