It didn’t take the Bruins long to get back to their winning ways. UCLA earned a big victory at Arizona last night, beating the sixth-ranked Wildcats 84-73 behind the 23 points of Shabazz Muhammad. Here’s the rapid reaction from ESPN’s Eamonn Brennan.
UCLA might have had the upset of the night, but Arizona State won the game of the night, as the Sun Devils beat USC 98-93 in overtime in a wild and crazy contest. Looks like Evan Gordon has really turned the corner on his season – the transfer scored 28 points yesterday as his team survived a 3-pointer with under a second to go in regulation from Jio Fontan that sent it to the extra frame.
In other Thursday night action, Allen Crabbe lifted Cal over Utah with his 23 points and four 3-pointers. The win got the Golden Bears back to .500 on the conference season.
That win must have felt pretty good for Colorado, as the Buffs beat Stanford 75-54 last night after losing by at least 20 points twice to the Cardinal last season. The story of the night was André Roberson, who sparked Colorado’s big win with 20 rebounds.
Looking forward to the weekend, No. 16 Oregon hosts Washington in a battle of top-half teams in conference play, and the Ducks want a boost from their home crowd for Saturday’s game versus the Huskies.
Let’s move over to the women’s side now, as all 12 teams play tonight. Arizona can get some comeuppance for Sean Miller and Friends since the Wildcats hit the road to Los Angeles, starting with UCLA tonight. Last season, the Wildcats upset UCLA in the first round of the Pac-12 tournament as the No. 12 seed.
And, just like Arizona, USC can get some revenge for their male counterparts: The Women of Troy aim for a bounceback win against Arizona State after going 0-2 last weekend in the Bay Area against Cal and Stanford.
Speaking of the Card, they are seeking support for Ogwumike’s excellence when they host Utah tonight. Chiney has been unstoppable, but it wouldn’t hurt to have increased production from her teammates.
More Pacific Northwest bragging rights are up in the air on the women’s side, starting with the Cougs hosting the Ducks tonight at 7:00 p.m. PT.
On the other side of the state, Washington will entertain Oregon State, but the Huskies will be without the services of one of their players – Kellie McCann-Smith has left the basketball program for personal reasons.
Hey, some non-basketball news. More gymnastics coverage from Deseret News with the Red Rocks taking on Arizona in Tucson tonight, and that means Utah gymnast Kassandra Lopez will be returning home to Arizona as a visitor. In other Ute news, Alex Smith feels bittersweet about going to the Super Bowl as the backup quarterback, but he’s still happy to be there with the 49ers.
It wasn’t too long ago when the Beavers won back-to-back College World Series titles, and they look to be in a good position again this year to make a run at Omaha. As such, the Beavers are ranked sixth by Baseball America with the collegiate season right around the corner. Other ranked Pac-12 teams by Baseball America include Stanford (No. 9), UCLA (No. 12), Oregon (No. 15) and Arizona (No. 24).