Losing to Utah in the Pac-12 can only mean one thing for an opponent.
"If this is not (rock bottom), I don't know what is," Arizona State wing Carrick Felix said after the Sun Devils' 64-43 loss Saturday.
It may sound harsh, but given the Utes' litany of struggles this season, including dismissing point guard Josh Watkins this week, it's understandable. There was a time it was questionable whether the Utes would ever win a game. Now they have two in the Pac-12. In the aftermath of Saturday's victory, Arizona State is doing some soul searching, while the Utes are suddenly envisioning more wins.
Thursday at UCLA (10-9, 3-4)? And especially Saturday at woeful USC (5-15, 0-7)? Crazy as it sounds, these could be wins for an energized Utah team - if it plays energized and with the kind of defense it employed versus the Sun Devils.
Yet, like everyone else in the conference, the Utes have been awful on the road. Home teams were undefeated on Saturday. Even conference favorites Cal and Stanford lost on the road and, suddenly, Oregon is looking like a conference favorite as the Ducks sit atop the Pac-12 standings.
Colorado 64, Arizona 63 • A sell-out crowd witnessed the Buffaloes' (13-6, 5-2) most impressive win in the Pac-12. Former Ute Carlon Brown hit a 3 with 1:19 remaining to give Colorado its final lead. The Wildcats (13-7, 4-3) had one of their worst shooting performances in memory — whether that could be attributed to altitude was up in the air. Thin air.
Oregon 75, UCLA 68 • Are the Ducks (15-5, 6-2) for real? They were Saturday, coming back from 13 down at halftime behind a career-high 26 points from E.J. Singler. The Bruins dominated the first half, but couldn't get it to carry over to the second as the team picked to win conference was swept by the Oregon schools.
Oregon State 78, USC 59 • Former Oregon State star Gary Payton called the Beavers (13-7, 3-5) the best bad team he's ever seen in the Pac-10/12 - of course, watching OSU dominate the worst bad team in the conference didn't hurt his logic. Jared Cunningham led the Beavers with 18 points.
Washington 76, Stanford 63 • Tony Wroten led the Huskies (12-7, 5-2) with 21 points while Washingtongot much-needed toughness from Austin Seferian-Jenkins, the star tight end who made his basketball debut. The win really muddles things atop the Pac-12 standings. Being swept by the Washington schools dropped the Cardinal (15-5, 5-3) from first to fifth in the conference.
Washington State 77, California 75 • DaVonte Lacy hit a 3-pointer with 19 seconds left to give the Cougars a 3-point lead and Washington State held on for the defining win of its season. The Golden Bears (16-5, 6-2) had previously won four straight games.
— Bill Oram
