2021 Pac-12 Conference men's basketball tournament

The 2021 Pac-12 Conference men's basketball tournament was a postseason men's basketball tournament for the Pac-12 Conference, which was played March 10–13, 2021, at T-Mobile Arena on the Las Vegas Strip in Paradise, Nevada.[1] The winner was Oregon State,[2] which was the first for the Beavers in the history of the tournament.[3] They received the conference's automatic bid to the 2021 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament.[4] The 2020 Tournament had been cancelled after the first round due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The 2021 tournament was played, but with only family of student-athletes as spectators in attendance.[5][6]

2021 Pac-12 Conference men's basketball tournament
ClassificationDivision I
Season2020–21
Teams11
SiteT-Mobile Arena
Paradise, Nevada
ChampionsOregon State Beavers (1st title)
Winning coachWayne Tinkle (1st title)
MVPWarith Alatishe (Oregon State)
Top scorerAlonzo Verge Jr. (Arizona State)
(54 points)
TelevisionPac-12 Network
ESPN
← 2020
2022 →
2020–21 Pac-12 Conference men's basketball standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT
No. 17 Oregon 14 4   .778 21 7   .750
No. 9 USC 15 5   .750 25 8   .758
No. 23 Colorado 14 6   .700 23 9   .719
No. 7 UCLA 13 6   .684 22 10   .688
Arizona* 11 9   .550 17 9   .654
No. 20 Oregon State 10 10   .500 20 13   .606
Stanford 10 10   .500 14 13   .519
Utah 8 11   .421 12 13   .480
Arizona State 7 10   .412 11 14   .440
Washington State 7 12   .368 14 13   .519
Washington 4 16   .200 5 21   .192
California 3 17   .150 9 20   .310
*Ineligible for the conference and NCAA tournaments due to self-imposed postseason ban.
Conference tournament winner
Rankings from AP poll

Seeds edit

Eleven of the 12 Pac-12 teams competed in the tournament. The Arizona Wildcats did not compete in the tournament; the university self-imposed a postseason ban for the 2020-21 season due to ongoing NCAA investigations into corruption within the program.[7] Teams were seeded by record within the conference, with tiebreakers in place to seed teams with identical conference records.[8] The top five teams received a bye to the quarterfinals.

Seed School Conference Overall Tiebreak 1 Tiebreak 2
1 Oregon†# 14–4 19–5
2 USC# 15–5 21–6
3 Colorado# 14–6 20–7
4 UCLA# 13–6 17–8
5 Oregon State# 10–10 14–12 1–1 vs. Stanford 1–1 vs. Oregon
6 Stanford 10–10 14–12 1–1 vs. Oregon State 0–2 vs. Oregon
7 Utah 8–11 11–12
8 Arizona State 7–10 10–13
9 Washington State 7–12 14–12
10 Washington 4–16 5–20
11 California 3–17 8–19
† – Pac-12 Conference regular season champions
# – Received a first round bye in the conference tournament.

Schedule edit

Game Time Matchup Score Television Attendance
First round – Wednesday, March 10
1 1:00 pm No. 8 Arizona State vs. No. 9 Washington State 64–59 Pac-12 Network N/A^
2 4:00 pm No. 7 Utah vs. No. 10 Washington 98–95
3 7:00 pm No. 6 Stanford vs. No. 11 California 58–76
Quarterfinals – Thursday, March 11
4 11:30 am No. 1 Oregon vs. No. 8 Arizona State 91–73 Pac-12 Network N/A
5 2:30 pm No. 4 UCLA vs. No. 5 Oregon State 79–83 OT
6 5:30 pm No. 2 USC vs. No. 7 Utah 91–85 2OT N/A
7 8:30 pm No. 3 Colorado vs. No. 11 California 61–58 ESPN
Semifinals – Friday, March 12
8 5:30 pm No. 1 Oregon vs. No. 5 Oregon State 64–75 Pac-12 Network N/A
9 8:30 pm No. 2 USC vs. No. 3 Colorado 70–72 ESPN
Championship – Saturday, March 13
10 7:30 pm No. 3 Colorado vs. No. 5 Oregon State 68–70 ESPN N/A
Game times in PT. Rankings denote tournament seed.

