Arizona's McConnell, Miller are best at Pac-12's midway point

HOW DOES PAC-12 STACK UP AT HALFWAY POINT? 

Sean Miller took a chunk of his postgame press conference following Arizona’s win over Oregon State on Friday to champion T.J. McConnell’s cause for Pac-12 player of the year, and it got us thinking. How does the league stack up at the halfway point? 

PLAYER OF THE YEAR: T.J. MCCONNELL, ARIZONA 

OK, so Miller’s right. We had to dive into the Pac-12 stat sheet to confirm it, but he’s right. McConnell was shooting 41.5 percent from the field before conference play. He’s at 48.3 percent now, including 56.4 percent in Pac-12 play, highest in the conference among non-guards and fifth-highest overall. That not convincing enough? OK, how’s his 10.9 points per game, 5.11 assists, 1.67 steals and league-best 3.07-1 turnover ratio? The guy handles the ball as much if not more than anyone in the league, and he’s got 15 turnovers in nine conference games. 

COACH OF THE YEAR: SEAN MILLER, ARIZONA 

Miller may not have boasted about his own credentials, but he deserves the nod, too. The Wildcats are rolling, winners of six straight since a two-point letdown against Oregon State, and that includes a big win over Utah. Miller is mixing-and-matching with great success, and he’s relying on his bench in a big way. Arizona needs to keep it up to secure a top seed, but it is within striking distance. 

FRESHMAN OF THE YEAR: STANLEY JOHNSON, ARIZONA 

Arizona may be sweeping these awards, but this is no hometown homerism. The Wildcats are that good this year, particularly their impressive freshman, Stanley Johnson. Johnson is averaging 14.6 points and 7.2 rebounds and he’s shooting 84 percent from the free-throw line, where he gets to quite often. If he was on a team with less talent and fewer offensive threats, he’d be scoring 20 points a night. 

DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR: GARY PAYTON II, OREGON STATE

The Glove Jr. is picking up right where his dad left off. Payton has been a terror to opposing ballhandlers, spearheading a defense that is opening eyes across the country. He averages a stellar 2.67 steals per game, leading the conference, and his 7.2 boards per game aren’t too shabby either.

SLAM DUNKS 

Here's a look at three positive things happening in the Pac-12.  

BOOM, BOOM, POWELL 

After falling below .500 in conference play, with back-to-back bad losses at Oregon State and Oregon, UCLA’s season appeared to be flat-lining. But Pac-12 player of the week Norman Powell shocked the Bruins back to life with a pair of huge games: 23 points on 9-of-16 shooting and four rebounds in a 10-point win over No. 11 Utah, then 22 points on 7-of-11 shooting with five rebounds, five steals and four assists two days later. 

BEAR DOWN 

Talk about dropping the hammer. What separates Arizona this year from last is the Wildcats’ ruthlessness in wins. Sure, they went 21-0 last year before the world changed when Brandon Ashley went down, and they’re at 20-2 now, but look at some of these margins: 24, 18, 14, 18, 7, 23, 34, 23. That’s Arizona’s eight Pac-12 wins (plus a two-point loss at Oregon State). Last year, while going 8-1 in the first half, including the Ashley-less two-point loss at Cal, Arizona won half those games by less than 10 points. 

BEAR...UP?

Cuonzo Martin, breathe easy. The first-year Cal coach had to feel his necktie tightening as the Bears followed a 10-1 start with a 1-6 slide, including back-to-back losses to Arizona State and Arizona by a 58-point margin. After a road sweep of Washington State and Washington, Cal has some life in it. Tyrone Wallace, who bottomed out in a 35-point loss to the Sun Devils with an 0-for-6 night, went a combined 19-for-34 for 47 points in the win. 

TURNOVERS 

Here's a look at three negative things happening in the Pac-12. 

TOPSY-TURVY HUSKIES 

Do we even know who Washington is at this point? They go 11-0…then 0-4…then 3-0…then drop three straight, including consecutive home losses to Stanford and Cal? Lorenzo Romar needs to get his team on the right page, but with a point guard like Nigel Williams-Goss, who has a ton of control, it may be on Williams-Goss to get the Huskies on track on a consistent basis. 

BEAVER DARN

Oregon State’s current top two scorers, Gary Payton II and Langston Morris-Walker – Victor Robbins remains out – combine for just over what Stanford sharpshooter Chasson Randle averages per game. When one – or both – go cold, the Beavers are toast. Payton was the Beavers’ lone threat in a big loss to Arizona State, scoring 23 points, but Morris-Walker scored just two. But both were held in check against Arizona, combining for six points. 

UTAH FEELS NO LOVE 

It wasn’t all bad last week for the Utes – they did throttle USC, after all. But a loss to UCLA will hurt Larry K’s crew come tournament time. Jordan Loveridge went dead quiet in the loss, going 1-for-8 from the field with one 3-pointer, his only points. Utah is going to need a reliable No. 2 to Delon Wright, and if Brandon Taylor is that man, so be it. But Loveridge can’t disappear. 

30.5 — The top three rebounders in the Pac-12 are two sophomores and a freshman, and if Washington State’s Josh Hawkinson, Colorado’s Wesley Gordon and UCLA freshman Kevon Looney all stick around a while, the league has its best crop of big men in some time. The quartet is averaging a combined 30.5 rebounds in Pac-12 games. 

MIDSEASON ALL-CONFERENCE TEAM 

The Star's Jon Gold picks his midseason all-conference team.

T.J. MCCONNELL, ARIZONA 

STANLEY JOHNSON, ARIZONA 

GARY PAYTON II, OREGON STATE 

NORMAN POWELL, UCLA 

CHASSON RANDLE, STANFORD 

ASKIA BOOKER, COLORADO 

DELON WRIGHT, UTAH 

ANTHONY BROWN, STANFORD 

NIGEL WILLIAMS-GOSS, WASHINGTON 

JOSEPH YOUNG, OREGON