While the Bears suffered a rough start to the Pac-12 conference play where they went 0-2 at home, let’s take a look at how the rest of our upcoming opponents and the rest of the Pac-12 faired.
Washington (2-1, 12-4)
Last week the Huskies were able to split their two road games, losing to UCLA, but beating Washington St. Washington’s effort against UCLA was a mirror image of the Bears. The Huskies outplayed the Bruins in the first half where they finished with an 8-point lead. However, the in the second half Washington could only scrounge up 17 total points compared to UCLA’s 46, and the Bruins easily defeated them. Against Washington St. though, the Huskies won 5 by. In both games, the Huskies had three or more players that scored double digits including Noah Dickerson and David Crisp.
Upcoming Games: vs Cal (1/11), vs Stanford (1/13)
Washington St. (0-3, 8-7)
Aside from a close loss to Washington, the Cougars suffered a blowout by USC as well. After starting the season 6-0, the Cougars find themselves in unfamiliar territory. Cal has to be on the lookout for the 3-ball when facing the Washington St. as they have 61 attempts in the last two games.
Upcoming Games: vs Stanford (1/11), vs Cal (1/13)
Arizona (2-1, 12-4)
After the Wildcats broke Arizona State’s unbeaten streak, they carried that momentum over into their matchup against Utah, however, they were unable to keep it going against Colorado. Unsurprisingly, Arizona is being led by Deandre Ayton who is a monster, who is averaging 24 points and 12 rebounds so far in conference play.
Upcoming Games: vs Oregon St. (1/11), vs Oregon (1/13)
Arizona St. (1-2, 13-2)
Oh, how the mighty have fallen. The once undefeated Sun Devils find themselves in the bottom half of the Pac-12 now after suffering consecutive losses to Arizona and Colorado. And while they beat Utah, Arizona St. didn’t exactly dominate the way a number 4 team should against an unranked opponent, playing more or less even with them. Expect the Sun Devils to take a noteworthy drop in the rankings.
Upcoming Games: vs Oregon (1/11), vs Oregon St. (1/13)
UCLA (3-1, 12-4)
The Bruins suffered a pretty demoralizing double OT loss to Stanford before coming back with vengeance and dominating Cal. In the loss to Stanford, the Bruins shooting (45% FG, 30% from three and 54% FT) hurt them. They were, unfortunately for Cal, able to bounce back to their normal form for the next game.
Upcoming Games: vs Utah (1/11), vs Colorado (1/13)
USC (2-2, 11-6)
The Trojans had a similar experience this week, beating the Bears before losing to Stanford. Despite having Chimezie Metu back for the whole game, USC was unable to weather Stanford’s offensive storm in the second half and lost by 1.
Upcoming Games: vs Colorado (1/10), vs Utah (1/14)
Oregon (1-2, 11-5)
Carrying on the trend of much of the Pac-12, the Ducks split their two games this week. The loss came on the road against the Oregon State, whereas the Ducks easily defeated Colorado at home. The bright spot for Dana Altmans squad is Freshman Troy Brown, who has been putting up great numbers so far this conference season, averaging almost 15 points, 7 rebounds and 5 assists per game.
Upcoming Games: at Arizona St. (1/11), at Arizona (1/13)
Oregon St. (2-1, 10-5)
The Beavers were able to split their two home games this week with a loss to the Utes but a win against Oregon. Leading the Beavers is Tres Tinkle who’s averaging just under 19 points, 5 assists and 7 rebounds per game.
Upcoming Games: at Arizona (1/11), at Arizona St. (1/13)
Colorado (2-2, 10-6)
In what is definitely the most surprising set of games to happen this last week, Colorado defeated both Arizona State and Arizona. For unranked Colorado to defeat two nationally ranked teams is a pretty big deal. Thankfully Namon Wright has been dominating, with 14 points and 5 rebounds a game in conference play.
Upcoming Games: at USC (1/10), UCLA (1/13)
Utah (2-2, 10-5)
Don’t count Utah out. Despite losing two home games, the Utes still sit in the middle of the Pac-12 rankings right now. Losing back to back games at home is never an easy way to open conference play (just ask Cal), but at least Utah can sleep at night knowing they lost to ranked opponents.
Upcoming Games: at UCLA (1/11), at USC (1/14)
Stanford (2-1, 8-8),
Stanford somehow beat both UCLA and USC at home. However, Cal beat Stanford, therefore, we technically beat UCLA and USC. That’s how that works, right?
Upcoming Games: at Washington St. (1/11), Washington (1/13)
What are your thoughts on the past week of conference play Cal Fans?