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Quick Hits: UCLA And Oregon Clinch Tournament Byes

By Andrew Kahn

It was the final regular season game for the four Pac-12 teams that played last night. The rest have two remaining and take the court tonight and Saturday.

Oregon 65, Oregon State 62

Oregon State has no seniors, so coach Wayne Tinkle started five walk-ons in the last home game of the season. The Beavers committed two fouls and two turnovers in the opening four possessions, falling behind 3-0 before Tinkle inserted the regular starters. “Damn right it was worth it,” he said. “It was me making the decision to honor our walk-ons for all that they mean to us. People can criticize me, but I don’t care; I would do it all over again. Putting them in the starting line-up will be one of my proudest moments.” Oregon State held open tryouts to fill a roster that lost so much from last season, so its walk-ons are more important than at a typical program.

The game was tied at half, but Oregon’s big advantage at the free throw line (19 makes to 8) was the difference. This was the 344th meeting between these two schools, making the rivalry known as the Civil War the longest in NCAA history. The Ducks can finish no worse than third in the Pac-12, giving them a bye in the conference tournament.

UCLA 85, USC 74

UCLA has been getting the ball to its big men early and often lately, and the result is a three-game win streak. Forward Kevon Looney and center Tony Parker scored UCLA’s first 15 points last night. Some came off offensive rebounds, but others were from passes designed to get the talented bigs involved early. Parker finished 8 of 13 and Looney posted his 14th double-double of the season.

USC shot better than UCLA from the field (55 percent to 49) but the turnover differential (USC had 18; UCLA 9) and UCLA’s offensive rebounding allowed the Bruins to attempt 14 more field goals. The Trojans’ offense has improved towards the end of conference play, which should give them some confidence heading into the tournament and some optimism for next season. UCLA earned the fourth seed in the tournament and will gladly take the bye that comes with it, as only four teams in the country give fewer minutes to their bench.

Looking ahead

Tonight, Cal is at Arizona, Colorado goes to Washington, Stanford is at Arizona State, and Utah visits Washington State. All those teams are in action again on Saturday, including the bubbly Stanford visiting Arizona. The Cardinal, along with UCLA, are not currently projected in the field of 68 by BracketMatrix.com. Stanford’s decline has been severe, and was recently discussed by the beat writers for the school’s newspaper. Their win at Texas in late December simply doesn’t look as good as it did at the time, and home losses to UCLA and Oregon—by a combined five points—were killers. As for the Bruins, they don’t have many quality wins and it’s not hard to imagine a win over an inferior team in the Pac-12 tournament followed by a loss to Arizona, which will leave them sweating it out on Selection Sunday.

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.

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