Pacific-12 Conference Tournament Recaps

Las Vegas, NV (SportsNetwork.com) – Stanley Johnson recorded 19 points and seven rebounds and No. 5 Arizona pulled away in the second half for a 73-51 victory over California in a Pac-12 Tournament quarterfinal.

Brandon Ashley added 15 points and seven boards, while T.J. McConnell finished with 13 points and six assists to help the conference regular-season champion Wildcats advance to Friday’s semis. Arizona (29-3) will face fourth-seed UCLA, which easily defeated USC in Thursday’s second quarterfinal.

Just one week after being manhandled by the Wildcats by a 99-60 score in Tucson, California (18-15) gave Arizona a tougher test in Thursday’s rematch before eventually wilting in the second half.

“We went out there, competed, played hard. We didn’t give up like we did the last game,” said Golden Bears guard Jabari Bird. “We weren’t just going to let them come out in this game and step all over us. We kept it close for a little bit, but they made a run and we just didn’t answer back.”

Tyrone Wallace led Cal with 19 points and David Kravish pulled down 12 rebounds for the Golden Bears, who shot just 34.4 percent against Arizona’s swarming defense.

California trailed just 33-30 after Bird sank a 3-pointer 34 seconds into the second half, but the Wildcats countered with a 13-2 run and the Golden Bears never got the deficit into single digits thereafter.

Johnson put up five straight Arizona points during the surge, including a trey that was followed by consecutive baskets from Rondae Hollis-Jefferson and two Kaleb Tarczewski free throws that staked the Wildcats to a 46-32 lead with under 16 minutes to go.

“Once (we) got comfortable and set in — saying we’re going to get stops, we got out in transition — that’s when the game opened up,” Johnson said.

Arizona later outscored the Golden Bears by a 14-4 margin over the final 4:38 to turn the game into a rout. McConnell began that spurt with a triple and accounted for seven of the Wildcats’ points over the tear.

“On our end, I thought we were better in the second half than we were in the first half across the board,” Arizona head coach Sean Miller said.

The Wildcats owned an 18-12 lead nine minutes in following an 8-0 run, but a pair of layups from Bird helped get Cal within one shortly afterward and the Golden Bears stayed in striking distance throughout the remainder of the first half.

Arizona was up by just two with two minutes left in the period, which it closed out strong. Johnson buried a jumper and after a free throw from Wallace, Ashley converted a 3-point play to send the Wildcats into the break owning a 33-27 advantage.

Game Notes

Ashley and Kravish were each assessed technical fouls after the two got into a shoving match under the basket with 2:42 left to play … Arizona made good on 6-of-11 attempts from 3-point range, with Johnson going 3-for-5 and Gabe York making two of his three tries, and finished 15-of-17 from the foul line …The Wildcats have reached the Pac-12 Tournament finals three times in the last four years, though they last won the event in 2002 … Cal has now dropped six of its last eight games.

Final Score: UCLA 96, Southern California 70

Las Vegas, NV (SportsNetwork.com) – Isaac Hamilton put on a show in Las Vegas, putting up a career-high 36 points to lead UCLA to a 96-70 drubbing of rival USC in the quarterfinals of the Pac-12 Tournament.

Hamilton went 13-of-17 from the field and knocked down 7-of-9 attempts from 3- point range in a sensational individual performance that helped set up a showdown between the fourth-seeded Bruins and first-ranked Arizona in Friday’s semifinals.

UCLA (20-12) shot a scorching 60.3 percent overall en route to its fourth straight win. Tony Parker added 14 points on a 7-of-11 success rate, with Norman Powell also finishing with 14 in the rout.

The 12th-seeded Trojans entered the matchup off a stunning 67-64 triumph over Arizona State, in which they overcame a 15-point deficit with under 10 minutes left. There was no such monumental comeback on this night, however, as the Bruins broke the game open midway through the first half and didn’t let up from there.

USC (12-20) actually had a 13-10 lead seven minutes in before the Bruins turned the tide with an 18-3 run. UCLA sank four 3-pointers — one each of Hamilton, Kevon Looney, Bryce Alford and Gyorgy Goloman — during the stretch.

An Elijah Stewart triple and Nikola Jovanovic layup briefly brought the Trojans within 28-21 with 6:35 left in the opening period, but UCLA countered with a 9-0 surge. Hamilton later capped an 18-point first half with a layup and free throw with 55 seconds left that had the Bruins up comfortably at 47-27.

The Trojans never got closer than 13 points down after the break, with the Bruins putting it away with an 18-6 tear that stretched the lead to 78-52 with nine minutes left. That run ended with Alford fouled while hitting a 3- pointer, then converting the bonus try.

Katin Reinhardt led USC with 20 points and Jovanovic finished with 17. Both went 7-of-11 from the floor, with Reinhardt hitting five shots from beyond the arc.

Final Score: Oregon 93, Colorado 85

Las Vegas, NV (SportsNetwork.com) – Joseph Young had 30 points, Elgin Cook added 20 and Oregon defeated Colorado 93-85 in the quarterfinals of the Pac-12 Tournament.

The Pac-12 Player of the Year Young also added seven rebounds, four assists and three steals for second-seeded Ducks (24-8), who will face Utah in the semifinals Friday.

Oregon led by as many as 18 in the second half and held off the Buffaloes down the stretch.

Josh Scott posted 16 points and six rebounds, while Domonique Collier netted 14 points for 10th-seeded Colorado (15-17), which defeated Oregon State in the opening round.

Colorado led 37-34 at the break, but Oregon used a 21-5 run to pull away in the second half. A Cook jumper capped the surge and staked the Ducks to a 67-51 lead with nine minutes left.

Final Score: (17) Utah 80, Stanford 56

Las Vegas, NV (SportsNetwork.com) – Delon Wright had 20 points, seven rebounds and five assists as No. 17 Utah routed Stanford 80-56 in the quarterfinals of the Pac-12 Tournament.

Stanford led 39-34 at the break, but Utah outscored the Cardinal 46-17 in the second half to turn the game into a laugher.

Jordan Loveridge posted 18 points, eight rebounds and five assists, while Jakob Poeltl added 16 points for the third-seeded Utes (24-7), who will play Oregon in the semifinals Friday.

Pac-12 Player of the Year Chasson Randle netted 22 points for sixth-seeded Stanford (19-13), which defeated Washington on Wednesday.

Randle’s 3-point play got Stanford within 53-49 with 11:14 left before Utah embarked on an extended 24-3 run to put the game away.

Poeltl netted eight points during the surge, including the final seven to stake the Utes to a commanding 77-52 advantage with 3:59 remaining and they cruised to the victory from there.

Game Notes

Utah was 12-of-19 from beyond the arc and shot 50 percent (27-of-54) from the field … The Cardinal was just 6-of-24 from the floor in the second half … Utah led by as many as 25.

Categorized in: NCAA Basketball