PAC-12 Thursday Recap

PAC-12 Thursday's has always been my favorite day of the college basketball regular season even over the past few years when the talent level was light and most of the teams played at a snails pace. This year the conference is back and opening night ended with two huge upsets and a game winning dunk in overtime. It should be a fun ride over the next three months. 

Game of the Night:

Oregon 70 Utah 68 (OT)

ATS: Push (Oregon -2), Total: Under (149)

In case you haven’t seen how the game ended, here is a look at the final possession in overtime after Utah called a timeout. 

Oregon's Game Winning Dunk

In a back and forth game, Utah took the lead with two Brandon Taylor free throws in regulation, but then the Utes fouled Damyean Dotson with 27 seconds left and with two clutch free throws the game was tied at 62. Despite the overtime turnover which cost Utah the game, they still had an open look to win the game but a Jordan Loveridge three was just off the mark. Expected to give Arizona a run for their money, Oregon came away with a much needed win while Utah suffered a devastating loss. Despite the loss it will certainly be tough for Pac-12 teams to come away with a win in Salt Lake City. Loveridge was the high scorer for Utah with 21 points and Richard Amadi led the Ducks with 14.

As Expected:

Arizona 60 Washington State 25

ATS: Arizona (-18), Total: Under (131)

Well, the number one team in the country won easily as expected; however I don’t think anyone anticipated Washington State only scoring 25 points for the GAME. Yikes, not a good way to start the Pac-12 season for Ken Bone and the Cougars. Washington State scored their first point at the 17:02 mark thanks to a Royce Woolridge free throw and their first basket at the 6:44 mark. That’s 13 minutes and 16 seconds until their first made field goal. Once again, YIKES. The first half ended 28-7 and the Cougars shot 2-21 from the field. Arizona, in a rather subpar offensive performance only had one player in double figures which was Kaleb Tarczewski who finished with 11 points. Freshman Aaron Gordon ended the game with 5 points on 2-6 shooting and 10 rebounds. 

Upset of the Night:

Washington 76 Arizona State 65

ATS: Washington (+10), Total: Under (152)

Despite having dominated the series for the past four years, Washington was not expected to give ASU a game after their non-conference performance. Led by Player of the Year candidate Jahii Carson, the Sun Devils jumped out to a 16-10 lead before the Huskies got going. Led by C.J. Wilcox and Nigel Williams-Goss, Washington went on a first half scoring explosion and took a 40-23 lead into the half. Arizona State mounted a quick comeback in the second half and cut the lead to 10 before a quick 8-0 Washington run put the game out of reach. Four starters scored in double figures for the Huskies led by Wilcox and his 17 points and ASU finished 2-14 from the three point line. 

Other Games:

California 69 Stanford 62

ATS: Stanford (+6.5), Total: Under (141.5)

In another upset, Mike Montgomery stole one in Palo Alto. Senior guard Justin Cobbs hit some clutch shots and finished with 18 points and sophomore guard Tyrone Wallace tied a season high with 20 points on four three pointers. A big win for California and a tough loss for Johnny Dawkins to start the PAC-12 season.

Colorado 64 Oregon State 58

ATS: Oregon State (+12), Total: Under (147)

Oregon State kept hanging around and tied the game at 40 with 10:35 to go and the cut the lead to four with just two minutes to go but they could never get over the hump. Askia Booker, Spencer Dinwiddie, and freshman Jaron Hopkins scored 13 apiece for Colorado while Roberto Nelson was the only player to reach double digits for the Beavers with 23 points.