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
Classification	Division I
Season	2020–21
Teams	11
Site	T-Mobile Arena Paradise, Nevada
Champions	Oregon State Beavers (1st title)
Winning coach	Wayne Tinkle (1st title)
MVP	Warith Alatishe (Oregon State)
Top scorer	Alonzo Verge Jr. (Arizona State) (54 points)
Television	Pac-12 Network ESPN
Pac-12 Conference men's basketball tournaments ← 2020 2022 →

2020–21 Pac-12 Conference men's basketball standings

v t e	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		PCT			W		L		PCT
Oregon	14	–	4		.778			21	–	7		.750
No. 23 USC	15	–	5		.750			25	–	8		.758
No. 22 Colorado	14	–	6		.700			23	–	9		.719
UCLA	13	–	6		.684			22	–	10		.688
Arizona*	11	–	9		.550			17	–	9		.654
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

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

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

	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

First round

Pac-12 Network

March 10 1:00 pm PST

[1]

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

[2]

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

[3]

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

Pac-12 Network

March 11 11:30 am PST

[4]

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

[5]

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

[6]

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

ESPN

March 11 8:30 pm PST

[7]

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

Pac-12 Network

March 12 5:30 pm PST

[8]

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

[9]

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

ESPN

March 13 7:30 pm PST

[10]

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

Team and tournament leaders

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

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

• 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

• 2021 Pac-12 Conference women's basketball tournament

References

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. 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