The Pac-12 men’s basketball season has arrived at conference play. Friday night gave us several league games. The big stories came from the Mountain time zone and the games between the Mountain schools and the Washington schools.
Utah smacked down Washington State, 80-58. The Utes continue to look like an NCAA Tournament team under coach Craig Smith, who is doing a beautiful job of putting together complementary players. Utah is a cohesive, well-oiled machine, very much unlike USC.
Colorado fended off Washington, 73-69, as the Buffaloes — who stumbled very early in the season — solidified themselves. Colorado’s blowout of Miami a few weeks ago was a sign of a dramatically improved team. The Buffs have grown by leaps and bounds since the season began. Tad Boyle has made strong adjustments and has developed his players.
Arizona, the league favorite, cruised by Cal in Berkeley, 100-81. No surprises came from this game.
Arizona State rallied from an eight-point deficit in the final nine minutes to win on the road at Stanford, 76-73. The result puts Stanford coach Jerod Haase even more firmly on the hot seat in Palo Alto.
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