Pac-12 Tournament 2023: Top Storylines for Men's Quarterfinals

The UCLA Bruins have the most concerns surrounding them compared to the other No. 1 seeds in the power conference tournaments.

UCLA enters the Pac-12 tournament on Thursday without Jaylen Clark, who was ruled out for the season on Wednesday with an Achilles injury.

Clark's absence leaves a big hole on the UCLA defense, and the Bruins only have a few games to figure out how to best play without him.

The good news for the Bruins is they should be able to work on some things while beating the Colorado Buffaloes in the first of Thursday's four quarterfinals.

UCLA is looking to continue the recent dominance of No. 1 seeds in the Pac-12 tournament. The top seed missed the championship game once since 2013.

Mick Cronin's side should be on a collision course to the final with the Arizona Wildcats. Arizona is expected to take care of the Stanford Cardinal in its opener in Las Vegas.

The other Arizona team in the Pac-12 will have a larger focus on it in the nightcap of the four-game slate.

The Arizona State Sun Devils are right on the NCAA men's basketball tournament bubble, and a win over the USC Trojans should lock them into the field of 68.

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How Will UCLA Look Without Jaylen Clark?

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SALT LAKE CITY, UT - FEBRUARY 23: Jaylen Clark #0 of the UCLA Bruins turns on Bostyn Holt #3 of the Utah Utes during the second half of their game at the Jon M Huntsman Center on February 23, 2023 in Salt Lake City, Utah. (Photo by Chris Gardner/Getty Images)

UCLA's national championship hopes took a massive hit on Wednesday when the Clark injury news was revealed.

Clark is one of the best defenders in the country, and he is UCLA's second-best scorer behind Jaime Jaquez.

UCLA could go through some rough patches in the first half against Colorado without Clark as it tries to work out its defensive rotations and finds another scoring threat.

The positive for the Bruins is that they have the experience of Jaquez and Tyger Campbell to guide them through the loss of Clark.

Jaquez and Campbell are two of the most experienced players in the country, and they can provide some calm to the Bruins once they hit the floor in Las Vegas.

UCLA beat Colorado twice in the regular season, and each time it held the Buffaloes under 60 points.

The Bruins will not wash away all concerns about them with a win over the Pac-12's No. 9 seed, but they can show how they will adjust without Clark, and that could help them make a run to the Pac-12 tournament final.

Arizona State Playing for Its NCAA Tournament Life

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LAS VEGAS, NEVADA - MARCH 08: DJ Horne #0 of the Arizona State Sun Devils goes to the basket against Rodrigue Andela #34 of the Oregon State Beavers in the first half during round one of the Pac-12 basketball tournament at T-Mobile Arena on March 08, 2023 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Leon Bennett/Getty Images)

Arizona State can lock itself in as the fourth Pac-12 team in the NCAA tournament if it beats USC in the final game of the day.

The Sun Devils are the first team out in the latest bracket projection from ESPN's Joe Lunardi.

Bleacher Report's Kerry Miller listed the Sun Devils as his second team out in a bracket update after Wednesday's game.

A victory over a team already locked in the field of 68 could help the Sun Devils leapfrog a few teams ahead of them on the bubble.

Arizona State is in this spot because it went 1-5 against the top three teams in the Pac-12. The one win came on a buzzer-beater against Arizona.

The Sun Devils came close to beating USC in Los Angeles in the regular-season finale on Saturday, so they should challenge the Trojans once again.

The key for Arizona State is get over 70 points, which it failed to do twice against USC. The Trojans went 3-3 in Pac-12 games in which they allowed more than 70 points.

Washington State Trying to Make Cinderella Run

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LAS VEGAS, NEVADA - MARCH 08: DJ Rodman #11 of the Washington State Cougars goes to the basket against the California Golden Bears in the first half of a first-round game of the Pac-12 basketball tournament at T-Mobile Arena on March 08, 2023 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Leon Bennett/Getty Images)

The Washington State Cougars could be the biggest threat to all NCAA tournament bubble teams.

The No. 5 seed needs to win the Pac-12 tournament to get into the Big Dance, and it is one of the hottest teams left playing in Division I.

Washington State beat the California Golden Bears by 17 points in Wednesday's first round to extend its winning streak to seven games.

The Cougars could earn a semifinal berth with an eighth straight victory over an inconsistent Oregon Ducks team.

Oregon won more than two consecutive games in league play once. The Ducks are now on a three-game winning streak, but two of those three victories came against teams already eliminated in Las Vegas.

The Ducks split their regular-season series with Wazzu and lost the most recent meeting in Pullman on February 19.

Washington State could replicate that performance to get into the semifinals and make some bubble teams nervous for an extra 24 hours.

Wazzu may not beat UCLA in the next round, but its best chance to beat the Bruins could come on Friday if they are still figuring out how to play without Clark.