Oumar Ballo scored 24 points and No. 8 Arizona broke away late, beating Stanford 95-84 on Thursday night to reach the semifinals of the Pac-12 Conference Tournament.
Cedric Henderson Jr. had 23 points and Azuolas Tubelis added 20 for the Wildcats (26-6). They will play Arizona State or Southern California on Friday night.
Tommy Lloyd won his 59th game at Arizona, the most wins in a coach’s first two seasons. Former North Carolina coach Bill Guthridge held the previous mark.
Lloyd also improved his record in Las Vegas with the Wildcats to 7-0, including 6-0 at T-Mobile Arena. They are the defending champions of the tournament.
Courtney Ramey had 15 points for Arizona, which used a 12-2 run to take a 92-78 lead. The Wildcats shot 64%.
Spencer Jones led Stanford (14-19) with 22 points, Brandon Angel had 19, Michael Jones scored 13 and Harrison Ingram finished with 12.
The Cardinal didn’t make it easy for Arizona, which entered the game having lost two of three and had gone 3-3 over its previous six. Also, Stanford had won three of four before this game and had won the only game of the season, 88-79 on February 11.
Stanford threatened to sweep the season series, absorbing Arizona’s runs of 15-2 and 14-3 in the first half and 10-0 in the second to stay in striking distance for most of the game.
Oregon 75, Washington State 70
Oregon guard Rivaldo Soares, left, shoots Washington State forward DJ Rodman during the second half of the Pac-12 Tournament quarterfinals Thursday in Las Vegas.
(David Becker / Associated Press)
Keeshawn Barthelemy and Jermaine Couisnard each scored 17 points and Oregon wiped out a 19-point lead before closing out on a 7-0 run to beat Washington State 75-70 Thursday in the Pac-12 Tournament.
Fourth-seeded Oregon (19-13), which has won 10 straight games in the conference tournament, advances to play Friday in the semifinals against top-seeded UCLA. Washington State (17-16), the No. 5 seed, had a seven-game winning streak that came to an end.
N’Faly Dante added 16 points and 11 rebounds for Oregon, but sprained his right ankle in the final seconds and did not return.
Dante had a pullback with 1:18 remaining to give Oregon a 72-70 lead and TJ Bamba missed the rim on a 3-pointer at the other end. The Cougars and Ducks each had a block on the next two possessions, but Dante went down after his block and needed help up. Barthelemy was fouled and made 1 of 2 free throws for a three-point lead.
Washington State turned it around and the Ducks ran the other way for a fast-break dunk, but DJ Rodman blocked it with 10.3 remaining to keep the game one-possession. Oregon finally scored it after several timeouts and Rivaldo Soares made two free throws to seal it.
Bamba finished with 19 points for Washington State. Justin Powell added 15, Mouhamed Gueye had 14 and Andrej Jakimovski 10. The Cougars shot 44%, including 11-for-23 from 3-point range.
Washington State trailed by as many as 19 points in the first half, but rallied late to lead 38-30 at halftime. Carlos Rosario hit just his fifth 3-pointer of the season for the Cougars, Bamba hit a floater down the lane and Jakimovski added another 3-pointer to cap a 10-0 run late in the half. The Ducks missed their last six shots of the half.
The Pumas opened the second half with a basket by Gueye for their first points of the match. Gueye added a 3-pointer to make it 47-45 with 13:59 remaining, and Washington State took its first lead of the game with 9:10 remaining on Bamba’s 3-pointer.