Player of the Week
Eugene Omoruyi – Forward, Oregon
Currently the Pac 12 leading scorer at 19.6 points per game, Omoruyi has been playing lights out basketball. While Starting the season off with a 31 point and 11 rebound performance on 10-19 shooting from the field in a loss to Mizzouri. He followed this performance up by dropping 22 points against Seaton Hall, 18 points versus Eastern Washington. He has not scored as well in his past two games, recording 13 against FAMU on 6-14 shooting and 14 points against Washington shooting 3-13. While he has cooled off he still makes the list due to how hot he was. So far through five games Eugene is averaging 19.6 points, 5 rebounds, and 2 assists per game while shooting just under 46% from the field despite not shooting well his last time out. Oregon will face UCLA next Wednesday in a highly anticipated conference matchup. Omoruyi will hope to rebound to lead his team to a much-needed victory.
Who’s Hot
Bennedict Mathrin -Guard, Arizona
Off the bench, the freshman has provided solid numbers. Averaging 13 points and six rebounds per game this week while shooting 12-21 (57%) from the field. Mathrin has shot well from beyond the three-point line as well hitting 6 of his 14 attempts. (42%) After struggling from deep in the first two games of the season, he has hit 4 of his 7 attempts this week. Mathrin should get some decent playing time in a game Arizona should easily be in control of against Cal Baptist.
Alfonso Plummer– Guard, Utah
The Senior guard has provided solid scoring performances in Utah’s three games played this season. Averaging just over 17 points per game on 47% shooting from the field. Plummer has attempted 24 three-point attempts so far, and has hit 10 of them (41%). Expect Plummer to increase his scoring average in his next matchup against Utah Valley on Tuesday.
Matt Bradley – Guard, Cal
Bradley is currently second in scoring in the conference scoring 19 points per game. Just behind Omoruyi, Bradley has four game with 20 plus points while scoring double digits in all seven games. This week was no different, averaging 18 points in three games on 46% shooting. While he has not shot the best from deep (21%) he is still taking a high volume of attempts. Bradley should have another solid scoring performance against CSUN on 12/19.
Ethan Thompson – Guard, Oregon State
The third leading scorer in the conference put on a show this week, averaging 25.5 points per game including a 31-point performance. This season, Thompson is averaging over 18-points per game on 43% shooting from the field and 47% from deep. Thompson is also averaging around 4 rebounds per game while also dishing out just under 4 assists. While Oregon State has not been great, Thompson has been putting up numbers. Intriguing matchup against UTSA on Wednesday, to see if he looks to continue his hot streak.
Who’s Not
Keeshawn Barthelmy – Guard, Colorado
While the sample size is extremely small with only two games played, he has not shot the ball well from the field. Hitting only 6 of his 20 attempts (30%).
James Akinjo – Guard, Arizona
While he is putting up just under 14 points per game, he has not shot the ball well this week. In three games, AKinjo is shooting 9 for 29- (31%). He hopes to bounce back Wednesday against Cal Baptist.
Pac 12 Power Ranking
As we are still early in the College Basketball season there has already been a ton of great games especially in the Pac 12. There are some solid teams in the conference and an early power ranking could look like this.
1. Oregon- Despite their loss to Missouri in their season opener, they have bounced back well, winning four straight games. With victories over Seton Hall on a neutral court as well as a tough win on the road against Washington, Oregon is averaging just under 78 points per game while letting up about just under 69 points. If they really want to contend, they will need to improve from the line, only converting about 68% of their attempts from the charity stripe.
2. UCLA- Toss-up between UCLA and Oregon for number one, as UCLA has won five straight since falling to San Diego State in their opener. UCLA struggled out the gate, losing game one, while it also took them to three overtimes in game two to overcome Pepperdine. While they have been hot over the past 4 games, that slow start will put them at two.
3. [Arizona State- While they might have two losses already on the season, one came against Villanova and the other at the hands of 5-0 San Diego State. If they truly hope to compete in the conference, they are going to need to improve greatly on the defensive side of the court. Giving up a whopping 76 points per game while only scoring 79.5. With three solid scorers, putting up over 15ppg Arizona State can hang with anybody in the conference, their defense and the amount of points they give up makes winning so much more difficult when you have to score over 80 points per game just to win a game.
4. Washington State- While they are undefeated, the best competition they have played against was 2-3 Oregon State. With their four other wins coming against Texas Southern, Eastern Washington, Idaho, and Portland State. Not exactly the gauntlet to start the season.
5. Arizona- Same case as Washington, at 5-0 with wins over Grambling, Eastern Washington, Northern Arizona, CSU Bakersfield, and UTEP. Their defense has been solid only allowing 59 points per game while scoring 78. It is tough to judge if that’s based on their talent or by level of difference in talent between the opposition to them.
6. USC- At 4-1 overall, USC has started off the season strong. A heartbreaking three-point loss to UConn is their only loss of the season. USC is putting up about 79 points per game while only allowing under 64 points per game.
7. Colorado- Starting off the season 2-0 with double digit victories over Kansas State and South Dakota, Colorado had its next two games postponed. After a short hiatus, they were tasked with matching up with #12 Tennessee where they hung around only losing by 9 and holding them to just 56
8. Utah- Utah Started off 2-0 and were red hot with two double digit victories. Thing changed after an 18-point loss to BYU. Still at 2-1 they in a good spot right now, but that loss dropped them a few spots in the power rankings.
9. Stanford- Stanford came out the gates hot, blowing out Alabama by 18 points, then followed that up with a very solid performance against ranked UNC only losing by four and holding them to just 67 points scored. However, their 16-point loss to Indiana drops them under Colorado and Utah.
10. Oregon State- Losses to Portland and Wyoming have Oregon State this low. They beat Cal, which puts them a spot ahead. Scoring just under 80 points per game, they have only been giving up about 65 points per game which is solid.
11. Cal- At 3-4 on the season, Cal has not gotten off to the greatest start. While they do have one more win then Oregon State, in their head to head matchup, OSU came out victorious, giving them the edge in the rankings. They have struggled to put up points only averaging about 65 points per game while giving up 67 points. They average a two-point loss so far on the season while only shooting about 43% from the field as a team.
12. Washington- Rough start for Washington at 1-4. Losing by 34 to Baylor, as well as 15 to UC Riverside. They followed those losses by a 14-point loss to Utah. While they hung with Oregon and only lost by three, they are still the worst team in the conference at this point.