^According to the Pac-12, family members were allowed to attend, but the general public was not allowed. As a result, the Pac-12 has not released official attendance numbers.

Bracket edit

First round
Wednesday, March 10
Quarterfinals
Thursday, March 11
Semifinals
Friday, March 12
Championship
Saturday, March 13
            
1 Oregon 91
8 Arizona State 73
8 Arizona State 64
9 Washington State 59
1 Oregon 64
5 Oregon State 75
4 UCLA 79
5 Oregon State 83*
5 Oregon State 70
3 #23 Colorado 68
2 #24 USC 91**
7 Utah 85
7 Utah 98
10 Washington 95
2 #24 USC 70
3 #23 Colorado 72
3 #23 Colorado 61
11 California 58
6 Stanford 58
11 California 76

* denotes overtime period ** denotes double overtime period

Game statistics edit

First round edit

Pac-12 Network
March 10
1:00 pm PST
No. 8 Arizona State 64, No. 9 Washington State 59
Scoring by half: 25-24, 39-35
Pts: Verge Jr., 26
Rebs: 3 tied, 6
Asts: House, 6
Pts: Bonton, 19
Rebs: Kunc, 9
Asts: 2 tied, 4
T-Mobile Arena
Paradise, NV
Referees: Chris Rastatter, Deldre Carr, Greg Nixon
Pac-12 Network
March 10
4:00 pm PST
No. 7 Utah 98, No. 10 Washington 95
Scoring by half: 47-35, 51-60
Pts: Allen, 24
Rebs: Allen, 11
Asts: 2 tied, 4
Pts: Green, 31
Rebs: 2 tied, 6
Asts: Green, 7
T-Mobile Arena
Paradise, NV
Referees: Tony Padilla, Michael Irving, Michael Greenstein
Pac-12 Network
March 10
7:00 pm PST
No. 6 Stanford 58, No. 11 California 76
Scoring by half: 29-35, 29-41
Pts: Delaire, 14
Rebs: Kisunas, 7
Asts: O'Connell, 3
Pts: Bradley, 19
Rebs: Kelly, 9
Asts: Bradley, 6
T-Mobile Arena
Paradise, NV
Referees: Randy McCall, Verne Harris, Mike Reed

Quarterfinals edit

Pac-12 Network
March 11
11:30 am PST
No. 1 Oregon 91, No. 8 Arizona State 73
Scoring by half: 35-27, 56-46
Pts: Verge Jr., 28
Rebs: Verge Jr., 8
Asts: Martin, 5
Pts: Figueroa, 21
Rebs: Richardson, 7
Asts: Richardson, 9
T-Mobile Arena
Paradise, NV
Referees: Mike Reed, Michael Irving, Kevin Brill
Pac-12 Network
March 11
2:30 pm PST
No. 4 UCLA 79, No. 5 Oregon State 83 (OT)
Scoring by half: 34-24, 36-46 Overtime: 9-13
Pts: Bernard, 19
Rebs: Bernard, 10
Asts: Campbell, 5
Pts: Alatishe, 22
Rebs: 2 tied, 10
Asts: Hunt, 5
T-Mobile Arena
Paradise, NV
Referees: Randy McCall, Michael Greenstein, Mike Scyphers
Pac-12 Network
March 11
5:30 pm PST
No. 2 USC 91, No. 7 Utah 85 (OT)
Scoring by half: 34-29, 37-42 Overtime: 20-14
Pts: E. Mobley, 26
Rebs: E. Mobley, 9
Asts: 2 tied, 3
Pts: Allen, 20
Rebs: Allen, 13
Asts: Allen, 3
T-Mobile Arena
Paradise, NV
Referees: Chris Rastatter, Verne Harris, Frank Harvey III
March 11
8:30 pm PST
No. 3 Colorado 61, No. 11 California 58
Scoring by half: 24-20, 37-38
Pts: Battey, 15
Rebs: Walker, 6
Asts: Wright IV, 3
Pts: Anticevich, 11
Rebs: Anticevich, 6
Asts: Brown, 4
T-Mobile Arena
Paradise, NV
Referees: Tony Padilla, Deldre Carr, Greg Nixon

