2013 Pac-12 tournament preview: Washington schools look to advance in Seattle in evening games

The evening games at the 2013 Pac-12 tournament feature the best and worst of the Pacific Northwest schools as well as the 8-9 game which could be exciting.

So again, we turn to each team's statistics from conference play to see what may be in store for the day.

Schedule (PST):

6 p.m.: #8 Washington State vs. #9 Arizona State

8:30 p.m.: #5 Washington vs. #12 Oregon

Analysis

Washington State Cougars vs. Arizona State Sun Devils

Non-conference breakdown: WSU | ASU

Entering conference play WSU was a team that didn't have any really clear strength, but they found one in conference: they push the tempo and force turnovers and will rotate quite a few players in and out, which can wear out teams at the bottom of the conference.

The problem is that they turn the ball over quite a bit themselves, with their three highest usage players (freshman Lia Galdeira, sophomore Tia Presley, and freshman Mariah Cooks) being their most inefficient ball handlers. If they get caught turning the ball over and having a poor shooting night, bad things could be in store.

WSU Four Factors statistics during conference play.

The thing is that ASU sports a nearly identical profile, which helps WSU quite a bit: they swept the regular season series by capitalizing on ASU's turnovers and getting strong performances from Galdeira and Presley.

If ASU can slow the game down and rely on their rebounding for second chance points, they could win the third meeting of the season between these two teams. And there's reason to believe that they can shoot the ball well despite the fact that they simply haven't in conference play: their shooting efficiency dropped 8 percent in conference play.

ASU Four Factors statistics during conference play. Click here for their non-conference numbers.

The problem for ASU in conference play lies in the play of seniors Janae Fulcher and Micaela Pickens: after scoring efficiently against the nation's 34th-toughest schedule, scoring was much harder to come by in conference play. Both seniors saw their scoring efficiency drop about 10% during conference play.

A big game from ASU's seniors - particularly Fulcher inside - could change the course of this series. But a slow paced, inefficient scoring performance probably won't get it done for ASU.

Washington vs. Oregon

Non-conference breakdown: UW | Oregon

Kevin McGuff is a Naismith Coach of the Year candidate and deservedly so. What he's done to turn around this program has been impressive and finishing in the top five of the conference is something they struggled to do when there were only 10 teams.

And effectively playing a home game against the 12th-seeded Oregon Ducks makes a win highly likely: Washington is more capable of running with the Oregon than most teams as an undersized team themselves. And the Huskies like to force turnovers while the Ducks like to commit them.

Yet if there's anything that could possibly upend Washington, it's their struggles to rebound.

Washington Four Factors statistics in conference play. Click here for their non-conference numbers.

If Oregon, led by talented freshman Jillian Alleyne, can exploit Washington's glaring rebounding weakness and take care of the ball, they could pull this one out and end their season with something positive to build on. But after a pair of double digit losses in the regular season, that seems unlikely. Add in support from the Seattle Storm as well as UW to get fans out to the tournament and Oregon has an uphill battle ahead.

And the questions about Paul Westhead's future will only continue if the team gets embarrassed in the nightcap.

Predictions:

WSU def. ASU

UW def. Ore