(1) UCLA v. (9) Arizona State. 12pm tipoff.
Battle tested versus well rested. The tournament’s top seed UCLA had the benefit of a bye on Wednesday but that could be offset by Arizona State’s emotion-laden win against Stanford. It took overtime for the Sun Devils to take out the Cardinal but the momentum of a hard-fought, one-point win could serve in providing momentum to ASU. The Bruins, on the other hand got an extra day of rest and presumably preparation in knowing the two teams they would potentially face. Arizona State ended a four-game losing skid with the win on Wednesday and despite having nine conference losses on the year, they did defeat (quite handily) UCLA, 78-60, in January. The matchup between the two warm-climate schools will pit the conference’s top two freshman against each other, as Jahii Carson is scoring 17.7 points per game for ASU while UCLA’s Shabazz Muhammad is netting 18.3.
(4) Arizona v. (5) Colorado. 2:30pm tipoff.
A rematch of last year’s tournament final, as well as this year’s most controversial ending in college hoops, this game figures to be a fistfight. The Buffs took out the perennial-powerhouse Wildcats by two points a year ago in this same bracket and when two teams battled in January it could not have been a tighter finish. That was the game when Sabatino Chen hit a bank-shot three at the horn to give Colorado an upset win over then No.3 Arizona, but the shot was waved-off despite obvious video evidence that it was good. The game went to overtime and the Wildcats prevailed. Colorado exacted some revenge exactly a month ago, whipping Arizona by 13. Heading into today’s game Arizona is the highest-ranked team in the conference at the national level, slotted at No.18, despite the being the four-seed in the Pac-12 bracket. Colorado is likely the last team from the Pac-12 that will slide into March Madness but a win against the Wildcats today would all but punch their ticket to the big dance. Spencer Dinwiddie is Colorado’s high point man, scoring at a 15.5 point per game clip. Mark Lyons nabs almost 15 each contest for ‘Zona and the versatile Solomon Hill adds in 13.6 PPG.
(2) California v. (10) Utah. 6pm tipoff.
The bracket’s lowest seed left, Utah is riding its best run of the year, having won three games in a row. Who is up next for the Utes? The conference’s top scorer Allen Crabbe and a California team that has won seven of its last eight games. Cal has been on fire as of late and has the longest layoff of any Pac-12 team, not having played since March 6. Utah has played three games since that date and won all of them. While both squads are hot, the Utes haven’t been taken off the burner yet. Cal is undoubtedly anxious to get back to on the hardwood as the Golden Bears were victorious in both their meetings with Utah this season, the latest, an 18-point thrashing. The Utes are a poor scoring team and are led by two seniors and a freshman that together average about 36 points per game, with their leading scorer being Jared DuBois with 12.6. Cal’s is primarily led by Crabbe and backcourt mate Justin Cobbs. Together, they score almost 34 a game meaning California will look to exploit the Utah backcourt on the offensive end.
For a preview of the Oregon v. Washington game see our more in-depth look.