Semifinals edit

Pac-12 Network
March 12
5:30 pm PST
No. 1 Oregon 64, No. 5 Oregon State 75
Scoring by half: 28-38, 36-37
Pts: Thompson, 16
Rebs: Alatishe, 12
Asts: 2 tied, 4
Pts: 3 tied, 14
Rebs: Richardson, 7
Asts: Richardson, 6
T-Mobile Arena
Paradise, NV
Referees: Verne Harris, Tony Padilla, Chris Rastatter
ESPN
March 12
8:30 pm PST
No. 2 USC 70, No. 3 Colorado 72
Scoring by half: 30-39, 40-33
Pts: E. Mobley, 26
Rebs: E. Mobley, 9
Asts: Eaddy, 5
Pts: Wright IV, 24
Rebs: Horne, 7
Asts: Wright IV, 4
T-Mobile Arena
Paradise, NV
Referees: Mike Reed, Deldre Carr, Michael Greenstein

Championship edit

ESPN
March 13
7:30 pm PST
No. 5 Oregon State 70, No. 3 Colorado 68
Scoring by half: 33-28, 37-40
Pts: Calloo, 15
Rebs: Alatishe, 7
Asts: Thompson, 4
Pts: Wright IV, 18
Rebs: Battey, 8
Asts: Wright IV, 7
T-Mobile Arena
Paradise, NV
Referees: Verne Harris, Tony Padilla, Chris Rastatter

Awards and honors edit

Team and tournament leaders edit

Team Points Rebounds Assists Steals Blocks Minutes
Arizona
Arizona State Verge Jr. 54 Verge Jr. 14 2 tied 7 House 6 3 tied 1 Martin 72
California Bradley 29 2 tied 11 Brown 7 2 tied 2 Kelly 2 Bradley 67
Colorado Wright IV 52 Battey 19 Wright IV 14 5 tied 2 Walton 2 Wright IV 103
Oregon Figueroa 35 Richardson 14 Richardson 15 Omoruyi 7 2 tied 2 Richardson 75
Oregon State 2 tied 42 Alatishe 29 Thompson 11 Thompson 4 2 tied 2 Lucas 104
Stanford Delaire 14 Kisunas 7 O'Connell 3 Wills 3 2 tied 1 Wills 32
UCLA Bernard 19 Bernard 10 Campbell 5 Singleton 2 Riley 3 Campbell 43
USC E. Mobley 52 E. Mobley 18 Eaddy 8 Eaddy 3 E. Mobley 10 2 tied 78
Utah Allen 44 Allen 24 Allen 7 Allen 3 2 tied 2 Allen 87
Washington Green 31 2 tied 6 Green 7 Bajema 3 2 tied 1 2 tied 37
Washington State Bonton 19 Kunc 9 2 tied 4 Bonton 2 3 tied 1 Bonton 39

All-Tournament Team edit

Name Pos. Height Weight Year Team
Warith Alatishe F 6'7" 220 Jr. Oregon State
Evan Mobley F 7'0" 210 Fr. USC
Evan Battey F 6'8" 260 Jr. Colorado
McKinley Wright IV G 6'0" 200 Sr. Colorado
Jared Lucas G 6'3" 205 So. Oregon State
Ethan Thompson G 6'5" 195 Sr. Oregon State

