Pac-12 men’s tournament: Stanford shocks Arizona State; Washington State beats Cal
James Keefe capped a double-double by banking in a short jumper at the buzzer as ninth-seeded Stanford closed the game on a 16-1 run to shock eighth-seeded Arizona State 71-70 in the Pac-12 Conference tournament opener on Thursday.
Stanford faces top-seeded and second-ranked Arizona on Thursday in the quarterfinals.
Spencer Jones made a three-pointer with 37 seconds left to pull Stanford within 70-69 and the Cardinal elected not to foul. Stanford freshman star Harrison Ingram rebounded Jalen Graham’s missed 10 footer with nine seconds left and weaved his way up court but had the ball stripped as the spun in the lane. Keefe picked up the loose ball , elevated and his floater, released with a half-second remaining, went off the backboard, the front of the rim and the backboard again before dropping through, giving Stanford an improbable win.
Jones hit six three-pointers and scored a career-high 26 points for the Cardinals (16-15), who had lost five straight and seven of eight. Keefe had 16 points on seven-of-eight shooting and 10 rebounds and Brandon Angel added 15 points.
Arizona State (14-17), which had won four straight and seven of eight, including a 65-56 win over the Cardinal to close the regular season, lost despite matching the tournament record of 15 3-pointers.
DJ Horne led the way with five threes and 21 points, Marreon Jackson added 14 points with three threes and Jay Heath had four threes for 12 points.
A three-pointer by Alonza Gaffney had the Sun Devils up 50-33 with 13:35 to play. Angel had nine points in a 13-3 run to pull the Cardinal within seven at the 7:47 mark. But the final two threes and a dunk by Kimani Lawrence had the Sun Devils back on top 69-55 with three minutes to play.
Johnny Juzang was one of three UCLA Bruins and Isaiah Mobley one of two USC Trojans to earn first-team, All-Pac-12 honors.
Keefe started an 11-0 run that featured three missed free throws, two being the front end of one-and-ones, two turnovers, one missed shot by ASU.
One free throw by Jackson with 56 seconds to go gave ASU a 70-66 lead.
The Sun Devils ended up 15 of 28 on threes, tying the tournament record Stanford set against Arizona State in an overtime game in 2013. It also matched ASU’s season high on 11 fewer shots but the Sun Devils were 11 of 33 inside the arc and just three of seven from the foul line, all in the second half.
Oregon 86, Oregon State 72
Jacob Young had a season-high-tying 23 points with a career-high 11 assists and fifth-seeded Oregon beat No. 12 seed Oregon State 86-72 on Wednesday in the first round of the Pac-12 Conference tournament.
Oregon (19-13) beat Oregon State for a third time this season to advance to play No. 4 seed Colorado on Thursday. Oregon State (3-28) ended the season on an 18-game losing streak — without a win since Dec. 30 against Utah.
Oregon was without its leader in points (14.1), rebounds (3.7) and assists (3.6) as Will Richardson was dealing with a non-COVID illness. Young filled the void, coming four rebounds shy of a triple-double.
Quincy Guerrier added 20 points and N’Faly Dante had 15 points, seven rebounds and five blocks for Oregon. Eric Williams Jr. had 14 points and eight rebounds.
Young’s 11th assist came on a fast break, finding Williams for 3-pointer and a 75-64 lead. Later, Dante’s follow-up dunk gave Oregon an 82-70 lead and he blocked his fifth shot at the other end, leading to Young’s layup for a 14-point lead — the largest of the game.
Jarod Lucas led Oregon State with 22 points and three 3-pointers. Freshman Glenn Taylor Jr. scored a season-high 16 points.
Oregon scored the first 12 points of the game and again had a 12-point lead with 3:28 remaining in the half before Oregon State scored 10 of the final 15 points to get within 43-36.
Washington State 66, California 59
Efe Abogidi scored 11 of his 19 points in the first half and No. 7 seed Washington State never trailed in its 66-59 victory over tenth-seeded California in the first round of the Pac-12 Conference tournament on Wednesday night.
Washington State (19-13) will look for its fifth straight win when it faces No. 2 seed UCLA in a Thursday quarterfinal. UCLA beat the Cougars 76-56 about three weeks ago.
Abogidi was 7 of 17 from the field. Tyrell Roberts added 14 points for the Cougars, which also swept the regular-season series against Cal. Michael Flowers and TJ Bamba had 12 points apiece. Dishon Jackson matched a career high with five blocked shots to go with four points.
Jordan Shepherd scored 19 points to lead Cal (12-20), which has lost five of its last six games. Jalen Celestine had 11 points.
Washington State opened the game on a 9-2 surge on its way to a 32-20 halftime advantage. Cal cut the deficit to four early in the second half but didn’t get closer.
Washington State is 2-1 with coach Kyle Smith in the conference tournament, winning in 2020 before COVID-19 shut down the tournament and losing last season in the first round. The win in 2020 was WSU’s first in the tournament since 2009.
A new deal between Andy Enfield and USC is expected to keep the men’s basketball coach in Los Angeles for the foreseeable future.
Washington 82, Utah 70
Terrell Brown Jr. finished with 22 points and five assists, Jamal Bey scored 19 and Washington pulled away in the second half for an 82-70 victory over Utah in the first round of the Pac-12 Conference tournament on Wednesday night.
Brown knocked down 9 of 19 shots and has scored in double figures in every game this season for the sixth-seeded Huskies (17-14). Bey was 3 of 6 from 3-point range. Cole Bajema pitched in with three 3-pointers and 16 points off the bench, while Emmitt Matthews Jr. sank two 3s and scored 10. Washington shot 48% overall and 44% from beyond the arc (8 of 18).
Bajema had 11 points and Brown scored 10 to help the Huskies take a 40-37 lead at halftime.
Utah tied the score at 44 on a rebound basket by Branden Carlson with just under 17 minutes remaining, but Bey answered with a 3-pointer and Brown hit back-to-back jumpers in a 7-2 run that gave Washington a 51-46 lead with 14:22 left and the Huskies pulled away from there.
Marco Anthony had 18 points to lead the 11th-seeded Utes (11-20). Carlson added 14 points and six rebounds, while Gabe Madsen scored 12 on 4-of-9 shooting from 3-point range. Utah shot 48% overall, but just 35% from distance (6 of 17).
Washington had only five turnovers while forcing 16, outscoring the Utes 21-2 in points off turnovers.
The Huskies advance to play No. 3 seed Southern Cal in the quarterfinals on Thursday.
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