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Pac-12 men’s roundup: No. 8 Oregon holds off Washington 83-77

Oregon forward Chris Boucher, left, blocks a shot by Washington guard Dejounte Murray during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game in the quarterfinal round of the Pac-12 men’s tournament Thursday, March 10, 2016, in Las Vegas. (John Locher / Associated Press)
Oregon forward Chris Boucher, left, blocks a shot by Washington guard Dejounte Murray during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game in the quarterfinal round of the Pac-12 men’s tournament Thursday, March 10, 2016, in Las Vegas. (John Locher / Associated Press)
John Marshall Associated Press

LAS VEGAS – Chris Boucher had 19 points and 11 rebounds, and No. 8 Oregon withstood a late flurry to hold off Washington 83-77 in the Pac-12 Tournament quarterfinals Thursday.

Top-seeded Oregon (26-6) built an 11-point lead midway through the second half, but Andrew Andrews brought the Huskies back with a quick scoring flurry. The senior guard scored 10 of his 19 points during the run, helping eighth-seeded Washington (18-14) pull within two late.

The Ducks held, though, hitting four free throws in the final 33 seconds to earn a spot in Friday night’s semifinals against No. 15 Arizona or Colorado.

Elgin Cook scored 19 points, Tyler Dorsey 17 and Dillon Brooks added 15 for the Ducks.

Marques Chriss scored 19 points for the Huskies.

The Ducks closed the regular season strong, winning their final five games for their first conference title since 2002. One of those finishing wins was against Washington on Feb. 28, when Cook scored 26 points in the 86-73 victory.

The Huskies put a dent in their NCAA Tournament hopes by limping to the finish, but kept a glimmer of hope alive with a rout over Stanford in the tournament’s opening round.

Washington got off to fast start against the Cardinal and kept rolling against Oregon, hitting 10 of its first 13 shots – four of those 3s – to go up 26-14.

Oregon was ragged early, forcing shots and passes in traffic, riling coach Dana Altman with numerous defensive breakdowns.

The Ducks settled down and started flying, harassing the Huskies into difficult shots, scoring in transition after turnovers and misses during an 11-0 run that helped them take a 39-38 halftime lead.

But after all the 3-pointers and soaring dunks, the second half turned into a defensive wrestling match, with bodies hitting the floor nearly every trip.

The Ducks gained a little separation midway through, when Dorsey hit a 3 and Dwayne Benjamin scored on a three-point play to put Oregon up 64-54.

Andrews brought the Huskies back. He hit a pair of 3-pointers and turned a steal into a pair of free throws that cut Oregon’s lead to 71-69 with 5 minutes left.

Washington kept the Ducks within reach from there, but never could catch them.

(15) Arizona 82, Colorado 78: Allonzo Trier scored 23 points, Ryan Anderson had 17 points and 11 rebounds, and the Wildcats (25-7) hung on to defeat the Buffaloes (22-11) in the quarterfinals.

Arizona overwhelmed Colorado in the first half before laboring through most of the second.

The third-seeded Wildcats allowed the Buffaloes to cut a 22-point lead to two on George King’s 3-pointer with 3 seconds left.

Gabe York followed with two free throws to close it out, sending Arizona into Friday night’s semifinals against No. 8 Oregon.

Colorado clawed its way back from a huge hole by hitting the offensive glass (25), but couldn’t overcome its shaky shooting. The fifth-seeded Buffaloes shot 34 percent and made 5 of 19 from 3-point range, leaving their NCAA tournament fate in the hands of the selection committee.

King had 22 points, and Josh Scott finished with 16 points and 13 rebounds for Colorado, which had 26 second-chance points.

(12) Utah 80, USC 72: Kyle Kuzma broke out of a scoring slump at just the right time, missing one shot while scoring 23 points to help lift the second-seeded Utes (25-7) to a quarterfinal win over the Trojans (21-12).

The second-seeded Utes started hitting shots from the opening tip, shooting 61 percent to earn a spot in Friday’s semifinals against No. 24 California or Oregon State.

Kuzma made 11 of 12 shots and had seven rebounds after scoring 15 points on 6-of-16 shooting the previous four games combined. Jakob Poeltl had 14 points, eight rebounds and four assists.

Jordan McLaughlin led the Trojans with 24 points and Julian Jacobs added 16.

(24) California 76, Oregon State 68: Ivan Raab scored two big baskets late to finish with 21 points and grabbed 15 rebounds, helping the Golden Bears (23-9) outlast the Beavers (19-12) in a quarterfinal matchup.

Raab gave the Beavers trouble all night, particularly the biggest moments. He scored on a putback to put Cal up four and finished off a three-point play with 1:22 left to make it 70-63. Jabari Bird scored 20 for the Bears.

Freshman Derrick Bruce scored a career-high 25 for Oregon State. Gary Payton had 20 points and 16 rebounds for Oregon State, which still should be in good shape to end its 26-year NCAA tournament drought.