Tournament notes edit

  • Five teams were extended invitations to the 2021 NCAA tournament: Colorado, Oregon, Oregon State, UCLA, and USC.[9] The five bids marks the most for the Conference since securing a record seven in 2015-16.[10] Oregon State was not expected to be invited to the tournament, and changed the number of predicted bids of the Pac-12 from four to five.[11] The team first out originally predicted in the field was Louisville.[12][13]
  • No teams from the Pac-12 were invited to the 2021 National Invitation Tournament, which was reduced in size.
  • In the NCAA tournament, UCLA won the 11 seed play-in game, and then all five teams advanced to the round of 32 on the opening weekend.[14] Four teams advanced to round of sixteen.[15] Three teams advanced to the round of eight: Oregon State, UCLA, and USC.[16] USC and Oregon played each other for the final Elite 8 spot. UCLA reached the Final Four as a 11-seed First Four team.[17]
  • Each win in the NCAA tournament by a conference team gains a payout "unit" for the conference over six years.[18] The Pac-12 team wins in the 2021 tournament gained a record 19 units, which will cause almost US$40 million to be paid to the conference by 2027.[18]

See also edit

References edit

  1. ^ "Pac-12 Men's Basketball releases reorganized inaugural 20-game 2020-21 league schedule | Pac-12". pac-12.com. Retrieved January 6, 2021.
  2. ^ Curtis, Jake - Oregon State Pulls Off Another Upset, Wins Pac-12 Tournament Title - SI.COM (Sports Illustrated), March 14, 2021 Beavers, picked to finish last in Pac-12, top Colorado in championship game to earn NCAA tournament berth
  3. ^ Mickanen, Dylan - Oregon State wins the Pac-12 Tournament for the first time in program history. NBC Sports, March 13, 2021
  4. ^ Dashel, Nick - Oregon State Beavers narrowly beat Colorado to win Pac-12 tournament, earn automatic bid to NCAA Tournament. Portland Oregonian, March 13, 2021
  5. ^ Newman, Josh - The Pac-12 is pushing ahead with its conference basketball tournaments. Is this a good idea?. Salt Lake Tribune. February 8, 2021
  6. ^ Pac-12 update on attendance policy for 2021 Men's & Women's Basketball Tournaments. Pac-12 Conference, February 24, 2021
  7. ^ "Arizona self-imposes one year postseason ban due to NCAA investigation following FBI bribery probe". CBSSports.com. Retrieved January 6, 2021.
  8. ^ "Men's Basketball Standings | Pac-12". pac-12.com. Retrieved January 6, 2021.
  9. ^ Wilner, Jon - NCAA tournament best bets: Pac-12 sends five teams into the Madness. How many survive the first weekend?. San Jose Mercury News, March 18, 2021
  10. ^ Pac-12 Men’s Basketball to send five teams to 2021 NCAA Tournament. Pac-12 Conference Digital Newsroom, March 14, 2021, San Francisco, CA
  11. ^ Mast, Shelby and Scott Gleeson - NCAA Tournament bracketology: Final March Madness projection on Selection Sunday USA Today, March 14, 2021
  12. ^ Kercheval, Ben - NCAA Tournament 2021: Michigan State, UCLA among last four in, Louisville among first four replacement teams - CBS Sports, March 14, 2021
  13. ^ Sweeney, Kevin - Bracket Watch: Time Running Out Heading Into Regular Season's Final Weekend - SI.COM (Sports Illustrated) March 5, 2021
  14. ^ Wilner, Jon - Saturday Night One: Pac-12 unbeaten through first round, in range of record-breaking NCAA cash haul. East Bay Times, March 20, 2021
  15. ^ Forde, pat - The Pac-12's Unexpected Dominance Highlights an Endearingly Weird Men’s Sweet 16. March 23, 2021. Sports Illustrated
  16. ^ Odom, Joel - Pac-12 will have 3 teams among the Elite Eight at the men’s NCAA Tournament. Portland Oregonian, March 28, 2021
  17. ^ UCLA reaches Final Four to continue Pac-12 Men's Basketball's historic 2021 NCAA Tournament run. Pac-12 conference, March 30, 2021
  18. ^ a b Wilner, Jon - The Pac-12’s killer cash haul: UCLA win caps the most lucrative NCAA Tournament in conference history, San Jose Mercury News, March 31, 2021