Pac-12 Tournament 2015: Round 1 Scores, Quarterfinals Bracket and Schedule

Folks may get excited for the NCAA tournament, but often some of the most exciting action of the college basketball season comes during the conference tourneys. This year's Pac-12 tournament won't be the exception.

Below, you'll find all of the results from the opening round, along with the schedule for the second-round matchups and a recap of Wednesday's action. 

Results

Matchup	Result
No. 8 California vs. No. 9 Washington State	California wins, 84-59
No. 5 Arizona State vs. No. 12 USC	USC wins, 67-64
No. 7 Oregon State vs. No. 10 Colorado	Colorado wins, 78-71
No. 6 Stanford vs. No. 11 Washington	Stanford wins, 71-69

Schedule

Round	Date	Time (ET)	Matchup
Quarterfinal	Thursday, March 12	3 p.m.	No. 1 Arizona vs. No. 8 California
Quarterfinal	Thursday, March 12	5:30 p.m.	No. 4 UCLA vs. No. 12 USC
Quarterfinal	Thursday, March 12	9 p.m.	No. 2 Oregon vs. No. 10 Colorado
Quarterfinal	Thursday, March 12	11 p.m.	No. 3 Utah vs. No. 6 Stanford
Semfinal	Friday, March 13	9 p.m.	TBD
Semfinal	Friday, March 13	11:30 p.m.	TBD
Final	Saturday, March 14	11 p.m.	TBD

Stanford Survives

John Locher/Associated Press

Stanford's NCAA tournament hopes are still alive. Barely. Chasson Randle knocked down a three-pointer with 2.4 seconds remaining, propelling the Cardinal to a 71-69 victory over Washington in their first-round matchup.

Struggling all game with his shot, Randle had made just two of his 10 shots to that point. But he was in the right place at the right time when a Rosco Allen missed jumper landed in the hands of Marcus Allen, who fired it his direction for by far the biggest shot of Stanford's season.

Entering play firmly planted on the bubble, a loss to lowly Washington would have been a death knell for the Cardinal's hopes. Instead, Randle breathed life back into his team and sent them to the next round to face Arizona State.

Stefan Nastic led the way for the Cardinal with 21 points and five rebounds. Anthony Brown added 16 points and five boards, including four shots from long distance, while Reid Travis accounted for all 14 of Stanford's bench points. 

A hotly contested matchup throughout, neither team ever led by more than seven points, and for most of the game the deficit was within two possessions. Andrew Andrews scored a game-high 22 points, while Nigel Williams-Goss and Mike Anderson each turned in brilliant all-around performances. Williams-Gross had 16 points, seven assists and six rebounds; Anderson went for nine points, 10 boards and seven assists.

In the end, neither those performances nor Washington's 13 made threes were enough. All it took was Randle's one to get the job done.

Colorado Surprised Oregon State

Gary Breedlove/Associated Press

It wasn't Askia Booker's best shooting performance, but was enough to get the job done. Booker scored a game-high 20 points and Josh Scott had a double-double as Colorado earned 78-71 upset victory over Oregon State to advance Wednesday night.

Aggressive throughout, Booker was able to keep the points pouring in despite a 4-of-13 performance from the field. The 6'2" guard carved his way into the middle of the Oregon State defense and got to the line 10 times, making all but one attempt. Scott, who finished with 16 points and 14 rebounds, also scored half his points from the charity stripe.

Colorado overall shot 24-or-26 from the free-throw line compared to a pedestrian 14-of-22 rate for Oregon State. The Beavers also allowed their underdog opponents to make half their shots and come back from a 40-38 halftime deficit.

Malcolm Duvivier and Gary Payton II led the way with 17 points, while Olaf Schaftenaar added 16. Jarmal Reid was the only Oregon State bench player to score with nine points. Colorado's bench made the difference by accounting for 20 points.

The win for Colorado atones for its 72-58 loss in Corvallis on Feb. 21. The Buffaloes move on to play second-seeded Oregon on Thursday.

USC Ends Arizona State's Tournament Dreams

Ethan Miller/Getty Images

USC hasn't had much of a season. But behind Elijah Stewart's game-high 27 points, the Trojans certainly gave themselves a reason to smile in the Pac-12 tournament, knocking out Arizona State, 67-64.

Despite leading 58-43 with 9:51 remaining, Arizona State couldn't hold off the Trojans, as USC went on a 24-6 run down the stretch to steal the win, led by Stewart's 14 points and three treys in that time.

Of course, the phenomenal comeback might have been for naught had Nikola Jovanovic not come up with this huge block with time running down, per USC Basketball on Twitter:

Julian Jacobs was also solid for USC, scoring 12 points, nabbing seven rebounds and adding five assists. Shaquielle McKissic led the way for Arizona State with 16 points, nine rebounds and five steals.

Up next for USC will be a matchup with their rivals, UCLA. One would guess the Bruins wouldn't take them lightly after this display.

California Keeps Slim Tournament Hopes Alive, Breezes Past Washington State

Ethan Miller/Getty Images

California probably needs to win the Pac-12 tournament to reach the NCAA tourney. It earned one of the four wins it'll need to accomplish that feat on Wednesday, knocking off Washington State, 84-59.

Cal was led by senior forward David Kravish's career-high 25 points—he also chipped in eight rebounds—and a strong performance from sophomore guard Jordan Matthews, who pitched in with 19 points of his own, to lead the Bears. Tyrone Wallace chipped in with 12 points and seven assists.

Ike Iroegbu (17 points) and Josh Hawkinson (14 points, 11 rebounds) led the Cougars.

But the afternoon belonged to Kravish, who seemed to be willing Cal forward at points, as Mike Vernon of the San Francisco Chronicle noted:

Ernie Kent was certainly quite impressed, per Jeff Faraudo of ContraCostaTimes.com:

Cal did plenty of damage from beyond the three-point arc, finishing 8 of 12 from range and shooting an impressive 58.5 percent from the field. Washington State managed to keep things relatively close for much of the first half, but its struggles defensively and Cal's advantage down low helped the Bears pull out to a 47-30 lead just four minutes into the second half. 

Cal has proved to be nothing if not streaky this season. A 10-1 start to the season was followed by eight losses in nine games. The team appeared to right its course, winning five in a row after that before going 1-5 down the stretch.

Still, if Cal can get hot again, it is a dangerous team that could make the other bubble teams in the country very nervous. A forthcoming matchup against No. 1 seed Arizona will be a gigantic challenge—the Wildcats beat the Golden Bears by a combined 62 points in two meetings this year—but Cal at least has a fighting chance after getting past Washington State.

Given how streaky it's been all year, that certainly gives it hope.