Pac-12 Tournament preview: What to know about Huskies, Cougars in Las Vegas
The Pac-12 Men’s Basketball Tournament begins Wednesday at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
This season, the field features three ranked teams — regular season champion and No. 2 Arizona, ranked second only to Gonzaga, No. 13 UCLA and No. 21 USC — and more looking to play spoiler in trying to claim a tournament title and in doing so secure an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.
The Pac-12’s reigning tournament champion is Oregon State, which went on to play in the Elite Eight last spring for the first time since 1982.
Both Washington and Washington State begin their tournament runs during the evening session of Wednesday’s opening day.
Here’s what you need to know about the Huskies, Cougars and how to watch the tournament unfold the next four days.
SCHEDULE
Games aired on Pac-12 Networks unless otherwise noted. The complete bracket and live stats for each game can be found on the conference website.
Wednesday’s first round
No. 9 seed Stanford (15-15) vs. No. 8 seed Arizona State (14-16), noon
No. 12 Oregon State (3-27) vs. No. 5 Oregon (18-13), 2:30 p.m.
No. 10 California (12-19) vs. No. 7 Washington State (18-13), 6 p.m.
No. 11 Utah (11-19) vs. No. 6 Washington (16-14), 8:30 p.m.
Thursday’s quarterfinals
Winner Stanford-Arizona State vs. No. 1 Arizona (28-3), noon
Winner Oregon-Oregon State vs. vs. No. 4 Colorado (20-10), 2:30 p.m.
Winner Cal-Washington State vs. vs. No. 2 UCLA (23-6), 6 p.m.
Winner Utah-Washington vs. No. 3 USC (25-6), 8:30 p.m. (FS1)
Friday’s semifinals
6 p.m. (Pac-12) and 8:30 p.m. (FS1)
Saturday’s championship
6 p.m. (FOX)
ABOUT THE HUSKIES
Five months ago, this Huskies team was picked to finish in the Pac-12 basement, ranking 11th in the conference’s preseason poll and placed only ahead of Cal. Meaning, UW has clearly exceeded those expectations while improving on a frustrating five-win season in 2020-21. After finishing non-conference play at 5-5, the Huskies won eight of their first 12 games against Pac-12 opponents, including a five-game winning streak in Seattle during that stretch. UW then dropped five of its next six — and has yet to beat a ranked opponent this season — but ended with a pair of wins against Oregon and Oregon State last weekend to enter the tournament as the No. 6 seed. Could the Huskies make a convincing run this weekend behind Pac-12 leading scorer Terrell Brown Jr. and a disruptive defense that leads the conference with 8.1 steals per game? The Huskies last won a conference tournament game in 2019 when they topped USC and Colorado before an upset loss to rival Oregon in the final. UW advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament that season before losing to North Carolina.
THREE TO SEE
G Terrell Brown Jr., gr. — Former Garfield and Seattle U standout returned to Seattle to join the Huskies after playing at Arizona last season, and led the conference in scoring (21.7 points per game) and steals (2.1), while ranking fourth in assists (4.2) on his way to All-Pac-12 first-team honors.
F Emmitt Matthews Jr., sr. — Following three seasons at West Virginia, the former Tacoma high school standout has become another key contributor for the Huskies, adding 11.7 points and 4.8 rebounds per game.
F Nate Roberts, R-jr. — The 6-foot-11 forward has been a force in the paint the final week of the regular season, posting back-to-back double-doubles against Oregon (18 points, 16 rebounds) and Oregon State (13 points, 16 rebounds).
ABOUT THE COUGARS
WSU was ranked eighth in the conference’s preseason poll and opened the season with a five-game non-conference winning streak, eventually posting an 8-5 record entering Pac-12 play. The Cougars posted a five-game winning stretch between mid-January and early February, but it ended with consecutive losses to the Arizona schools in Pullman, then three defeats on the road against Oregon and ranked UCLA and USC teams. WSU regrouped to win four of its last five games, including splitting with the Huskies before back-to-back wins over Oregon State and another victory over Oregon to wrap up the regular season. The Cougars enter the tournament as a top perimeter shooting team — their 285 3-pointers lead the Pac-12, while their percentage from distance (36.4) ranks third. WSU’s 72.3 points per game rank fourth. The Cougars last won a conference tournament game in 2020, when they upset Colorado in the final game of the first round behind a 30-point performance from CJ Elleby hours before the COVID-19 pandemic shut down sports across the country.
THREE TO SEE
G Michael Flowers, sr. — Cougars scoring (14.2 points per game) and assists leader (3.4) also adds 3.4 rebounds per game and was a second-team All-Pac-12 pick.
G Tyrell Roberts, jr. — Another key offensive contributor, Roberts adds 10.8 points, 2.5 rebounds and two assists for the Cougars.
G Noah Williams, jr. — The former O’Dea standout averages 10.5 points, 3.3 rebounds, 2.6 assists and a team-leading 1.2 steals.
This story was originally published March 9, 2022 at 5:00 AM with the headline "Pac-12 Tournament preview: What to know about Huskies, Cougars in Las Vegas."
