Quick Hits: Stanford Beats Cal, Oregon Upsets Utah
By Andrew Kahn
It was a memorable weekend in the Pac-12, with plenty of late heroics, upsets, and comebacks.
Arizona 57, UCLA 47
Arizona started each half poorly at home against UCLA Saturday but still earned a double-digit win. UCLA led 7-0 as Arizona went the first six minutes without a point, which Sean Miller attributed to nerves due to ESPN College GameDay setting up at the McKale Center. That wouldn’t explain why, after Arizona entered half with a 32-18 lead, the Bruins went on a 17-0 run to start the second half. Other than those two stretches, the Wildcats played well, particularly on defense. Bryce Alford was very impressive, scoring 22 on 13 shots, but other Bruins had trouble against the Wildcats versatile defenders. For the second straight game—both losses—Tony Parker and Kevon Looney fouled out, as did Thomas Welsh, leaving UCLA thin up front down the stretch. It wasn’t a pretty offensive performance by Arizona, which shot just 34 percent from the field and 3 of 13 from deep, but Gabe York and Dusan Ristic combined for 25 off the bench.
Utah splits Oregon trip
Utah relied on its defense in Thursday’s 47-37 win at Oregon State, the Beavers’ first home loss of the season. The Utes were not as fortunate yesterday, falling at Oregon 69-58. The game was close throughout, and Dillon Brooks’ emphatic dunk over multiple challengers at the rim put Oregon up 59-52, capping an 11-0 run by Brooks alone. Delon Wright answered with a three—he was mistakenly left open a few times in the final minutes—but Joseph Young answered with a corner three that put the game away. It was a risky shot considering Young struggled all game and the shot clock was at 30, but he nailed it. The Ducks hope it was their last home game of the season, as they’re gunning for an NCAA Tournament bid over an NIT invite.
News and notes
USC has just two Pac-12 wins and these past few days have been particularly bad. The Trojans got trounced by Arizona by 30 on Thursday and blew a 10-point second-half lead in a 64-59 loss to Arizona State yesterday. They played without third-leading scorer Katin Reinhardt, Chass Bryan, and Devon Pflueger yesterday—the trio was sent home from the road trip for violating team rules, according to a tweet from the school. Jonathan Gillin gave ASU the lead for good on a three with 44 seconds left.
On Saturday, Stanford got a much-needed home win against Cal and Oregon State bounced back vs. Colorado. Washington State had a chance to sweep its regular season series against Washington for the first time since 2008, but Andrew Andrews had other thoughts. He hit a deep three with 2.7 seconds left to give the Huskies an 87-84 win, their first win in a month. He scored 35 points total, and hit a shot from the same spot with the shot clock winding down on the previous possession.
Andrew Kahn is a regular contributor to CBS Local who also writes for Newsday and The Wall Street Journal. He writes about college basketball and other sports at AndrewJKahn.com. Email him at andrewjkahn@gmail.com and follow him on Twitter at @AndrewKahn.
