No. 8 Oregon, No. 12 Utah win overtime games to reach Pac-12 title game

Elgin Cook scored 22 points and No. 8 Oregon survived a wild closing sequence in regulation to beat No. 15 Arizona, 95-89, in overtime Friday night in the Pac-12 semifinals.

Oregon (27-6) led by 17 early in the second half, but Arizona (25-8) charged back and tied it in improbable fashion.

Oregon’s Chris Boucher missed two free throws with 12 seconds left, and Arizona’s Gabe York followed with a 3-pointer after gathering a rebound. Mark Tollefsen stole the inbound pass and was fouled, but hit just 1 of 2 free throws to send the game to overtime.

The Ducks dominated overtime, going up six on 3-pointers by Dwayne Benjamin and Dillon Brooks to earn a spot in Saturday night’s championship game against No. 24 California or No. 12 Utah.

Tyler Dorsey had 19 points and Brooks 17 for the Ducks, who had 11 blocked shots and 10 steals.

York had 21 points, and Allonzo Trier added 16 before fouling out late in regulation.

MGM Grand Garden Arena becomes McKale North whenever Arizona is playing in the Pac-12 Tournament, but the Ducks had no trouble winning at the real home of the Wildcats.

Oregon won the only regular-season meeting with Arizona, ending the Wildcats’ 49-game home winning streak with an 83-75 victory in Tucson. The Ducks gave the Wildcats fits with their athleticism and ability to expose individual matchups, though Arizona also was missing Trier due to a broken right hand.

Trier was back for the rematch, but the Ducks didn’t care.

They flew past the Wildcats early, let them get back in it, then closed the first half with a flourish.

Oregon did it with defense, getting eight blocked shots and six steals to set up its quick-hitting offense. The Ducks closed the half with a 15-2 run, capped by Brooks’ buzzer-beating dunk — in transition, of course — to lead 44-29.

Arizona tried to make several runs in the second half, but the Ducks had an answer seemingly every time, usually with a dunk-and-trash-talk combo.

The Wildcats finally put a dent into Oregon’s lead behind their defense, using a 10-2 run to pull to 65-60.

The Ducks still seemed to be in control but struggled from the free throw line, missing 6 of 8 in the final 2:48 to set the stage for Arizona’s improbable game-tying sequence.

No. 12 Utah 82, No. 24 California 78 (OT): Jakob Poeltl scored 29 points and Lorenzo Bonam dribbled the length of the court to score at the buzzer in regulation to help lift the Utes to a win in overtime of a Pac-12 semifinal.

Cal (23-10) and Utah battled through a calculated, slow-paced game before trading baskets in the final minute of regulation.

Jabari Bird put the third-seeded Bears ahead 70-68 on a three-point play with 4.3 seconds left, but Bonam took the inbound pass and raced up the floor for the tying score.

The second-seeded Utes (26-7) took a five-point lead in overtime, but Tyrone Wallace, who led the Bears with 26 points, hit a three-pointer with 7.4 seconds left to cut the deficit to 80-78.

Jordan Loveridge hit two free throws after that, sealing Utah’s spot in the championship game.

Bonam scored all 18 of his points after halftime and Poeltl had 11 rebounds.