PAC-10 CONFERENCE PAC-12 CONFERENCE 1350 Treat Blvd., Suite 500, Walnut Creek, CA 94597 // PAC-12.COM // 925.932.4411 For Immediate Release \\ Wednesday, April 23, 2014 Contact \\ Dave Hirsch ([email protected]); Kyra Geithman ([email protected]) 2013-14 PAC-12 MEN’S BASKETBALL FINAL STANDINGS PAC-12 OVERALL W-L Pct. Home Away W-L Pct. Home Away Neut. AP Coach vs. T25 Streak Arizona (NCAA) 15-3 .833 9-0 6-3 33-5 .868 18-0 8-3 7-2 4 5 2-1 L 1 UCLA* (NCAA) 12-6 .667 7-2 5-4 28-9 .757 16-2 5-5 7-2 20 23 2-3 L 1 Oregon (NCAA) 10-8 .556 6-3 4-5 24-10 .706 15-3 5-5 4-2 33 - 1-3 L 1 Colorado (NCAA) 10-8 .588 7-2 3-6 23-12 .657 16-2 5-6 2-4 - - 2-6 L 2 Stanford (NCAA) 10-8 .556 6-3 4-5 23-13 .639 12-4 6-5 5-4 - - 5-1 L 1 Arizona State (NCAA) 10-8 .556 8-1 2-7 21-12 .636 16-1 4-7 1-4 - - 2-2 L 4 California (NIT) 10-8 .529 5-4 5-4 21-14 .600 15-4 5-7 1-3 - - 2-3 L 1 Utah (NIT) 9-9 .500 7-2 2-7 21-12 .636 18-2 2-9 1-1 - - 1-4 L 2 Washington 9-9 .500 7-2 2-7 17-15 .531 14-4 3-8 0-3 - - 1-3 L 1 Oregon State (CBI) 8-10 .444 6-3 2-7 16-16 .500 12-5 3-9 1-2 - - 0-3 L 2 Washington State 3-15 .167 3-6 0-9 10-21 .323 8-8 1-10 1-3 - - 0-3 L 1 USC 2-16 .111 1-8 1-8 11-21 .344 8-8 2-10 1-2 - - 0-2 L 2 * - Pac-12 Tournament Champion PAC-12 MEN’S BASKETBALL SENDS THREE TEAMS TO SWEET SIXTEEN Arizona Reaches Elite Eight, Achieved No. 1 Ranking Eight Consecutive Weeks Arizona’s Johnson, UCLA’s Anderson Collect All-America Honors • The ARIZONA Wildcats captured their 13th Pac-12 regular season title, and first since the 2011 season, while the UCLA Bruins won their fourth Pac-12 Tournament title as they defeated Arizona in the championship game, 75-71. • A league-record eight teams posted 20-wins during the 2013-14 campaign. The highly-competitive Pac-12 season rewarded the league with a record-tying six teams (ARIZONA, ARIZONA STATE, COLORADO, OREGON, STANFORD, UCLA) selected to participate in NCAA Tourna- ment. Arizona obtained a coveted No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament. It was the first time a Pac-12 team earned one of the four No. 1 seeds since UCLA in 2008, and the sixth time the Wildcats were the Tournament’s No. 1 seed. The Pac-12 showed it was worthy of the six selections as it compiled a 8-6 record in the NCAA Tournament with Arizona, Stanford and UCLA each reaching the Sweet Sixteen, with the Wildcats advancing to the Elite Eight before dropping a one-point overtime decision to Wisconsin. The eight wins in the NCAA Tournament were the most by the league since it posted an identical 8-6 mark in 2008. • Arizona’s Nick Johnson and Aaron Gordon, and UCLA’s Kyle Anderson picked up several All-America honors as Johnson earned consensus honors after being selected first team All-America by USBWA, NABC and The Sporting News, as well as the Wooden Award All-America team. • New look in 2014-15 for two Pac-12 teams as Ernie Kent will take over the reigns at WASHINGTON STATE and CALIFORNIA will have a new successor to replace Mike Montgomery, who retired after 32 years as a college head coach. Montgomery compiled a 677-316 record in 32 seasons (eight at Montana, 18 at Stanford, and six at California). His 282 wins in league play were third only to Hall-of-Famers Arizona’s Lute Olson (327) and UCLA’s John Wooden (305). On April 15, California hired Cuonzo Martin to replace Montgomery. Meanwhile, Kent returns to the coaching ranks for the first time since he was at Oregon from 1998-2010. Kent’s career record stands at 325-254 in 19 seasons as a head coach. PAC-12 HONORS Player of the Year Most Improved Player of the Year Nick Johnson, Arizona Anthony Brown, Stanford Freshman of the Year Scholar-Athlete of the Year Aaron Gordon, Arizona Dwight Powell, Stanford Defensive Player of the Year John Wooden Coach of the Year Jordan Bachynski, Arizona State Sean Miller, Arizona PAC-12 TOURNAMENT RECAP NCAA TOURNAMENT UCLA Bruins Capture Pac-12 Tournament Crown Pac-12 Notes LAS VEGAS – On paper, Saturday’s Pac-12 Tournament championship game between tournament No. 1 seed Arizona and No. 2 UCLA looked like a relatively even matchup. But no scouting could predict just how close the Bruins’ All-Time Pac-12 No. 1 seeds 75-71 win over the Wildcats would play out. (seeding started in 1979): The two squads combined for only 15 turnovers in a game that provided great drama from the opening tip. It was 1979 - UCLA decided by a mere few missed Arizona opportunities and clutch plays by UCLA -- the kinds of plays that scouting 1981 - Oregon State reports cannot foresee. 