The Riverside Press-Enterprise
UCLA loses to Oregon in Pac-12 Tournament
LAS VEGAS — Dylan Andrews sped for UCLA’S life, pushing the pace, the season in the hands of a star who’d asserted himself in Vegas as final seconds ticked away. Five. Four. Three.
They’d come this far, enough to earn one final possession this second-round Pac-12 Tournament matchup against Oregon Thursday, from down 10 to a chance to win. And with UCLA down a point and Andrews freewheeling up the floor, the sophomore guard saw a sliver of daylight, beating Oregon’s Jadarian Tracey down the floor and opening a runway to the paint. Two. With Oregon’s N’faly Dante leaping in contest, Andrews lofted a high-arcing floater — one — that came down to earth as the buzzer sounded.
It clanked off the rim. Ballgame, a 68-66 loss. And UCLA big Adem Bona put his hands to his temple, unable to accept what’d just happened, the Bruins clawing their way back against a talented Oregon team only for their NCAA Tournament hopes to crumble in an instant.
Andrews caught fire in the final minutes to pull UCLA back, hitting a pull-up jumper to kick off a 9-0 run, supplanted by a big-time corner triple from Lazar Stefanovic and ending on a pair of tough Andrews layups. The sophomore finished with 24 points, averaging 27.5 across two games in Vegas, a clear program cornerstone in the years to come — but it wasn’t enough to push UCLA over the edge.
The Bruins ended a back-and-forth first half up five, neither program shooting particularly well but Bruins freshman guard Sebastian Mack giving UCLA (16-17, 10-11 Pac-12) a big lift by getting to the line, finishing with 12 points before the break.
Oregon’s (21-11, 13-8 Pac-12) guards — the Ducks’ dynamic vet-and-rook backcourt of Jermaine Cousinard and freshman Jackson Shelstad responded in kind in the first minutes of the second half, Shelstad dropping in a beautiful floater off glass after Bruins big Adem Bona shook his way to a nice layup off glass on the other end. And the Ducks commenced a quick 6-0 run to regain the lead, UCLA’S offense grinding to a halt in the early minutes of the period as Oregon’s Jadrian Tracey dropped in a putback layup to take the lead.
And after Bona was subbed out
with his third foul, Mick Cronin had no choice but to gamble in Vegas, his best player cooling on the bench but UCLA’S postseason hopes on the line and rapidly slipping.
With the Bruins down six off a quick run by Oregon in the second half, Cronin called timeout, gesturing in animation for Bona.the heartand-soul center had largely been held in check by Oregon and Ducks big N’faly Dante, taking just three shots after a season spent heavy-duty lifting a floundering UCLA offense from the post. And he made an immediate impact after checking in, drawing a foul and draining a couple free throws, finishing a nice post hook a couple possessions later.
And then Dante drew a bump on Bona, finishing an and-one through him, and UCLA seemed finished.
Bona went back to the bench with his fourth foul, and Oregon simply overpowered UCLA inside for the next 6:30, extending their lead to eight. Dante, in a comfortable rhythm all night and salsa-dancing after the and-one on Bona, was flashing jazz hands over his eyes after a dish to Shelstad brought Oregon’s lead to 10 with four minutes left. UCLA’S final run fell short, and the Ducks advanced to the semifinals of the Pac-12 Tournament.
— Luca Evans
Around the nation NO. 4 NORTH CAROLINA 92, FLORIDA STATE 67 >>
Armando Bacot had 14 points and 10 of his team’s 48 rebounds as the fourth-ranked Tar Heels rolled into the Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament semifinals with a victory. UNC (26-6, 18-3 ACC), the ACC’S regular-season champion, moves into today’s semifinals against Wake Forest, a 81-69 winner over Pitt.
NO. 25 TEXAS TECH 81, NO. 20 BYU 67 >> Pop Isaacs scored 22 points as the Red Raiders withstood a furious second-half rally by the Cougars for a victory in the quarterfinals of the Big 12 Tournament. Texas Tech (23-9) advanced into a semifinal matchup today against No. 1 Houston.
Wednesday championships
MONTANA STATE 85, MONTANA 70 >> Tournament MVP Robert Ford III had 22 points and the No. 5 seeded Bobcats used a 41-9 run in the second half to beat their cross-state rival to win the Big Sky Conference Tournament championship and an automatic berth to the NCAA Tournament. Montana State (17-17) advances to the Big Dance for the third straight season and sixth time overall. Firstyear coach Matt Logie has now led teams to the NCAA Tournament at the Division III (Whitworth), Division II (Point Loma), and D-I levels.
MCNEESE 92, NICHOLLS 76 >> Conference player of the year Shahada Wells scored 27 points and the top-seeded Cowboys won the Southland Conference Tournament to advance to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2002 with its 30th victory this season. Mcneese (30-3) has won its 11 in a row and and finished 18-0 on their home court.
COLGATE 74, LEHIGH 55 >> Brady Cummins scored a career-high 19 points, and top-seeded Colgate collected its fourth straight Patriot League Tournament title and NCAA Tournament bid.
Notes
• UT Arlington defeated Utah Tech, 72-57, on Thursday in a Western Athletic Conference Tournament women’s quartenrfinal. UTA will face top-seeded California Baptist in a semifinal today at noon.
• Justin Hutson stepped down as coach of Fresno State following Thursday’s 87-75 overtime loss to No. 18 Utah State that eliminated the Bulldogs from the Mountain West Conference Tournament. The Bulldogs went 92-94 in his six-year tenure that included two 23-win seasons.
• Travis Ford is out after eight seasons at Saint Louis and Vanderbilt fired coach Jerry Stackhouse.