Iolani product Low leads Cougars to Pac-10 quarterfinal victory over Ducks
Associated Press
LOS ANGELES » Washington State played nearly perfect basketball for the first 19 1/2 minutes against Oregon, building a 20-point lead.
It's a good thing, because the Cougars needed almost every bit of that advantage by the time the game was over.
Former Iolani star Derrick Low scored 18 points, Taylor Rochestie added 16, and No. 21 Washington State held off the Ducks 75-70 last night in the quarterfinals of the Pac-10 tournament.
"That's one of the best starts we've had against a talented team," Cougars coach Tony Bennett said. "We needed that cushion at the end."
The Cougars face No. 11 Stanford in tonight's semifinals. The second-seeded Cardinal (25-6) advanced by beating seventh-seeded Arizona 75-64. Stanford swept WSU by a combined nine points during the regular season.
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.
The Cougars led 42-22 before a basket by Malik Hairston and a 3-pointer by LeKendric Longmire in the final 30 seconds of the first half cut their lead to 15.
The Ducks, who never led, drew within four points on Tajuan Porter's fourth 3-pointer of the game with 1:25 left in the game. But Oregon got no closer as the Cougars were successful enough at the foul line down the stretch to earn the victory.
"I think the game was lost in the first half," Hairston said. "That's too good of a basketball team to get down that much."
No. 2 Memphis 75, Tulane 56
MEMPHIS, Tenn. » Chris Douglas-Roberts scored 17 points, and the Tigers (30-1) advanced to the semifinals of the Conference USA tournament by routing the Green Wave (17-15).
Coach John Calipari and Memphis are trying to lock down a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament for the second time in three seasons
No. 3 UCLA 88, California 66
LOS ANGELES » No controversy, no contest.
The Bruins (29-3) buried the Bears (16-15) under a barrage of 3-pointers to start the second half on its way to a victory in the Pac-10 tournament quarterfinals.
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 had its best 3-point shooting game of the season, hitting 14-for-25.
No. 9 Georgetown 82, Villanova 63
NEW YORK » Jessie Sapp scored 23 points and the Hoyas (25-5) tied a Big East tournament record with 17 3-pointers, fending off a second-half comeback to beat the Wildcats (20-12).
Jonathan Wallace hit five 3s and had 19 of his 20 points in the first half for defending champion Georgetown.
No. 10 Xavier 74, Dayton 65
ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. » Josh Duncan scored 16 points and the Musketeers limited Dayton to five baskets in the final 12 minutes for a victory in the quarterfinals of the Atlantic 10 tournament.
C.J. Anderson added 15 points, Stanley Burrell had 13, Drew Lavender 12 and Derrick Brown 11 as top-seeded Xavier (27-5) beat Dayton (21-10) for the third time this season.
Stanford 75, Arizona 64
LOS ANGELES » Brook Lopez had 20 points and 15 rebounds, including 10 in a second-half spurt that helped the Cardinal (25-6) pull away to a victory over Arizona in the Pac-10 tournament quarterfinals.
Jerryd Bayless led the seventh-seeded Wildcats (19-14) with 18 points. Jordan Hill added 16 and Chase Budinger 13.
Pittsburgh 76, No. 13 Louisville 69, OT
NEW YORK » Sam Young had 21 points and 12 rebounds, and hit two free throws with less than a minute left in overtime to help the Panthers (24-9) beat the Cardinals (24-8).
Seventh-seeded Pittsburgh outscored Louisville 12-2 to start the overtime, and its 74-64 lead with 30.9 seconds left was their biggest of the game.
No. 25 Marquette 89, No. 14 Notre Dame 79
NEW YORK » Jerel McNeal scored a career-high 28 points and the Golden Eagles beat the Fighting Irish (24-7) in the quarterfinals of the Big East tournament.
West Virginia 78, No. 15 Connecticut 72
NEW YORK » Joe Alexander continued his scoring streak with a career-high 34 points and the Mountaineers (25-7) beat the Huskies (24-8) in the quarterfinals of the Big East tournament.
A.J. Price had 22 points for Connecticut.
No. 18 Vanderbilt 93, Auburn 82
ATLANTA » Shan Foster played like the Southeastern Conference player of the year. A.J. Ogilvy was even better.
Ogilvy scored a career-best 27 points and Foster added 26 after being named the top player on the coaches' All-SEC team earlier in the week, leading the Commodores (26-6) past the Tigers (14-16) in the opening round of the Southeastern Conference tournament.
No. 24 BYU 89, Colorado State 62
LAS VEGAS » Five Cougars players scored in double figures in a rout of the Rams (7-25) in the semifinals of the Mountain West Conference tournament.
BYU (26-6) was led by Lee Cummard, the conference's co-player of the year. He scored 18 points, while Sam Burgess had 13, Jonathan Tavernari and Chris Collinsworth each scored 12 and Trent Plaisted had 11.
WAC Quarterfinals
New Mexico St. 73, Idaho 53
LAS CRUCES, N.M. » Justin Hawkins had 26 points and 13 rebounds, and Fred Peete added 12 points on four 3-pointers, leading the Aggies to a win over the Vandals.
Jonathan Gibson also scored 12 points and Jahmar Young had 11 as the Aggies (20-13) won for the ninth time in 10 games, delighting a raucous crowd at the Pan American Center. They'll meet Nevada in the semifinals.
Idaho (8-21) trailed by double digits most of the night, but trimmed the margin to 47-36 on Darin Nagle's basket with 14 minutes remaining. But NMSU went on an 18-8 tear, capped by Young's fast-break dunk with 7:46 to play.
Nevada 64, Fresno St. 57
LAS CRUCES, N.M. » JaVale McGee refused to let his youth show.
The sophomore forward had 22 points, 10 rebounds and four blocked shots as the Wolf Pack (21-10) beat the Bulldogs.
Alex Blair scored 14 points, while Kevin Bell and Eddie Miller each had 11 for Fresno State (13-18).
Utah St. 85, San Jose St. 65
LAS CRUCES, N.M. » Jaycee Carroll scored 24 points and freshman Tai Wesley added 15 points, nine rebounds and six blocked shots as the Aggies (24-9) beat the Spartans (13-19).
Tyler Newbold added 19 points on 7-for-8 shooting from the field, Gary Wilkinson scored 14 and the top-seeded Aggies won their seventh straight to reach the tournament semifinals.
It didn't take long for Carroll to seize control. He made his first five field goals and scored 10 points as Utah State raced to a 19-8 lead through the first 5 1/2 minutes.