1988 - Arizona “Everybody always focuses on the last play or last plays,” Arizona coach Sean Miller said. “There were 150 in the 1989 - Arizona game that could have tilted it in either person’s favor. 1992 - UCLA “It was a war from start to finish.” 1995 - UCLA UCLA took an early lead, weathered a strong Arizona middle 20 minutes, and kicked all the way through the finish 1998 - Arizona line – forward Travis Wear running half the length of the court and diving on the court for a loose ball in the last two minutes represented the intensity of the game as a whole. 2000 - Arizona, Stanford 2001 - Stanford The scoreboard read 68-all with 3:40 left in the game, and it remained there for the next three minutes as two fatigued teams clawed at one another on the defensive end. 2003 - Arizona 2004 - Stanford It was UCLA that benefitted the most despite Arizona coming in as the known defensive power. Armed with four timeouts in the final four minutes, UCLA coach Steve Alford asked his team to play one one-minute battle at a time. 2005 - Washington 2008 - UCLA “We’ll break it up into maybe four one-minute games, but let’s go as hard as we can,” he said. “We’ll give you Sunday, Monday off, but let’s get after it here in these last four minutes.” 2013 - Arizona The Bruins took three UA turnovers in the final three minutes and after the final Arizona miscue finally made the Wildcats pay. Out of a timeout with 43 seconds left, Jordan Adams hit a difficult three-point shot above the left side NCAA Participants of the arc, and Arizona couldn’t convert on three consecutive three-point looks to force overtime. UCLA hit its free by Conference throws down the stretch to make it a two-possession game. Big 12: 7 “It’s our money play,” Alford said of the drawn-up look for Adams. “It’s a 2-for-1 situation. I don’t like giving the other Pac-12: 6 team, a team like that, the last shot.” Big Ten: 6 Adams finished with 19 points, but teammate Anderson was at the forefront of the Bruins’ success. He scored 21, Atlantic 10: 6 grabbed 15 rebounds, and dolled out five assists. American: 5 “I got news for whoever draws them in the NCAA Tournament,” Miller said. “Kyle Anderson and Jordan Adams – ACC: 5 good luck.” Big East: 4 Arizona’s free throw troubles bit them and it struggled to score with the game in the balance. The Wildcats’ only SEC: 3 score in the final five minutes came on a late three-pointer by Nick Johnson, which cut a five-point deficit to two Mountain West: 2 with less than a second remaining. West Coast: 2 Arizona opened the game with a starting lineup change. Rondae Hollis-Jefferson was in and Gabe York was out, and the Wildcats’ offense struggled to get looks without many shooters on the court. UCLA led 14-3 early and forced Sweet Sixteen Appearances: A Pac-12 three early turnovers, but Arizona’s Elliott Pitts and Gabe York opened things up off the bench, hitting 4-for-6 from team has reached the Sweet Sixteen in deep to allow for more space for Aaron Gordon and Kaleb Tarczewski to operate inside. nine of the last 10 NCAA Tournaments, By halftime, the Bruins’ lead was down to 43-40, but their offense was smoking by hitting 58 percent of its shots. and 24 of the last 27 NCAA Tourna- That cooled to 43 percent for the game as Arizona held their opponents to just 26 percent shooting in the second half, but it wasn’t enough. ments. Since 1975 when the NCAA Tournament expanded the field to 32 The Wildcats tied the game at 46 on a dunk by Tarczewski, and the rest of the second half was a back-and-forth affair. The two squads had seven ties and 10 lead changes, most of which came in the final 20 minutes.