PAC-12 Focus

In a weekend void of upsets, Oregon came through on Sunday with a home victory over the favored Utah Utes. Meanwhile, ESPN spent the weekend in Tucson for their game of the week which featured Arizona as a 14 point favorite over the visiting UCLA Bruins. Two weeks remain in conference play as teams battle for conference tournament seeding. Arizona sits all alone at the top but they travel to the Rocky Mountains to face off against Colorado and then Utah, which sits one game back in the loss column. Oregon has won eight out of their last 10 games and sits comfortably in third place.

Player of the Year:

Joseph Young, SG, Oregon (19.9 ppg, 3.7 rpg, 3.3 apg)

Oregon Live photo - Joseph Young

Predicted to finish eighth in the conference in the pre-season, senior guard Joseph Young has led the Ducks to a 10-5 conference record and a third-place standing. Young did not have his best game of the year in the Utah upset this past weekend but he has been the toughest cover in the Pac-12. He is second in the conference in scoring at 19.3 points per game and has scored in double figures in 14 out of 15 games. To go with his scoring exploits, Young added six assists against both Colorado and UCLA. Young is tops in the league in free throw shooting at 92.9% and is ninth in three point shooting at 40.7%.

All-Conference:

Delon Wright, PG, Utah (12.8 ppg, 4.3 rpg, 5.5 apg)

Wright is a leader for All-American honors despite a dip in his personal statistics. Last year Wright averaged 16.9 points and 6.7 rebounds per game in conference play but with a stronger team this year his assist numbers have rose and the talented point guard comes in just behind TJ McConnell. Despite the most recent loss to Oregon, a game in which Wright scored 20 points in 40 minutes, a golden opportunity awaits this week when the Wildcats come to town. In an earlier loss, Utah hung around for the first half, but now the All-American candidate will look to improve on the 10 points he previously scored. A win here would be significant for both the Utes and Wright as well.

Stanley Johnson, SF, Arizona (13.9 ppg, 6.8 rpg, 1.14 spg)

The top freshmen in the Pac-12 had his worst shooting performance of conference play on Saturday against UCLA, but he still managed to contribute in other ways grabbing 10 boards in 32 minutes. Johnson has put up double figure games in all but four and is also averaging close to seven rebounds a game from the small forward spot. In a Thursday night blowout of USC, Johnson went for 13 points, seven rebounds, and six assists in just 25 minutes. 

T.J. McConnell, PG, Arizona (12 ppg, 5.71 apg, 56% FG)

Arizona’s point guard makes his first appearance on the All-Conference list during his Arizona tenure. McConnell’s scoring is up this year at 12 points per game and he also leads the conference in assists and is third in assist to turnover ratio. In addition, McConnell is also fifth in field goal percentage. In the Wildcats last loss, a rivalry game at Arizona State, McConnell scored a season high 25 points. His assist numbers are up and McConnell is playing at a very high rate having recorded an offensive efficiency rating of 100 or more in all but his first conference game.

Chasson Randle, SG, Stanford (20.3 ppg, 3.07 apg, 1.36 spg)

Randle is the leading scorer in conference play at 20.3 points per game and most recently scored 19 points in a rivalry win over California. He’s struggled shooting the ball over the past three games, but he has Stanford at fourth place in the conference (barely). The senior has also scored in double figures in every conference game and is also seventh in steals.

On the Verge: Anthony Brown (Stanford), Tyrone Wallace (Cal), Gary Payton II (Oregon State), Nigel Williams-Goss (Washington), Norman Powell (UCLA)

Freshman of the Year:

Stanley Johnson, SF, Arizona

Other Top Freshmen: Kevon Looney (UCLA), Dillon Brooks (Oregon), Jordan McLaughlin (USC)

ACC & PAC 12 Conference and POY Awards

ACC:

We are more than half way done with league play in the ACC and Virginia sits all alone at the top with a 9-1 record which makes them 28-3 in the ACC over the past two seasons. While UVA just finished up their three game gauntlet with a 2-1 record (which in reality should have been a perfect three in a row), the Wahoos will now need to find ways to continue their impressive play without their second leading scorer Justin Anderson who is now sidelined for 4-6 weeks. Could Anderson’s injury open up the ACC race?

With only a handful of games left in a top heavy ACC let’s take our first look at how the ACC All-Conference team stacks up:

Player of the Year:

Jahlil Okafor (Duke) – 17.8 ppg, 10.3 rpg, 62.4% FG’s

After a close loss to Notre Dame on the road, Duke quickly bounced back to upset Virginia, before eeking out a win over Georgia Tech and then annihilating Notre Dame in a rematch. Through it all, the top rated freshman has been a dominant force in the low post. He’s scored in double figures every game including a 20 point, 10 rebound performance this past weekend on 9-11 shooting. Okafor is fourth in the ACC in scoring, second in rebounding, and first in field goal percentage. He’s the focus of double teams every night, but still produces with remarkable consistency and a strong post repertoire.

All-Conference Team:

Jerian Grant (Notre Dame) – 17.1 ppg, 6.4 apg

What a year a difference makes for Notre Dame. Senior guard Jerian Grant has put together some amazing performances as evidenced by 23 point, 6 rebound, 12 assist game against Duke including a few ridiculous shots. Grant is the leading assist man in the ACC and is also averaging 1.9 steals a game. He struggled in his last game at Cameron going 3-10, but isn't too far behind Okafor in POY rankings.

