The Pac-12 men’s basketball landscape has been fairly bleak this season. Entering play on Thursday, the conference had three teams which were likely or certain to be included in a projected NCAA Tournament bracket: Arizona, Colorado, and Utah. The other nine teams in the conference have struggled to gain traction to varying degrees. If the league wants five or six teams in March Madness, those other schools in the middle of the pack need to make a forward charge.
Two of them really stepped up on Thursday night in Pac-12 hoops.
Oregon won at Washington in a battle of teams fighting for position. The Ducks are beginning to stabilize under head coach Dana Altman. Freshman Jackson Shelstad came up big for Oregon once again, stamping himself as the best freshman in the conference. Oregon has only three losses and is beginning to build its resume for March. No one would call UO a lock for the Big Dance, but the Ducks are definitely moving in the right direction.
Much the same can be said for Bobby Hurley’s Arizona State team, which beat Utah on Thursday in Tempe. The Sun Devils are 3-0 in Pac-12 play for the first time ever. They do have five losses, and their resume still has a lot of flaws, but this win over Utah should age really well. The Sun Devils are beginning to stack wins instead of alternating wins and losses the way they did in the first few weeks of the season. A continued upward trajectory will take the Devils back to the NCAA Tournament.
Also on Thursday night: Arizona crushed Colorado after its Sunday upset loss to Stanford. Washington State fell behind by 10 points early in the game but rallied past Oregon State.
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