THE PACIFIC-12 CONFERENCE THREAD

T.J. McConnell jumped into passing lanes for steals and reached in to strip unsuspecting players of the ball.

When he wasn't doing that, Arizona's gritty point guard was deflecting passes, hounding every dribble and, of course, diving on the floor for loose balls any chance he had.

With a leader like that, it's no wonder the Wildcats turned their rematch with Oregon State into a rout.

Sparked by McConnell's career high in steals, No. 6 Arizona ran its smothering defense to near perfection in a 57-34 win over Oregon State on Friday night.

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Utah coach Larry Krystkowiak publicly called out his team's lack of effort after a surprising loss to UCLA earlier in the week.

His Utes apparently took the message to heart.

Jakob Poeltl had 14 points and nine rebounds, and No. 11 Utah crushed Southern California 67-39 on Sunday.

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Bo Barnes took an inbound pass in the corner and immediately threw the ball in the air to run out the clock. By the time it landed on the hardwood, Arizona State's fans were already racing onto to the court.

Another year, another upset for the Sun Devils -- and it never gets old.

Barnes scored 18 points, including a key 3-pointer late, and Arizona State pulled off a second straight home upset over rival Arizona by holding off the sixth-ranked Wildcats 81-78 on Saturday.

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Meeting little defensive resistance at the 3-point line, Brandon Taylor quickly settled into a deft shooting rhythm from beyond the arc.

Taylor scored 18 points on a career-best six 3-pointers and No. 13 Utah routed cold-shooting Colorado 79-51 on Saturday night.

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Utah coach Larry Krystkowiak was watching a college game Wednesday when his teenage son Cam pointed out the empty stands on TV. The conversation turned to how grateful they were to not have those issues.

The No. 11-ranked Utes were energized by a sold-out home crowd Thursday night and overcame a slow start to run away from Stanford 75-59 for the 16th consecutive win inside the Jon M. Huntsman Center.

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This was the test Sean Miller wanted Arizona to face, to see how the Wildcats would handle a loss and then be forced to go on the road to try and correct their mistakes.

The Wildcats' response was impressive after a long week of thinking about last weekend's upset loss to Arizona State.

"Long day, long hour, long ride back home. Everything is long when you lose," Arizona's Stanley Johnson said.

Johnson scored 20 points to lead five Arizona players in double figures, and the seventh-ranked Wildcats rebounded to rout Washington 86-62 on Friday night.

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Arizona jumped all over Washington State and the Cougars couldn't recover.

Brandon Ashley, Rondae Hollis-Jefferson and Kaleb Tarczewski each scored 17 points as Arizona routed Washington State 86-59 on Sunday night.

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Utah went into its game against California 10th in scoring defense in the nation and hadn't allowed an opponent to top 72 points all season.

However, the Bears got off to a solid start, shooting 54 percent from the field over the first 15 minutes and were on pace to reach 85 points. The 11th-ranked Utes then returned to form and limited California to 29 points over the next 25 minutes in a 76-71 victory Sunday night for Utah's 17th straight home win.

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T.J. McConnell heard the chants echo through McKale Center.

"M-V-P, M-V-P."

In the next-to-last home game of his college career, the senior point guard showed why he's considered one of the top candidates for Pac-12 player of the year, matching his career best with 11 assists -- without a turnover -- in No. 5 Arizona's 99-60 rout of California on Thursday night.

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Utah coach Larry Krystkowiak didn't think there was anything pretty about his team's victory over Washington State, except the outcome.

Delon Wright scored 18 points and Jordan Loveridge added 16 as the 13th-ranked Utes rallied to beat Washington State 67-59 on Thursday night.

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Arizona's defense -- or perceived lack thereof -- muted the Wildcats' victory celebration for their NCAA Tournament opener.

The second seed in the West jumped out early and cruised to a 93-72 victory over No. 15 seed Texas Southern on Thursday. Rondae Hollis-Jefferson led the Wildcats with 23 points -- 16 in the first half -- and 10 rebounds.