Rakeem Christmas (Syracuse) – 19.7 ppg, 9.6 rpg, 2.1 bpg

Easily the most improved player in the conference and maybe the country. Last year Christmas averaged just 5.8 points per game and now he is the second leading scorer in the ACC and first in blocked shots. Despite just getting the news that the Orange wouldn’t be eligible for the NCAA tournament, Christmas still put up 23 points, 12 rebounds, and 6 blocked shots in a close loss to Pitt. He’s scored in double figures each game showcasing a strong right hand hook and put together a 35 point, 9 rebound effort earlier in the season.

Malcolm Brogdon (Virginia) – 14 ppg, 3.5 rbg, 2.2 apg

Mr. Consistency. Last year Brogdon was a double-digit scoring machine in conference play and this year he has continued that trend despite going for eight points in two close wins over Miami and Virginia Tech. With Justin Anderson’s injury, Brogdon will have to increase his scoring, but the versatile wing shouldn’t have a problem. Brogdon can attack the basket using his size and strength and can also knock down open jump shots in Tony Bennett’s motion offense. Brogdon had a strong claim for first team ACC last year, but now he is making another strong push.

Terry Rozier (Louisville) – 20.4 ppg, 5.1 rbg

The sophomore guard is the top scorer in the ACC and has made the sophomore leap after averaging 7 points per game as a freshman. Rozier is a match-up problem for most opposing due to his athletic abilities and he can get to the rim against almost any defender. That being said, he is shooting 44% from the field and has put together two different 5-16 games in Louisville losses.

Freshman of the Year:

Jahlil Okafor (Duke)

Other Notes: Juniors Marcus Paige (UNC) and Montrezl Harrell (Louisville) were voted to the first team before the season with Paige being nominated as the pre-season player of the year. As of right now, both players failed to make the first team although there is still time. Paige is averaging 15 points, but has been plagued by injuries while Harrell is averaging 14.6 points and 9.1 rebounds. UVA’s Justin Anderson would have garnered first team honors, but with his injury his regular season is effectively complete.

PAC-12:

Luckily for the Pac-12, they select 10 players for their first team all-conference. This year they will need it for all of the talented individuals in this conference. While the league is clearly a two team league at the top with Utah and Arizona sporting 8-2 records there aren't any nights off (well, maybe when it comes to USC).

Player of the Year:

Chasson Randle (Stanford) – 21.9 ppg, 3.4 rpg, 2.6 apg

It seems like Randle has been around forever at Stanford. Last year he was named to the first team, but it seemed no one outside the west coast knew who he was, including Andrew Wiggins. This year, Randle is leading the league in scoring with 21.9 points per game. The senior guard has put together two games with 30 plus points and five games with 20 plus points. Stanford sits at 6-4 in conference play and they will need a player of the year type performance from Randle to move up the rankings.

All-Conference Team:

Delon Wright (Utah) – 12.3 ppg, 4 rpg, 6 apg

Wright’s stats are not as pretty as they were last year, but the versatile senior has helped the Utes to a share of first place in the conference with eight games to go. Wright is shooting 46% from the floor and while he was quite in a big game against Arizona earlier in the year he’s scored in double-figures in eight out of ten league games. Wright is also leading the league in assists at six per game.

Stanley Johnson (Arizona) – 14.7 ppg, 6.7 rbg

Johnson was expected to fill in for Aaron Gordon at the small forward spot, but the freshman has surpassed his former AAU teammate in terms of production in Tucson. Despite Arizona’s upset loss over the weekend to Arizona State, the Wildcats sit at 8-2 in the conference in large part due to the tenacity of Johnson who has put together games of 22 points, 8 rebounds, 19 points and 7 rebounds, and 18 points and 9 rebounds in three wins. Despite playing with a starting line-up featuring juniors and seniors, Johnson has fit right in and is the top freshman in the conference.

Joseph Young (Oregon) – 19.6 ppg, 3.7 rbg

The high scoring shooting guard put together an impressive display at home this week against the two Washington schools. In the week Young went for 32 points against Washington and scored over 2,000 points in his career and on Sunday Young came oh so close to a triple double with a 28 point, 10 rebound, 8 assist performance against Washington State. Young struggled in a loss to Washington earlier in the year, but has been the sparkplug that has propelled the Ducks to a surprising 7-4 start.

Tyrone Wallace (California) – 15.4 ppg, 6.9 rbg, 3.4 apg

Don’t look now, but the Bears have won four games in a row. They took care of both Southern Cal counterparts this weekend with a Wallace buzzer beater against USC and then a two point win against UCLA. Over the last four games, Wallace has averaged close to 19 points per game and despite being a 6’5” guard he is averaging 6.9 rebounds per game.

Nigel Williams Goss (Washington) – 17.2 ppg, 4 rbg, 5.4 apg

The sophomore guard has been the lone bright spot for Washington after a 5 game slide that coincided with the loss of Robert Upshaw. Williams-Goss had a standout freshman year and gave Aaron Gordon a run for his money for freshman of the year last year and now he is fifth in the conference in scoring and second in assists. 

Freshman of the Year:

Stanley Johnson (Arizona)

Other notes: Freshman Kevon Looney is averaging close to a double-double, but it’s Norman Powell that has quietly turned his game around after a disastrous game against Kentucky in front of a plethora of NBA scouts. The senior guard is averaging 17.5 points per game and after an eight point game in a loss to Utah, Powell has scored in double figures every game including five games of 20 plus points.