Pac-12 tournament roundup: Colorado advances past Washington; Stanford tops Utah
Julian Hammond III scored a career-high 21 points and Luke O’Brien made a go-ahead three-pointer with 59.8 seconds left to help Colorado beat Washington 74-68 on Wednesday in the opening game of the Pac-12 tournament.
Colorado (17-15) ended a three-game losing streak in the series with Washington. The Buffaloes will try to end a four-game skid against top-seeded UCLA in the quarterfinals Thursday.
Hammond gave Colorado a 66-61 lead with 2:03 remaining before Washington guard Cole Bajema was fouled on a three-pointer. Bajema made all three free throws and had a chance at a three-point play on Washington’s next possession, but he missed the free throw and the game remained tied at 66-66.
Tristan da Silva nearly turned it over on Colorado’s next possession, but he gathered a loose ball in the lane and passed it out to Ethan Wright, who found O’Brien for his first three-pointer of the game.
Hammond added a basket for a five-point lead and da Silva made three of four free throws to seal it. Washington missed three of its last four field goals.
Da Silva added 18 points and O’Brien finished with 13 points and 10 rebounds for his second double-double of the season for Colorado.
A strong showing in the Pac-12 tournament in Las Vegas could presage a return trip for UCLA in two weeks, for the NCAA tournament’s West Regional.
Colorado opened the game on an 11-4 run, as Washington made just two of its first 11 shots, and led for the opening 30 minutes. The Huskies started the second half with two three-pointers in the opening minute and took their first lead with 9:48 left.
Bajema and Keion Brooks each scored 16 points for Washington (16-16), which swept the regular-season series with Colorado. Koren Johnson added 15 points.
Washington State 69, California 52
TJ Bamba scored 17 points, DJ Rodman had 10 points and 11 rebounds and No. 5 seed Washington State extended its winning streak to seven with a 69-52 victory over 12th-seeded California.
It was the second straight season Washington State beat Cal in the opening round of the conference tournament. The Cougars (17-15) will look for their second straight win over fourth-seeded Oregon on Thursday in the quarterfinals.
Washington State gained some separation midway through the first half after going on a 13-2 run, with five points from Rodman, for a 27-13 lead. Jabe Mullins added three-pointers on back-to-back possessions and the Cougars led 35-21 at halftime despite shooting 39% from the field.
Mullins scored five straight points during an 8-0 run that put Washington State ahead 53-32 with 8:48 left. Cal scored 10 unanswered points to cut it to 53-42 before Andrej Jakimovski ended Washington State’s four-minute field-goal drought with a three-pointer. The Cougars led by as least 12 points the rest of the way.
Mullins finished with 11 points and Jakimovski and Mouhamed Gueye each scored 10 for Washington State. Bamba, coming off a career-high 36 points against rival Washington, was six of 13 from the field.
Rodman had 10 points and six rebounds in the first half and Washington State outrebounded Cal 24-14 with a 10-3 edge on the offensive glass. The Cougars finished with 43 rebounds compared to 29 for Cal.
Monty Bowser, averaging just 3.4 points, scored a career-high 19 points for California (3-29). Lars Thiemann added 10 points.
Cal ended the season on a 16-game losing streak, with its last victory coming on Jan. 6 against Stanford.
Stanford 73, Utah 62
Brandon Angel’s double-double of 16 points and 12 rebounds led a balanced attack that lifted 10th-seeded Stanford to a 73-62 win over seventh-seeded Utah.
Angel followed up two free throws with a jumper that gave the Cardinal a 53-40 lead and they stayed ahead by double figures the rest of the way.
Harrison Ingram added 15 points for Stanford (14-18), which advances to face second-seeded and eighth-ranked Arizona on Thursday. Maxime Raynaud and Spencer Jones both scored 12.
Branden Carlson scored 27 points and 10 rebounds to lead Utah (17-15), which has lost six straight. Gabe Madsen scored 13 and Lazar Stefanovic 10.
Utah made three straight shots, pulling to within 58-48 on a Stefanovic three-pointer with six minutes left. That was the first time in the second half the Utes made consecutive shots, but Jones quickly responded with a three-pointer.
The next time Utah made consecutive shots, Carlson made it 70-60 at the 1:20 mark, but Angel made two foul shots and Ingram one.
Stanford had an 11-point lead on two possessions in the middle of the first half, but the Utes answered with an 11-2 run, starting and ending with a Madsen three-pointer to cut it to 22-20. Jones then had a three-point play and three-pointer in scoring seven straight points and the Cardinal got it back to 10 until Carlson hit a three-pointer to in the close seconds to pull Utah to within 34-27.
The teams split close games during the regular season with the road team winning.
Arizona State 63, Oregon State 57
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