The second round of the Pac-12 conference tournament kicks off as the top-seeded teams see action against first-round winners. The Pac-12 will continue their tournament through Saturday afternoon ,when they will crown a champion.
2014 Pac-12 Tournament schedule and bracket: Bubble teams Cal, Colorado square off
Thursday’s action sees quarterfinal play begin as the top four teams jump into action.
Christian Petersen
The No. 1 Arizona Wildcats take on the No. 8 Utah Utes to open up the quarterfinals in the Pac-12 Tournament on Thursday. Utah earned passage after defeating the No. 9 Washington Huskies, 67-61, in the opening round on Wednesday. Delon Wright led the Utes with 15 points, seven rebounds, four assists, three steals and two blocks. Utah held Washington's offense in check, forcing the Huskies into 37 percent shooting from the floor. Utah played Arizona pretty tight in both conference games this season, but Arizona won by nine points at home and squeaked out a four-point victory in overtime on the road.
The No. 4 California Bears take on the No. 5 Colorado Buffaloes in the second Pac-12 quarterfinal game of the afternoon. Colorado was played tough by the bottom-seeded USC Trojans most of the game in the first round and nearly coughed up an eight point lead with three minutes remaining. Josh Scott made one free throw for Colorado's only points in the final three minutes, but it was just enough for a 59-56 win. It'll be the second meeting in five days for the Cal and Colorado, since they each closed out the regular season at California. In that game, Justin Cobbs hit two free throws with 20.8 seconds left to give the Bears a 66-65 win in overtime.
No. 7 Oregon advanced past No. 10 Oregon State as Joseph Young pulled the Ducks out of some early trouble against the Beavers. Young finished with 19 points on 8-11 shooting, and Oregon will now take on the second-seeded UCLA Bruins who enter the tournament with an at-large bid wrapped up. The Ducks are still on the bubble and will need to avenge their two losses to the Bruins this season. Both games were close, with UCLA winning by a combined six points.
After outlasting Washington State, Stanford will meet Arizona State in the No. 3 vs. No. 6 matchup. Both teams finished with identical 10-8 conference records (alongside three other Pac-12 teams), and they split their regular season series, each winning their respective home games. The most recent matchup between the two squads came in late February in Tempe, with the Sun Devils winning 76-64. Both teams struggled down the stretch, where the Cardinal have won two of their last five games, while Arizona State has won two of their last six contests.
Thursday’s full schedule of games:
No. 1 Arizona vs. No. 8 Utah, 3 p.m. ET, Pac-12 Network
No. 4 Cal vs. No. 5 Colorado, 5:30 p.m. ET, Pac-12 Network
No. 7 Oregon vs. No. 2 UCLA, 9 p.m. ET, Pac-12 Network
No. 6 Stanford vs. No. 3 ASU, 11:30 p.m. ET, Pac-12 Network
Here is the full tournament bracket, via Pac-12.com:
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