BRUINS HANDLE BUFFS AS BAILEY SHINES
UCLA coach Mick Cronin said before Thursday’s game against Colorado that not having Jaylen Clark in the Pac-12 Conference Tournament would be an opportunity for other players to step up.
Freshman Amari Bailey accepted that challenge, and largely because of his season-high 26 points, the second-ranked Bruins not only beat the Buffaloes 80-69 in the quarterfinals, they kept up their push for a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament.
Bailey entered the game averaging 9.6 points.
“I know he’s got that in him, and I’ve been trying to figure out how to get it out of him,” Cronin said. “It hasn’t been his fault. It’s been mine trying to figure out ways to get his confidence going.”
UCLA (28-4) has won 11 games in a row 25 of 27 games overall, and this was its first victory in Las Vegas in four games.
No. 2 UCLA 80, Colorado 69
Bailey eclipsed his previous high of 24 points on Feb. 9 at Oregon State. Tyger Campbell scored 18 points for the Bruins, Jaime Jaquez Jr. had 16 and Adem Bona totaled 11 points and 10 rebounds.
Tristan da Silva led the Buffaloes (17-16) with 17 points. Julian Hammond III scored 14, Jalen Gabbidon 12 and Ethan Wright 10.
This was the Bruins’ first game without Clark, who is out for at least this tournament with a lower-leg injury.
No. 3 Kansas 78, West Virginia 61: Playing without ailing coach Bill Self on the sideline, Kansas (26-6) turned to big offensive performances from Jalen Wilson and Dajuan Harris Jr. along with some stingy defense to pull away from West Virginia (19-14) in the quarterfinals of the Big 12 Tournament. Self was hospitalized at the University of
Kansas Health System after having a medical procedure.
No. 6 Marquette 72, St. John’s 70 (OT): Tyler Kolek scored 19 of his points after halftime, including the tiebreaking free throws with 15.8 seconds left in overtime, and Marquette (26-6) rallied past St. John’s (18-15) in the Big East Tournament quarterfinals.
No. 7 Texas 61, Oklahoma State 47: Sir’Jabari Rice scored 13 points and Texas (24-8) shut down Oklahoma State (18-15)in the Big 12 Tournament quarterfinals.
No. 8 Arizona 95, Stanford 84: Oumar Ballo scored 24 points and Arizona broke away late to beat Stanford (14-19) and reach the Pac-12 Tournament semifinals. Cedric Henderson Jr. had 23 points and Azuolas Tubelis added 20 for the Wildcats (26-6).
Iowa State 78, No. 10 Baylor 72: Gabe Kalscheur hit six 3-pointers and scored 24 points to help Iowa State (19-12) beat Baylor in the quarterfinals of the Big 12 Tournament. Jalen Bridges went 10 of 11 from the field, 6 of 6 on 3s and finished with a career-best 28 points for the Bears (22-10).
No. 11 UConn 73, Providence 66: Jordan Hawkins scored 19 points and UConn (25-7) held off a furious second-half rally to beat Providence (21-11) in the Big East quarterfinals.
No. 22 TCU 80, No. 12 Kansas State 67: Mike Miles and Chuck O’Bannon scored 22 points apiece, and TCU (21-11) rode its hot shooting to reach the semifinals of the Big 12 Tournament. Keyontae Johnson had 14 points to lead the Wildcats (23-9).
No. 13 Virginia 68, North Carolina 59: Jayden Gardner had 17 points and 10 rebounds, and No. 13 Virginia (24-6) beat the Tar Heels in the ACC quarterfinals. R.J. Davis scored 24 points to lead the Tar Heels (20-13).
No. 14 Miami 74, Wake
Forest 72: Jordan Miller had 18 points and nine rebounds for Miami (25-6), which held off Wake Forest’s furious comeback in the quarterfinals of the ACC Tournament. Tyree Appleby had 24 points behind five 3s for Wake (19-17).
No. 15 Xavier 89, DePaul 84: Jack Nunge had 23 points and 10 rebounds, Colby Jones scored 22 and No. 15 Xavier (24-8) needed a late comeback to beat DePaul (10-23) in the Big East quarterfinals.
No. 17 Tennessee 70, Mississippi 55: Josiah-Jordan James had 20 points and seven rebounds to lead Tennessee (23-9) past Mississippi (12-21) in the quarterfinals of the SEC Tournament.
No. 21 Duke 96, Pitt 69: Kyle Filipowski overcame an early ankle injury to score 22 points, Tyrese Proctor added 11 points and 10 assists, and Duke (24-8) cruised past Pittsburgh (22-11) in the ACC quarterfinals.
No. 24 Creighton 87, Villanova 74: Ryan Kalkbrenner scored 21 points, Ryan Nembhard added 17 and Creighton (21-11) defeated Villanova (17-16) at the Big East Tournament in a rematch of last season’s championship game.
West
San Jose State 81, Nevada 77 (OT): Omari Moore scored 26 points and Alvaro Cardenas Torre added seven in OT as San Jose State beat Nevada in the Mountain West Tournament.
Boise State 87, UNLV 76: Naje Smith scored six of his 18 points in overtime and No. 2 seed Boise State (24-8) outlasted UNLV in the MW quarterfinals. Elijah Harkless finished with 18 points to pace the Rebels (19-13).
Oregon 75, Washington State 70: Keeshawn Barthelemy and Jermaine Couisnard each scored 17 points and Oregon (19-13) beat Washington State (1716) in the Pac-12 tourney.