UW advances to title game
LOS ANGELES – Washington versus California in the Pac-10 Conference tournament final.
Kind of fitting, isn’t it?
Two of the conference’s most prominent teams this season will vie for the championship in front of a national television audience this afternoon.
It’s a dream matchup for the Pac-10, capping a season and a tournament filled with unexpected twists and turns.
After a couple of upsets in Thursday’s quarterfinals, the favorites avoided any pitfalls in the semifinals Friday night.
The third-seeded Huskies punched their ticket to the conference final with a 79-64 victory over seventh-seeded Stanford at Staples Center, hours after top-seeded Cal knocked off No. 5 UCLA 85-72.
For the second straight year, Washington has defeated Stanford three times in a season. The Huskies have won six straight games overall and 11 of the past 13.
More important, Washington (23-9) likely secured a spot in the NCAA tournament, according to the opinions of those who study the Big Dance bracket and are familiar with the thinking of the NCAA selection committee.
The Huskies stumbled in the opening minutes, but this time their slow start had little to do with the opposing defense.
Washington misfired on several point-blank shots; after 9 minutes, the Huskies had missed 12 of their first 14 shots.
Stanford was hardly any better. The Cardinal missed nine of their first 12 field goals and never got a good shot in the paint because Huskies center Matthew Bryan-Amaning was patrolling the lane.
Stanford simply had few viable offensive options other than Landry Fields, the Pac-10’s leading scorer who finished with 20 points.
The Huskies led 28-19 at halftime, then took control shortly after intermission.
Isaiah Thomas made a 3-pointer, and Justin Holiday found Quincy Pondexter for a dunk that put UW ahead 36-22 with 17:53 left.
Stanford (14-18) never quit, but it didn’t put up much of a fight in the second half.