Stanford kept sending one big guy after another to the boards, grabbing everything that missed.
Brook Lopez had 20 points and 15 rebounds, including 10 in a second-half spurt that helped No. 11 Stanford pull away to a 75-64 victory over Arizona in the Pac-10 tournament quarterfinals Thursday night.

GAME REPORT: Stanford 75, Arizona 64

"I just shot," he said. "I know I have two of our other big guys crashing the boards if I miss, and that is a real boost of confidence."

The second-seeded Cardinal (25-6) advanced to Friday's semifinals against No. 3 seed Washington State, which beat Oregon 75-70. The Cardinal swept the Cougars (24-7) during the regular season.

Jerryd Bayless led seventh-seeded Arizona (19-14) with 18 points. Jordan Hill added 16, and Chase Budinger had 13.

Robin Lopez, the 7-foot twin brother of Brook, added 14 points. Lawrence Hill, Mitch Johnson and Fred Washington had 11 points each.

"It's been a while since we got back to rebounding the ball like that," said Stanford's Trent Johnson, Pac-10 coach of the year. "We did a good job setting the tone, setting the tempo, and getting the ball to the right spots."

Mostly that was in the hands of Brook Lopez, who had 11 defensive rebounds. Johnson added 10 rebounds, helping Stanford dominate the boards, 50-27, and end its two-game losing skid.

"We definitely wanted to get some winning ways back before the NCAA tournament," Johnson said. "I don't think we have any magic tricks or secret weapons. Our game plan is to pound the boards."

And with no one under 6-foot on the team, it's easily done. The Cardinal owned a 21-8 edge on the offensive glass.

"They got a lot of second-chance shots and they shot the ball 15 more times than we did," Arizona's Jawann McClellan said. "That's where the game was won."

The Wildcats' streak of 23 consecutive NCAA tournament appearances, longest in the nation, could be in jeopardy. They went 8-10 in the league's regular season, their worst record since 1983-84, the last time Arizona didn't make the NCAAs.

But the Wildcats played a rugged schedule, with half their losses coming against teams ranked in the top 10, including Kansas, Memphis and UCLA.

"Hopefully we get in," Bayless said. "We played against the best teams in America."

Interim Arizona coach Kevin O'Neill said he'd be surprised if the Wildcats are left out when the 65-team field is announced Sunday.

"We deserve to be there," he said.

Stanford swept Arizona during the regular season by a combined five points, and the third meeting was just as close until the final 11½ minutes.

That's when Lawrence Hill launched the game-breaking 20-5 run on a jumper that snapped a 49-all tie. Brook Lopez scored 10 points to put the Cardinal ahead for good, 69-54, with 4:55 remaining.

The Wildcats, who had been matching the Cardinal basket-for-basket until then, went cold and committed four of their nine turnovers in the spurt.

Arizona cut its deficit to 73-64 on back-to-back three-pointers by McClellan and Nic Wise with 2:23 remaining. After a timeout, Robin Lopez blocked Jerryd Bayless, and O'Neill angrily smacked his left hand on the scorer's table. Washington stole the ball, allowing the Cardinal to control the closing seconds.

The start of the second half duplicated the first 20 minutes, with the teams tied six times and Stanford never ahead by more than three points until the Cardinal's decisive run.

"We just stuck with our game plan, which is to pound it down low, hit the boards and get the stop," Johnson said. "We did a good job at making it tough."

Jordan Hill scored Arizona's first six points of the game while the Cardinal opened 0-for-6. The teams were tied for a stretch before Brook Lopez's basket gave Stanford its first lead, 21-19.

From there, the Wildcats outscored the Cardinal 16-14 — taking a four-point lead three times — but the teams went into halftime tied at 35 after Johnson stole the ball and fed Lawrence Hill for the score.

***

Washington State edges Oregon despite blowing big lead

Derrick Low scored 18 points, and No. 21 Washington State blew most of a 20-point lead before beating Oregon 75-70 on Thursday night in the quarterfinals of the Pac-10 tournament.

GAME REPORT: Washington State 75, Oregon 70

Taylor Rochestie scored 16 points, Kyle Weaver had 14 points and seven assists, and Robbie Cowgill added 12 points and six rebounds for the third-seeded Cougars (24-7), who won for the seventh time in nine games following a three-game losing streak.

