Washington State holds off Oregon

As the clock ticked down, Washington State needed defense.

The Cougars needed to force turnovers. They needed to block shots. They even needed their 6-foot-10 forward, Robbie Cowgill, to guard Oregon’s jitterbug guard, Tajuan Porter, at the top of the key.

The idea was to prevent a three-point shot but when the 5-6 Porter shook loose a couple of moves, Cowgill looked as if he might fall over.

“Definitely a little nerve-racking,” Cowgill said. “He’s quick.”

The big man stayed on his feet and No. 21 Washington State did just enough to hold off a second-half Oregon surge, winning, 75-70, in a Pacific 10 Conference quarterfinal at Staples Center on Thursday night.

The Cougars now face Stanford in an 8:30 p.m. semifinal tonight.

“I knew Oregon was going to make a run and we talked about defensively the ability to withstand that run,” Coach Tony Bennett said.

This game featured teams of contrasting fortunes and styles.

With a national ranking and a 24-7 record, Washington State was set for the NCAA tournament. At 18-13, Oregon needed a win.

The Cougars had reached this point by taking care of the ball on offense with the Pac-10’s best assist-to-turnover ratio and by playing tenacious defense, limiting opponents to 56 points a game.

Oregon, meanwhile, lived and died by its offense, averaging 77 points.

So when push came to shove -- an offensive-minded team versus defense -- it was Oregon that got shoved out the door.

The Cougars fought through picks, boxed out and scrambled to get their hands on the ball. They even showed some scoring punch early, opening a 22-point lead behind Derrick Low, who finished with 18 points, and Taylor Rochestie, who had 16.

But Oregon raced back in the second half, getting key baskets from Porter and Malik Hairston, who tied for a game-high 20 points each.

Washington State had to rely on grit.

Hairston tried to drive and was met with a clutch of defenders, leading to one of his team’s 13 turnovers. When Porter darted inside, Kyle Weaver reached over to swat the shot away.

“We made them take contested shots,” Cowgill said. “That was the key.”

Even if it meant guarding the little guy.

Stanford 75, Arizona 64 -- From Jordan Hill’s perspective, there wasn’t much secret about playing No. 11 Stanford.

The Arizona forward grimaced and said: “The twin towers. Tough matchup.”

Hill was talking about Stanford’s pair of 7-footers, Brook and Robin Lopez, and the need to contain them.

Easier said than done.

The Lopez brothers got their points and Stanford got its victory, pulling away in a late quarterfinal at Staples Center.

Brook finished with 20 points, Robin with 14 points.

Jerryd Bayless led Arizona with 18 points and Chase Budinger contributed 13 more.

It was close through the first half, the leading changing hands several times, neither team able to pull ahead by more than a few points.

Hill and forward Chase Budinger kept pace with the Lopez brothers.

But the game began to turn with 10 minutes remaining. Stanford forced a turnover and Robin Lopez scored inside to give the Cardinal a 55-49 lead.

A few more points, a fastbreak or two and Arizona, it seemed, had run out of answers as Stanford’s lead steadily grew.

Arizona figured to need an impressive tournament to extend its streak of 23 consecutive NCAA tournament appearances.

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david.wharton@latimes.com