Between Los Angeles and Long Beach • While the Utes and Trojans battled it out for the bottom of the Pac-12 (and, as it were, not much of a battle of that), the Pac-12 got a new leader. Washington beat Arizona to move half a game ahead of Cal and Oregon, who play rivalry games today with chances to keep up.

Utah, of course, is as far away from the top of the conference as anyone. Although they have one more conference win that USC, the Trojans 62-45 win left little doubt about where the Utes sit in this conference. It may have been the most discouraging loss of the season for the Utes. Never before had coach Larry Krystkowiak used terms like "major setback."

In L.A., though, they were celebrating. The Trojans broke through and earned their first conference win.

"It was a long time coming," USC coach Kevin O'Neill said.

Watching the game was Utah signee Josh Hearlihy, a prep standout who plays at nearby Harvard-Westlake. After the gamea, a Twitter follower asked Hearlihy if he was "still really going to come to Utah." Hearlihy responded: "Yupp and still very excited."

Elsewhere...

Washington 69, Arizona 67 • The Huskies won a road game to move into sole possession of first place in the Pac-12. Tony Wroten blocked a driving shot by Josiah Turner as time expired to preserve the win and prevent overtime.

Arizona State 71, Wasington State 67 • Carrick Felix scored 20 points to lead the Sun Devils in a game that would ahve been the worst matchup of the day, if not for the stinker at the Galen Center. ASU had lost its three previous games, including one at Utah last Saturday. Felix made four free throws in the final 18 seconds to seal the victory.

UCLA 77, Colorado 60 • The Bruins shot 59.6 percent to break Colorado's three-game win streak and knock the Buffaloes out of prime position in the Pac-12. Former Ute Carlon Brown was held to six points, despite averaging about 15 per game.

Oregon and Oregon State play at 4:30 p.m. today, while Stanford and Cal tip off two hours later. For a taste of the Civil War basketball rivalry, there's a good story in today's Oregonian about Duck star guard Garrett Sim who, it turns out, grew up a Beaver fan.

— Bill Oram