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Utah coach Larry Krystkowiak waited until after the Utes downed Stephen F. Austin to talk about his big upset.Krystkowiak was the coach of Montana back in 2006 when he led the No. 12 Grizzlies over fifth-seeded Nevada in their NCAA Tournament opener.

He relayed that story Thursday night after the fifth-seeded Utes held off a late rally by the No. 12 Lumberjacks for a 57-50 victory.

Freshman Jakob Poeltl had 18 points and eight rebounds for Utah (25-8), which hadn't been to the tournament since 2009.

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With just over 4 minutes remaining in the first half Friday night, Oregon star Joseph Young had missed every time he shot the ball and managed just two points.

By halftime, he had made a mockery of Oklahoma State's stingy defense.

The Pac-12 player of the year scored 15 of his 27 points in a dazzling flurry, leading the eighth-seeded Ducks to a 79-73 win over the Cowboys in their NCAA Tournament opener.

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Arizona avenged one heartbreaking NCAA tournament loss. One more win, and the Wildcats will get a chance to make up for another one.

Gabe York made five 3-pointers and finished with 19 points, T.J. McConnell turned in a terrific all-around performance, and second-seeded Arizona advanced to the Sweet 16 for the third straight year with a 73-58 victory over Ohio State on Saturday.

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A week after anxiously waiting and praying for an at-large berth in the NCAA tournament, the UCLA Bruins certainly have done their best to quiet their doubters.

They were the first team to advance to a regional semifinal.

Tony Parker led five Bruins in double figures with a career-high 28 points and grabbed 12 rebounds as 11th-seeded UCLA beat 14th-seeded UAB 92-75 on Saturday to advance to its second straight Sweet 16.

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Brandon Taylor envisioned Utah finding success in this season's NCAA tournament. He just didn't know how good it would feel.

Taylor scored 14 points and Delon Wright added 12 as the fifth-seeded Utes beat No. 4 Georgetown 75-64 on Saturday night to earn the team's first Sweet 16 berth in a decade.

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T.J. McConnell shook off his terrible first half and a Xavier defender with equal poise, sliding around a screen and finding an open 3-pointer.

The senior's shot split the net in the waning minutes and he put Arizona on its way back to the brink of the Final Four.

"He has the ability to take the big shot and make it," coach Sean Miller said. "That's one of the reasons we're here today."

McConnell scored 13 of his 17 points in the second half, freshman Stanley Johnson added 12 and second-seeded Arizona made a dominant late rally for a 68-60 victory over sixth-seeded Xavier in the West Regional semifinals on Thursday night.

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No. 14 Cal opens season with impressive 97-65 win over Rice

Cuonzo Martin preaches "share the juices," moving the ball so everybody gets a shot.

That regular message is getting through all right, and California showed its balance in an impressive opener.

Tyrone Wallace had 20 points, nine assists and six rebounds and No. 14 Cal began a season with high expectations by beating Rice 97-65 on Friday night.

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No. 12 Arizona starts strong with 79-61 victory over Pacific

Late in a lopsided game, Arizona coach Sean Miller opted to put nearly all of his young players in at the same time. The Wildcats have a rapid-fire opening schedule and he wanted to give the starters a chance to rest, along with get some playing time for those young guys.

When the lead started to dwindle, Miller put his starters back in and vowed to never make the same mistake again.

Ryan Anderson and Kadeem Allen had strong debuts with Arizona, but the 12th-ranked Wildcats played disjointedly before Miller put the starters back in to close out a 79-61 victory over Pacific on Friday night.

 

No. 16 Utah holds off feisty Southern Utah 82-71 in opener

Utah coach Larry Krystkowiak summed up the narrow victory over Southern Utah in two words -- eye-opening.

Expectations are high in Salt Lake City with the 16th-ranked Utes fresh off their run to the Sweet 16 in March and four starters back in the lineup. But little came easy Friday night against the underdog Thunderbirds.

Jakob Poeltl scored a career-high 26 points, grabbed 11 rebounds and blocked four shots, leading Utah to an 82-71 victory against Southern Uta

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