By Kenneth Cross
College Basketball is almost a month old, and now the Pac-12 has instituted its conference schedule as Thursday night saw one of the biggest upsets so far when Utah took an 81-66 win over No. 4 Arizona in Salt Lake City last night.
UCLA showed why the Bruins are picked to win the league with their victory 80-66 victory over Stanford as the game had virtually the same final score as the surprising loss for the Wildcats. 
Oregon picked up it’s first win as it defeated Washington State while Arizona State came back to tip Colorado. The first game of the Pac-12 campaign came on Wednesday night when the USC Trojans took out Cal, 66-51.
Here is a review of the Pac-12 openers and how they unfolded:
@Utah 81, No. 4 Arizona 66 – Branden Carlson scored 22 points and Utah held Arizona to 35.7 percent floor in convincingly winning what could be considered one oif the most solid upsets of the season. Utah withstood an Arizona run out of halftime as the Wildcats were 8-of-11 from the 
floor and cut a 42-25 halftime deficit to 52-45 when ‘Zona center Ourmar Ballo converted a three-point play with a layup plus a free throw. Utah later pulled away for good with. 16-3 run that saw Marco Anthony finish a 9-0 run to take a 70-50 lead with 7:34 to play.
No. 9 UCLA 80, @Stanford 66 – The Bruins jumped on top of the Cardinal, 17-0, as Jaime Jacquez, Jr. scored eight points in that quick run which included a Jacquez dunk with 15:11 left in the first half. The Bruins shot 59 percent from the floor as Jacquez led all scorers with 27 points. UCLA finished the game with 27 points off of 17 Stanford turnovers while guard Spencer Jones led the Cardinal with 18 points. Jones had 12 points in an 18-7 Stanford run as the Cardinal were as close as 66-58 with 4:30 remaining.
USC 66, @Cal 51 – As we opened the Pac-12 season, coach Andy Enfield saw his Trojans play a defensive masterpiece in holding the Golden Bears to 27.7 percent from the floor in the 15-point win. USC took a 14-2 advantage with 10:10 remaining in the first half when guard Boogie Ellis scored five points in tha
t opening start. Cal was only 1-for-18 to start the game before Lars Thiemann’s jumper cut the Trojans’ lead to 14-4 with 9:59 remaining in the first half. USC’s Reese Dixon-Waters led all scorers with 17 points as Drew Peterson and Joshua Morgan had 14 points each. Cal’s Devin Askew, who transferred from Kentucky led all scorers with 23 points.
Arizona State 60, @Colorado 59 – Auburn transfer Devan Cambridge led the Sun Devils with 18 points and Arizona State went on a 13-0 run over 3:33 late in the game to take a 57-56 lead when Cambridge hit a three-point field goal with 2:24 remaining. It gave ASU it’s first lead since it led 6-3 early in the first half on a dunk by Warren Washington. Both teams shot below 40 percent for the game as Cambridge nailed the game-winning triple to win the game with four seconds to play.
@Oregon State 66, Washington 65 – The Huskies fought back from an 18-point first half deficit and grabbed a late lead on a 10-0 run that saw the Huskies take a 64-61 advantage on a layup by Jamal Bey 
with 40 seconds remaining. The Beavers took the win a layup and a free throw by Dexter Akanno as he was fouled with eight seconds remaining. Oregon State scored 18 points off of 13 Dawgs’ turnovers while tipping UW on the offensive glass, 11-8. Kentucky transfer Keion Brooks, Jr. lead UW and all scorers with 18 points.
@Oregon 74, Washington State 60 – Ducks center N’Faly Dante scored 22 points and Will Richardson added 17 as Oregon defeated the Cougars, 74-60. After a 32-32 tie at halftime, Washington State’s TJ Bamba scored five quick points to give the Cougars a 44-40 lead with 13:57 left in the game. Oregon then hit a quick 13-2 run over about two and a half minutes as the Ducks took a 53-46 lead on a Dante layup with 11:08 remaining. Washington State was led by 19 points from Mouhamed Gueye, who made 8-of-12 field goals