(Alex Gonzalez reporting for Mid Valley Sports)
Battle Los Angeles: Goes to Westwood
By Alex Gonzalez
UCLA’s Lazeric Zeke Jones scored 15 points in Bruins 55-40 win against cross town rival USC in the first round of the Pacific Life PAC- 12 Tournament in Los Angeles.
The Trojans played the Bruins hard in the first half. Their post defense forced the Bruins to take jump shots. UCLA ended the half shooting 7-30 from the field.
“Well I thought obviously the first 10, 12 minutes of the first half we were really a step slow, out of sync,” Bruins Head Coach Ben Howland said. “The premise of their defense is to pack everybody in and make you take jump shots. we took about five right away early in the game and missed all of them. It seemed like it continued to snow ball. Then finally Zeke hit a few and we got down seven or eight and brought us back.”
Bryon Wesley led the Trojans in scoring with nine in the first half. Helping Wesley in the scoring department was Garrett Jackson. The power forward also added seven points and two boards.
But UCLA was up at the break, 22-21.
In the second half the Bruins defense forced the Trojans to take more jump shots and Southern California went cold offensively. Shooting just 30 percent from the field and missing all six 3-point attempts.
“We Obviously played a decent game, but it’s really hard to win when you shoot 28 percent, and that’s kind of been the story of our year,” said USC Head Coach Kevin O’ Neill.
What also helped the Bruins in the win was Josh Smith. The 6’10” sophomore did not play the entire first half because he was four minutes late to the team bus.
“Josh was four minutes late to the bus all the way from the Marriott with the team over here. So we left him, and he was late four minutes. He hasn’t been late one other time the whole year,” said Howland.
Smith was a inside presence for UCLA, he only scored five points, but his size was a factor inside.
“He’s a force to be reckoned with down low,” said O’ Neill. “We didn’t have anybody that could guard him at all.”
With the win UCLA will play number four seed Arizona tomorrow at 2:30 p.m.
***
Beavers Wear Down Cougars
By Alex Gonzalez
Los Angeles– Oregon State eliminated first round opponent Washington State 69-64, in the first round of the Pacific Life PAC-12 Tournament in Los Angeles.
The Beavers made a late push with less than two minutes in regulation. Oregon State’s Joe Burton led the push by sinking critical free throws and grabbing every rebound that came his direction.
After intermission, both teams came out even trading scoring blows, neither could find a way to pull ahead. Through out the second half there were eight lead changes and 10 ties.
The Beavers grabbed a lead late, 64-61, with 1:39 in the game.
Oregon State’s Roberto Nelson found Burton in the lane for the go a head basket to seal the victory for the Beavers.
The Beavers started the game on a shooting spree from the 3-point line. Ahmad Starks led the team in shooting in the first half. He was 4-8 from 3-point lines and 4-10 from the field.
But living and dying by the 3-pointer allowed the Cougars to make a push.
Marcus Capers shot 4-4 from the field leading the charge for Washington State as the Cougars took a 39-38 advantage into the locker room.
The Beavers will play number one seed Washington tomorrow at noon, at the Staples Center.
***
Stanford Torches Arizona St.
By Alex Gonzalez
Los Angeles— Stanford’s Chasson Randle scored a game high 30 points in
Cardinal’s 85-65 victory over Arizona State in the Pacific Life PAC-12 Tournament at the Staples Center Wednesday night.
Stanford took control of the game from the start. Randle led the team with 27 points before intermission. The freshman guard shot 6-8 from the field and 5-6 from the 3-point line. The Sun Devil defense could not find a way to contain Randle, every chance he had to score he took it, converting the majority of the time.
“Really, I was just focused in on trying to complete plays like coach said,” said Randle. “Teammates found me in the right spots. I didn’t know what was going on. I was just playing basketball.”
The Sun Devils struggled in the first half. The Cardinal’s defense stopped and slowed down their offensive attack. Stanford limited them to 44 percent from the field, at one point the ASU was down by as many as 26 points.
“I thought defensively we were on our heels early,” said Sun Devils Head Coach Sean Miller. “Obviously we ran into a tremendous performance by a fantastic young player in Randel, and we just never were able to regroup.”
At the end of the half Stanford led 50-30.
In the second half, the Cardinal slowed it down, but still maintained a stable lead. ASU came as close as 12 points but that was it.
With the victory, Stanford will play cross town rival California in the second round.
***
CU Takes Down Utah
By Alex Gonzalez
Los Angeles– Utah and Colorado welcomed each other into the post-season by squaring off in the first round of the Pacific life PAC-12 tournament at the Staples Center on Wednesday night, and it was the Buffaloes taking a 53-41 decision.
From the start, both schools were evenly matched, neither team could find a way to pull ahead.
Utah’s Dijon Farr and Jason Washburn both had six points leading the Utes, keeping the team right on the Buffaloes heels.
On the flip side, Colorado only had one player in double figures before intermission. Andre Roberson scored 12 points and pulled down four rebounds.
It was a low scoring half with the Buffaloes having a small lead, 25-23.
The defensive battle continued throughout the second half. However, CU was able to maintain an offensive flow throughout the second stanza. Not only did Roberson score 20 and pulled down 11 boards, he was helped out by fellow teammates Spencer Dinwiddie and Carlon Brown.
Dinwiddie scored 10, and Brown pitched in with 15 points and eight rebounds.
The Buffaloes agressive defense was effective, especially in the paint. The defense only allowed only one Ute player to score into double figures, and that was Washburn. While the rest of the team struggled offensively. As a team they shot 23.8 percent from the field in the second half.
With the win, Colorado will play Oregon in the second round of the tourney, tomorrow at 8 p.m.
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