Around the League: Feb. 5

Men’s basketball
Sam Connon, assistant Sports editor

The Pac-12 hasn’t had a team ranked inside the top 25 since New Year’s Eve.

That five-week streak was extended to six when the AP polls were released Monday, but not without a close call from the Huskies.

Washington men’s basketball (18-4, 9-0 Pac-12) was just seven points away from being named the No. 25 team in the country after it continued its undefeated conference season when it beat both USC (13-9, 6-3) and UCLA (12-10, 5-4) in the past week. The Huskies have won 11 games in a row and are three games above anyone else in the conference with just nine games left on their schedule.

USC is tied with Oregon State (14-7, 6-3) and Arizona State (15-6, 6-3) for second place in the conference, but all three teams would still be in position for first-round byes for the Pac-12 Tournament if the season ended today.

UCLA, Arizona (14-8, 5-4) and Utah (11-10, 5-4) are tied for fifth in the conference, one game away from a first-round bye. The Bruins and Utes will face off Saturday.

The only two Pac-12 teams with a losing overall record – Washington State (8-14,1-8) and California (5-16, 0-9) – are at the bottom of the conference, with the latter in the midst of a 10-game losing streak.

Men’s tennis
Gabriel McCarthy, assistant Sports editor

Conference play across the Pac-12 is set to begin this weekend for some.

No. 7 UCLA men’s tennis (2-0) has had four matches postponed this season due to inclement weather, most recently two this past weekend against St. Mary’s and BYU. Aside from team play, senior Maxime Cressy claimed the Cleveland Open title this weekend, his first ATP Challenger Tour title.

No. 5 USC (5-0) concluded play this weekend with two wins against UC Davis and the University of San Francisco, winning 6-1 and 7-0, respectively. Brandon Holt was named the Pac-12 Player of the Week after the previous weekend of play in which he won two singles and three doubles matches.

No. 9 Stanford (4-1) recently defeated Oregon 4-0, but fell to No. 2 Ohio State 1-6. The Cardinal had only allowed a single point total in the four games preceding the dual-match against the Buckeyes.

California (1-2) won its first match of the season after claiming a 4-0 shutout over Western Michigan. The Golden Bears previously lost 4-3 to No. 22 Florida State and 4-2 to No. 12 Virginia.

Oregon (6-1) is currently undefeated at home and posted wins over Nevada and New Mexico this weekend with scores of 4-0 and 7-0, respectively.

Women’s water polo
Jack Perez, Daily Bruin staff

Three undefeated teams remain after the first “Big Four” matchup of the year.

No. 3 UCLA women’s water polo (10-0, 0-0 MPSF), No. 1 USC (8-0, 0-0) and No. 2 Stanford (6-0, 1-0) are the only unbeaten teams left in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation after No. 4 California (5-1, 0-0) fell for the first time last weekend.

The Golden Bears lost 17-10 to the Cardinal at the Stanford Invitational on Sunday. Stanford built a three-goal halftime lead and never trailed during the matchup.

The Bruins hosted the UCLA Mini-Tournament in the team’s second and third home games of the season. UCLA swept three top-15 opponents but only defeated No. 15 Loyola Marymount by one goal.

Stanford hosted its own invitational this weekend, which included MPSF rivals Cal and No. 19 Indiana (1-6, 0-1). The Cardinal went 3-0 in the tournament, beating both the Golden Bears and the Hoosiers. The Golden Bears’ last three losses have all been to the Cardinal, dating back to last season.

No. 7 Arizona State (5-2, 0-0)also hosted a tournament – the Cross Conference Challenge. Arizona State ended the weekend 4-1, with its only loss coming by one goal to No. 10 UC Santa Barbara.

USC and No. 11 San Jose State (2-1, 0-0) were off this week. The Trojans had an exhibition versus the Chinese National Team, while the Spartans will face the Chinese team next week.

Gymnastics
Angie Forburger, assistant Sports editor

All eight Pac-12 gymnastics programs are ranked in the top 25 as they approach the midway point of conference competition.

No. 3 UCLA (4-0, 3-0 Pac-12) most recently defeated No. 11 Oregon State (1-2, 1-2) on Saturday, recording its highest score of the season of 197.900. The Bruins will next head to Seattle on Sunday for a meet against No. 15 Washington (2-2, 2-2).

Prior to their loss to the Bruins – in which they had also scored their highest total of the season – the Beavers had won against the Huskies. Oregon State will next travel to No. 25 Arizona (1-3, 1-2) on Friday.

The Huskies won their meet at No. 24 Stanford Cardinal (0-3, 0-3) on Friday by just under four-tenths of a point. After hosting the Bruins, the Huskies will compete in the Perfect 10 Challenge in Oklahoma City.

The Cardinal has suffered two back-to-back losses to the Bruins and Huskies and will next travel to Tempe to face No. 19 Arizona State Sun Devils (0-2, 0-2).

So far in conference meets, Arizona State has lost to UCLA and No. 4 Utah (5-0, 3-0) and are coming off a second-place finish at a tri-meet Saturday against No. 14 California (1-2, 1-1) and No. 21 BYU. Arizona State will also compete in the Perfect 10 Challenge alongside Washington after hosting Stanford on Sunday.

After falling to the Wildcats on Jan. 26, the Golden Bears came in first against the Sun Devils and the Cougars on Saturday. California will next travel to Salt Lake City for a meet against Utah.

The Utes are undefeated to start the 2019 season, most recently defeating the Wildcats by almost two points.

California is the only Pac-12 team Arizona has defeated this season. Arizona is next slated to face Oregon State, UCLA and Stanford in the coming weeks.