Tajuan Porter scored 17 of his 20 points in the second half and Malik Hairston also had 20 points for Oregon (18-13), whose final hope for an NCAA tournament berth almost surely disappeared. Maarty Leunen added 11 points for the sixth-seeded Ducks.

The Ducks, who never led, drew within four points on Porter's fourth three-pointer of the game with 1:25 remaining. But that was as close as Oregon would get as the Cougars were successful enough at the foul line down the stretch to earn the victory.

Both teams made more than half their shots — Oregon shot 53.2% and WSU 52.1%. The Ducks committed 13 turnovers to only seven for the Cougars.

Oregon returned four starters from a team that won the Pac-10 tournament last year before reaching the final eight in the NCAA tournament. The Ducks started 8-1 this season, but losses to Nebraska and upstart Oakland (Mich.) at home in December signaled their downfall.

Oregon had been the only team that advanced to the semifinals in every Pac-10 tournament since the event resumed in 2002.

The Cougars had what appeared to be a comfortable 54-37 lead early in the second half, but Porter scored the last 10 points of a 14-4 Oregon run, trimming Washington State's lead to seven points with nine minutes remaining.

The Ducks used a three-point play by Hairston and a Churchill Odia's three-pointer — his only basket of the game — to draw within five with 4:16 left.

Rochestie scored the game's first five points, the Cougars built a 16-5 lead in the first six minutes, and Rochestie's layup with 7:35 left before halftime made it 24-10.

The Cougars extended their lead to 20 points before a basket by Hairston and a three-pointer by LeKendric Longmire in the final seconds of the first half made it 42-27.

WSU shot 16-for-26 including 5-for-7 from three-point range in the first half and committed only two turnovers. Oregon was 10-for-21 including 4-for-11 from beyond the arc with seven turnovers.

Washington State beat Oregon by nine points in each of their regular-season games to end the Ducks' record 13-game winning streak in the series.

***

Southern California puts Arizona State on life support

Southern California advanced to the semifinals of the Pac-10 tournament thanks to an exceptional defensive effort in the second half against Arizona State.

The Trojans benefited from an official's call as well.

Freshman O.J. Mayo scored 23 points and matched a career high with six assists, and the Trojans held ASU to six field goals after halftime in a 59-55 victory over the Sun Devils on Thursday.

GAME REPORT: Southern Calif. 59, Arizona State 55

Freshman Davon Jefferson and Taj Gibson each had 11 points and nine rebounds for USC, which held ASU without a field goal after Derek Glasser made his only basket of the game with 9:35 remaining to give the Sun Devils a 49-42 lead.

Arizona State appeared to tie the game at 57 when Jeff Pendergraph slammed in a James Harden miss with 16.9 seconds left, but Pendergraph was called for going over Jefferson's back for his fifth foul.

Jefferson made two free throws to complete the scoring.

"No, honestly, I didn't (feel any contact)," Pendergraph said. "They usually don't blow the whistle. I thought it was clean. It's not like I pushed anybody out of the way.

"Everybody jumped. I just jumped higher."

Mayo disagreed, saying: "It was a foul. Body contact."

USC coach Tim Floyd said he didn't have a clear look at the play.

"I saw him dunk it and I didn't like that," Floyd said. "I'm sure if I was sitting on the other bench, I would have liked it. It's a difficult game to officiate."

The win was the sixth in seven games for the fourth-seeded Trojans (21-10), who had already assured themselves of an NCAA tournament berth.

"We're very fortunate to get out of there," Floyd said. "I think we're seeing the greatness in this league in every game in this tournament."

USC shot 42.9% to Arizona State's 35.3% and outrebounded the Sun Devils 36-26. The Trojans won despite committing 19 turnovers to 12 for ASU.

Harden, a freshman who scored 50 points in ASU's two games against USC during the regular season, was held to six in the second half and 16 overall in this game by Daniel Hackett.

"I thought he was outstanding, the second half in particular, defensively," Floyd said of Hackett. "He just battled, much like he did last year against Kevin Durant in the NCAA tournament."

USC beat Texas 87-68 last March. Kevin Durant scored 30 points, but never came close to dominating the East Regional game.

