Sellouts, 'energy' hard to come by in Pac-12
Arizona has lost its rivalry basketball game at Arizona State nine times since 1987. The Sun Devils have gone 2-7 in their next game.
Failing to build on a victory over Arizona isn’t ASU’s greatest issue. When it lost 74-71 Friday at Washington State, the Sun Devil defense yielded 27 points to seldom-used Dexter Kernich-Drew, who entered the game averaging 1.5 made field goals per game.
The ASU-Wazzu game was a snapshot of what Pac-12 basketball has become.
“To our credit, we felt the energy in the building,” WSU coach Ernie Kent said after the game.
The crowd was listed at 3,129 at 11,671-seat Beasley Coliseum.
In the Pac-12, that’s “energy.”
If you toss McKale Center out of the math, Pac-12 basketball teams sold out two of 65 conference games through Friday: Arizona at Cal on Jan. 24, and last week’s Stanford at Utah game.
By comparison, Mountain West Conference teams Colorado State, San Diego State, Utah State and New Mexico have a combined 24 sellouts this season.
The lack of home-team interest in Pac-12 hoops can’t be the TV programming, or the simple breakup of the traditional Thursday-Saturday 7 p.m. tipoffs in the old Pac-10.
True, you’ve got to pay rapt attention to know when a Pac-12 basketball game is scheduled these days (there are four games Sunday) but anything goes in college football and basketball scheduling, and it has for the last decade.
Outside of a few year-to-year hot spots, the Pac-12 has rarely embraced college basketball.
Oregon spent $200 million to replace enchanting (and often full) Mac Court and is averaging 5,971 at the spacious, 12,369-seat Matthew Knight Arena. Why, that’s just 16 fans per game more than attend at ASU’s dreary Wells Fargo Arena.
Not counting Arizona — or road games involving Arizona — since the Pac-10 expanded for the 2011-12 basketball season, there have been just four (that’s f-o-u-r) sellouts in 330 Pac-12 conference games.
UCLA is averaging 7,186 in 12,829-seat Pauley Pavilion. The possible restoration of Oregon State as a contender hasn’t stirred the folks at Gill Coliseum; the Beavers have yet to sell out a game and are averaging 5,202.
The Beavers’ women’s team drew more than that (5,242) on Friday night.
Stanford, which was an automatic sellout in the Mike Montgomery days, is down to 4,823 per game at Maples Pavilion, which is roughly 67 percent capacity.
After Friday’s WSU-ASU game, Kent said “we’ve got a beast coming in here Sunday; it’s a humongous challenge.”
The most anticipated UA-WSU game ever at Friel Court, January 2007, matched the 12-1 Wildcats against the 13-2 Cougars. A crowd of 7,181 attended in the 11,671-seat arena.
Cougar fans sitting in the lower bowl stormed the court after a 77-73 overtime win. The upper deck was empty.
