Pac-12 basketball: Top-seeded Oregon to play Arizona in semifinals

The Oregon Ducks got caught up in Washington’s in-your-face style, playing at a speed even they couldn’t handle. Once they slowed it down to their usual breakneck pace, the Ducks were able to wear the Huskies down.

Chris Boucher had 19 points and 11 rebounds, and No. 8 Oregon withstood Washington’s early aggressiveness and a late flurry to hold off the Huskies, 83-77, in the Pac-12 tournament quarterfinals Thursday at Las Vegas.

“We knew they were going to try to get up in our space and deny us,” said Oregon’s Elgin Cook, who had 19 points. “We were all sped up at first, and I just wanted to tell everybody to calm down and keep their composure.”

Top-seeded Oregon (26-6) got off to a sluggish start, but built an 11-point lead midway through the second half. Andrew Andrews brought the Huskies back, scoring 10 of his 19 points during a quick flurry to help eighth-seeded Washington (18-14) pull within two late.

The Ducks held, though, hitting four free throws in the final 33 seconds to earn a spot in Friday night’s semifinals against No. 15 Arizona.

Tyler Dorsey scored 17 points and Dillon Brooks added 15 for the Ducks, who had a 46-33 rebounding advantage.

“We had bad turnovers today. We didn’t make very good decisions. We’ll have to clean that up,” Oregon Coach Dana Altman said. “But our effort on the boards, I think, was the difference in the game. We were able to make just enough plays to get by.”

No. 15 Arizona 82, Colorado 78: Allonzo Trier scored 23 points, Ryan Anderson had 17 points and 11 rebounds, and the Wildcats held on to reach the semifinals.

After leading by 17 at the half, third-seeded Arizona (25-7) allowed the Buffaloes to cut a 22-point lead to two on George King’s three-pointer with three seconds left. Gabe York followed with two free throws to close it out.

Colorado (22-11) clawed its way back from a huge hole by hitting the offensive glass (25), but couldn’t overcome its 34% shooting. King had 22 points, and Josh Scott finished with 16 points and 13 rebounds.

No. 24 California 76, Oregon State 68: Ivan Rabb (21 points) and Jabari Bird (20) combined to make 16 of 22 shots as the Bears (23-9) pulled away at the finish.

Jabari Bird added 20 points for the Bears, who will face No. 12 Utah in the semifinals Friday night.

Oregon State (19-12) managed to keep it close despite playing without its second-leading scorer Tres Tinkle, who suffered a right foot injury during practice last week.

One reason was Derrick Bruce. The shifty freshman guard, who had never scored more than 11 points, had 25 against the Bears.