Colorado at Arizona State headlines the Pac-12 this week
A look at things to watch this week in the Pac-12 Conference:
GAME OF THE WEEK: Colorado at Arizona State, Saturday. The Pac-12 struggled during the nonconference season, with nearly every team suffering ugly losses. The Sun Devils had one to close out their nonconference schedule, losing to Princeton at home after taking down top-ranked Kansas in their previous game. The Buffaloes lost two of their final three nonconference games, to Indiana State and Hawaii. Arizona State and Colorado have the best record heading into Pac-12 play at 9-3.
LOOKING AHEAD: Four teams will kick off the conference season against rivals. Oregon (9-4), which lost to Texas Southern at home earlier this year, hosts Oregon State (8-4) on Saturday. The Beavers lost three of their final five nonconference games, including to Pepperdine and Kent State in Corvallis. Washington (9-4), which beat Cal State Fullerton in its nonconference finale, hosts Washington State (7-6) on Saturday.
INSIDE THE NUMBERS: Washington leads the Pac-12 and is third nationally with 6.3 blocked shots per game. ... Oregon State's Kylor Kelley leads the nation with 4.08 blocked shots per game. ... USC'S Nick Rakocevic and Arizona State's Zylan Cheatham are tied for 19th nationally with 19 double-doubles.
PLAYER TO WATCH: Josh Sharma, Stanford. The Cardinal's 7-foot senior center was named Pac-12 player of the week after a career night in a win over Long Beach State. He had 23 points on 10-of-15 shooting and grabbed 18 rebounds in the 93-86 win.
ON THE WOMEN'S SIDE: The Pac-12 season kicks off with none of the conference's five ranked teams playing fellow AP Top 25 teams. No. 22 Arizona State has a chance to knock Utah (12-0) from the undefeated ranks in Salt Lake City on Friday. Washington State's Borislava Hristova was the Pac-12 player of the week after scoring a career-high 38 points in a win over rival Washington State.