ASU's NCAA tournament status is in question. Many thought the fifth-seeded Sun Devils (19-12) needed at least one victory in the conference tournament to earn their first NCAA tournament berth in five years.

"It's very difficult to be objective when you're this emotional," said second-year ASU coach Herb Sendek, whose team has lost 10 of its last 15 games. "The committee has a very difficult challenge. I think we'll get consideration. Hopefully the excellence of the Pac-10 will be recognized and rewarded."

The Sun Devils were 8-22 last season.

Regarding the call against Pendergraph, Sendek said: "From my perspective, I thought it was clean. But I third we're best served to focus on the things that we could have done better to avoid that situation."

Pendergraph had 13 points and six rebounds and freshman Rihards Kuksiks scored 12 for ASU, which shot 6-of-21 (28.6%) in the second half.

A three-point play by Jefferson with 5:11 remaining snapped a 53-all tie and put USC ahead for good. The Trojans wouldn't make another field goal, but they still managed to win.

A foul shot by Gibson with 4:32 left gave USC a four-point lead, and neither team scored after that until Pendergraph made a free throw with 2:10 to play.

ASU's Ty Abbott added another foul shot with 1:38 left to make it 57-55. Neither team scored after that until Jefferson made the game-clinching free throws.

The Sun Devils outscored the Trojans 11-4 to start the second half for a 43-38 lead, and extended their advantage to seven before a basket by Gibson and five straight points by O.J. Mayo tied it at 49 with 7:53 to play.

Neither team led by more than four points after that.

Harden scored eight points during an 11-2 run that put the Sun Devils ahead 17-9, which turned out to be the biggest lead of the game for either team. The Trojans scored the next 10 points for a two-point lead. Neither team led by more than four points during the remainder of the first half, which ended with USC on top 34-32.

The teams split their two regular-season games, with each winning by 14 points at home.

***

UCLA runs away from California

No controversy, no contest.

No. 2 UCLA buried California under a barrage of three-pointers to start the second half on its way to an 88-66 victory in the Pac-10 tournament quarterfinals Thursday.

GAME REPORT: UCLA 88, California 66

Darren Collison scored 19 points, Josh Shipp 18, and freshman Kevin Love had nine of his 11 in the second half after early foul trouble. UCLA (29-3) had its best three-point shooting game of the season, hitting 14-of-25.

The top-seeded Bruins won their eighth in a row and advanced to Friday's semifinals against Southern California, which beat Arizona State 59-55. The rivals split in the regular season, with each winning on the other's floor.

Ryan Anderson scored 17 points and Patrick Christopher 12 to lead the ninth-seeded Golden Bears (16-15), who have lost eight of their last 10.

The Bears were looking to avenge last weekend's one-point loss at UCLA that ended on two controversial calls, both in the Bruins' favor. For their part, the Bruins were eager to dispel chatter that they didn't deserve to win after trailing nearly the entire game.

In that game, Shipp hit a rainbow jumper over the corner of the backboard with 1.5 seconds remaining, sending observers scurrying to the NCAA rule book to see whether the shot was legal.

That opportunity was created after it appeared Anderson was fouled when trapped in the left corner. The officials ruled the ball touched Anderson before going out of bounds although Cal argued it went off a UCLA player first.

This time, there were no questionable calls and UCLA erased its bitter memory from last year's tournament when Cal upset the Bruins in overtime in their opening game.

UCLA opened on a 16-4 run before DeVon Hardin's dunk — Cal's first field goal more than 7½ minutes into the game — launched a 13-3 spurt that got the Bears within two. Anderson added five points.

But the Bears were derailed by 13 turnovers — 18 overall — that were instigated by a UCLA defense that produced eight steals.

The Bruins grabbed the momentum right back and rode it to a 39-25 halftime lead.

With Love playing just six minutes because of two fouls, Lorenzo Mata-Real produced the two biggest defensive plays of the half on huge blocks of Anderson and Christopher.

Kevin Love, the Pac-10 player and freshman of the year, returned to start the second half and made an immediate impact. He hit three consecutive three-pointers and Shipp added another for a 51-33 lead.

Love has scored in double figures in all 32 games this season. He had seven rebounds and four assists, leaving to a standing ovation led by his parents, brother and sister sitting behind the Bruins' bench.