Washington needs a win this afternoon at Oregon State to regain a first-place tie with Pac-12 leading California and to stay a game ahead of Oregon, Arizona and Colorado.

The conference leaders took care of business yesterday, while UCLA lost and fell three games off the pace. After today everyone has six games remaining.

Here's a look at the standings.

California ................. 10-3 (20-6)
Washington .............. 9-3 (16-8)
Oregon ..................... 9-4 (18-7)
Arizona ..................... 9-4 (18-8)
Colorado .................. 9-4 (17-8)
UCLA ........................ 7-6 (14-11)
Stanford ................... 6-6 (16-8)
Oregon State .......... 5-7 (15-9)
Washington State ..... 5-8 (13-12)
Arizona State ............ 4-9 (8-17)
Utah .......................... 2-11 (5-20)
USC .......................... 1-11 (6-19)

AROUND THE PAC-12:

--- There's plenty of star power on hand today at Gill Coliseum.

--- Desmond Simmons was one of the few bright spots following UW's loss Thursday.

--- Oregon State hasn't altered its preseason goal of making the NCAA tournament, but it will need to become more consistent.

--- OSU coach Craig Robinson told the Oregonian: "We're sort of out of the race. But we've got to keep getting better, so that we can be competitive when that Pac-12 Tournament comes around.''

--- Cal made history with its 73-63 win at UCLA. The Golden Bears swept the Los Angeles series for the first time since 1958-59 season. Mike Montgomery also became the first Cal coach to win 20 games in three of his first four seasons. Justin Cobbs scored 18 points, Allen Crabbe added 14 and Jorge Gutierrez 13.

--- UCLA, the preseason favorite, are no longer a serious contender for the regular-season title and the Bruins can start to looking at consolation prizes such as the NIT.

--- After a 78-69 win over Washington State, Oregon can move into first place Thursday if its beats California in Berkeley. E.J. Singler scored 23 points, Devoe Joseph and Garrett Sim also scored 16 points each and the Ducks made a season-high 11 3-pointers.

--- Despite the loss, the Cougars are playing their best basketball of the season. Brock Motum scored 17 points and WSU returned home feeling good about a split in the Willamette Valley.

--- Arizona coach Sean Miller skewered the Wildcats following their 70-61 win over Utah. He said: "I'm just really disappointed in myself and our team for having pathetic confidence in a game like this. We looked frightened, we missed open shots, we were lethargic. It's not alarming anymore because we're almost in March, but it's really disappointing."

--- Utah is officially eliminated from the conference race, but the Utes continue to play hard. They put a scare in Arizona, but ultimately fell short.

--- Colorado overcame a size disadvantage and toppled Arizona State 63-49. The Buffaloes led 28-21 at halftime and Spencer Dinwiddie scored all 15 points in the second half to help turn the game into a rout.

--- Arizona State is the only team from one of the six power conferences that hasn't won consecutive games.