Pacific-12 Conference Tournament Recaps

Las Vegas, NV (SportsNetwork.com) – Nick Johnson collected 14 points as No. 4 Arizona advanced with a 71-39 takedown of Utah in Pac-12 quarterfinal action.

T.J. McConnell added 13 and Aaron Gordon contributed 11 points and seven rebounds for the Wildcats (29-3), winners in six of their last seven heading into a Friday semifinal against Colorado.

“We were locked in, and our effort level, everything that we really wanted to do defensively, we were able to do it,” said Arizona coach Sean Miller.

Dallin Bachynski picked up nine points, while Dakarai Tucker and Princeton Onwas each totaled seven points for the Utes (21-11), who topped Washington in the first round but have dropped two of their last three.

“We got punched in the mouth by a really good basketball team, and we saw Arizona, I think at their finest. Defensively it was really, really hard, obviously, for us to score, and they were geared up,” said Utah coach Larry Krystkowiak.

Arizona assumed control of the contest in the early stages. Already up 7-6, the Wildcats embarked on a 17-2 run to secure a 16-point bulge with 5:49 left in the half. Johnson hit a pair of three-pointers in the burst, and scored his team’s final seven points in the run.

Gordon’s layup pushed the Arizona edge to 34-13 at the break, and the top seed kept up the pressure to start the second half with a 12-2 run to open up a 46-15 edge on Gabe York’s trey less than five minutes in.

Elliott Pitts’ bucket with just over three minutes to play maxed out the Wildcats’ margin at 68-32 and they cruised to the buzzer.

Game Notes

Arizona coughed up the ball only eight times, while forcing 11 Utah turnovers … The Utes made just 12-of-47 shots from the floor (25.5 percent, while the Wildcats converted on 27-of-51 (52.9 percent).

Final Score: Colorado 59, California 56

Las Vegas, NV (SportsNetwork.com) – Askia Booker totaled 17 points as Colorado held on to best California, 59-56, in Pac-12 quarterfinal action.

Xavier Talton added 13, with Josh Scott posting 11 points and Xavier Johnson 10 for the Buffaloes (23-10), who face No. 4 ranked and top-seeded Arizona in a Friday semifinal.

Justin Cobbs’ game-best 21 points along with five assists and four rebounds wasn’t quite enough for the Bears (19-13), who had topped Colorado 66-65 in OT in both clubs’ regular-season finale. Tyrone Wallace contributed 13 points in a losing cause.

A slam by Jaron Hopkins gave the Buffs a 21-10 lead just after the midway point of the first half, but two quick threes by Wallace and Cobbs brought the Golden Bears within five. An ensuing 8-0 run by the Buffaloes — ending on a Johnson trey — made it 29-16, and CU went into halftime with a 31-22 advantage.

Colorado’s edge stood at 47-37 on a Johnson bucket with 8:25 gone in the second half before Cal began chipping away. It came within a point on two occasions in the late going — the last on another Cobbs triple with 4:16 to play — but Scott responded with a bucket and two free throws to give the Buffs a 56-51 lead.

Cobbs’ layup with six seconds showing pulled his team to 58-56, but he missed a potential game-tying three after Eli Stalzer made 1-of-2 from the line.

Final Score: UCLA 82, Oregon 63

Las Vegas, NV (SportsNetwork.com) – Kyle Anderson tallied 11 points, eight rebounds and six assists as the No. 2 UCLA Bruins coasted to an 82-63 victory over the seventh-seeded Oregon Ducks in the quarterfinals of the Pac-12 Conference Tournament at MGM Grand Garden Arena.

Jordan Adams scored a team-high 15 points for the Bruins (24-8), who advance to play Stanford in Friday’s semifinal round after the Cardinal defeated Arizona State, 79-58. Travis Wear and Zach LaVine netted 14 points apiece, while David Wear added 11 points on 4-of-5 shooting from the floor.

Oregon (23-9) came up short despite a stellar performance by Joseph Young, who knocked down 6-of-11 attempts from beyond the arc en route to a game-high 29 points. None of Young’s teammates managed to join him in double-figures.

Both sides played well offensively in the opening stanza as UCLA connected on 55.6 percent of its field goal attempts and the Ducks shot 54.2 percent from the floor. The Bruins also sank 4-of-6 tries from 3-point range before the break, which helped them take a 37-35 lead into the intermission.

Oregon was limited to 35.5 percent efficiency from the floor, including a 4- of-17 clip from 3-point range over the final 20 minutes of the contest. UCLA converted 11-of-14 attempts at the charity stripe in the second stanza to pull away for the 19-point triumph.

UCLA enjoyed a 34-29 edge in the rebounding battle and assisted 18 of its 30 makes from the floor.

Final Score: Stanford 79, Arizona State 58

Las Vegas, NV (SportsNetwork.com) – Chasson Randle scored a game-high 21 points, leading four starters in double figures, as the Stanford Cardinal easily dismissed the Arizona State Sun Devils, 79-58, in the quarterfinals of the Pac-12 Conference Tournament at MGM Grand Garden Arena.

Dwight Powell accounted for 15 points for the sixth-seeded Cardinal (21-11), followed by Josh Huestis and Anthony Brown with 12 and 11 points, respectively, not to mention a combined 13 rebounds from the pair.

The third-seeded Sun Devils (21-11) were led by Jonathan Gilling with 13 points, followed by Bo Barnes and Shaquielle McKissic with 12 points apiece and Jahii Carson 10 in the setback.

Stanford scored the first points of the contest and never looked back, moving out to a 30-27 advantage at the break after holding ASU to a mere 9-of-25 shooting from the field.

In the second half the Cardinal erupted for a staggering 70.8 percent accuracy from the floor, including 5-of-7 beyond the arc, as they cruised to the comfortable victory.

Arizona State, which pulled down just two offensive rebounds on the night, had almost as many points off the bench (25) as it did from the starters (33).

The Cardinal now move to the semifinals on Friday night and will face UCLA which defeated Oregon by a lopsided 82-63 score earlier on Thursday.

Categorized in: NCAA Basketball