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

The 2015 Pac-12 tournament continued Thursday with quarterfinal action. The day started with only eight teams remaining, which meant all byes were officially in the rear-view mirror. Only four teams will be left standing heading into Friday’s semifinals.

No. 1 Arizona kicked off the action with eyes on improving its impressive resume heading into Selection Sunday, while bubble teams UCLA, Stanford and, to a lesser extent, Oregon were all scheduled to take the floor Thursday.

With that in mind, here is a look at the quarterfinal scores and important details from the Pac-12 tournament. This information will be updated throughout Thursday’s action.

Quarterfinals Scores and Bracket

Time	Team	Team	Result
3 p.m. ET	(1) Arizona	(8) California	73-51, Arizona
5:30 p.m. ET	(4) UCLA	(12) USC	96-70, UCLA
9 p.m. ET	(2) Oregon	(10) Colorado	93-85, Oregon
11:30 p.m. ET	(3) Utah	(6) Stanford	80-56, Utah

An updated bracket for Friday’s semifinals can be found here, courtesy of Pac-12.com.

Semifinals Schedule

Time	Team	Team
9 p.m. ET	(1) Arizona	(4) UCLA
11:30 p.m. ET	(2) Oregon	(3) Utah

Quarterfinals Recap

Arizona 73, California 51

Rick Scuteri/Associated Press

March may be for Cinderellas, but there was no underdog story in Thursday’s first game of the Pac-12 tournament.

No. 1 Arizona took care of business against No. 8 California and won 73-51. The Wildcats dominated the second half and had four scorers in double figures, including Stanley Johnson with 19 points and Brandon Ashley with 15 points. The team also shot an impressive 88.2 percent from the free-throw line and 54.5 percent from three-point range.

California held its own early and only trailed 33-27 at the half.

Jabari Bird then hit a three-pointer for the Golden Bears to cut the lead to 33-30 after intermission, but the Wildcats flexed their top-seeded muscles from there. Arizona went on a 13-2 run to open up a 46-32 advantage with just over 13 minutes remaining.

For all intents and purposes, the game was over.

The Wildcats gradually pulled away in the stretch run after opening up the lead and never saw their advantage fall below double digits. Much of their scoring in the second half came from the free-throw line, where they finished 15-of-17. 

It also helped having something of a home-court advantage thanks to their fans, via Bruce Pascoe of the Arizona Daily Star:

The Wildcats actually haven’t won the Pac-12 tournament since 2002 and have never taken home the title under head coach Sean Miller. Miller discussed that, via James Kelley of The Daily Wildcat:

"

We haven’t won it. We’ve played really well recently. In our program’s history, it’s been some time that we haven’t won it, and yet we won the regular season, and then having a chance to add to our win total and quality of play leading into what I think really matters, and that’s the NCAA tournament.

"

Arizona needs to win the tournament this time around if it hopes to contend for a No. 1 seed in the Big Dance alongside the likes of Wisconsin and Villanova. Kentucky, Virginia and Duke will likely take three of the top seeds, but that fourth one could be up for grabs. 

The Wildcats took the first step on Thursday.

UCLA 96, USC 70

Ethan Miller/Getty Images

While the level of competition has to be factored in, UCLA didn’t look like a bubble team Thursday.

The Bruins eviscerated USC to the tune of 96-70 in a game that was never in doubt. Isaac Hamilton put on a Las Vegas show in the MGM Grand Arena and finished with a game-high 36 points on 13-of-17 shooting. Katin Reinhardt led the way for the Trojans off the bench with 20 points.

The game was well over by halftime when UCLA jumped out to a 47-29 lead. USC actually held an early 13-10 advantage, but the Bruins went on a 14-0 run and never looked back.

Norman Powell wasted little time announcing his presence to UCLA’s archrivals from across town with a few highlight plays during the process. Pac-12 Networks passed along the highlights:

Still, the main story was Hamilton. He did a little bit of everything on the offensive side and beat the Trojans from behind the three-point line with seven threes. He also dazzled off the dribble on a number of occasions. He even mixed in a little defense and finished with two steals.

Sam Vecenie of CBS Sports was impressed:

"

Isaac Hamilton becoming a basketball god was not something I expected today.

— Sam Vecenie (@Sam_Vecenie) March 12, 2015"

Next up for UCLA is a date with top-seeded Arizona. A victory over the formidable Wildcats would go a long way toward helping the Bruins lock up a spot in the NCAA tournament field, especially since it would happen on a neutral floor.

The two teams only played once this season, and Arizona won 57-47. It was a defensive slugfest, but the Bruins could have some more confidence on the offensive end this time around after Hamilton’s impressive performance. 

They are going to need all the scoring punch they can get.

Oregon 93, Colorado 85

John Locher/Associated Press

To the Buffaloes' credit, they put up quite a fight as heavy underdogs with a sub-.500 record by lighting up the scoreboard. It just wasn't quite enough, as the Ducks overcame a 37-34 halftime deficit to pull away in the final 20 minutes.

Pac-12 Player of the Year Joseph Young was instrumental to the Ducks' victory, playing all 40 minutes and netting a game-high 30 points on 12-of-22 shooting.

Before the outcome was completely decided, Doug Haller of AZCentral.com praised how Young rose to the occasion to carry his team through a stretch of adversity:

Ducks head coach Dana Altman spoke afterwards about what he told Young following the star senior's rocky start.

"I just thought in the first half he was impatient,'' said Altman, via OregonLive.com's Jason Quick. "I just wanted to remind him to slow down, keep the game in front of you. We've run these sets 100 times; don't overreact, don't get your speed up.''

Junior forward Elgin Cook added 20 points of his own for the Ducks, missing just two of his 10 attempts from the field. That helped offset a balanced effort from Colorado, who had five players in double figures, led by Josh Scott's 16.

A far tougher test is up next when Oregon faces Utah, but as Young mentioned after the game (h/t Quick), his side hadn't played a game for 10 days and showed evidence of rust. This was the Ducks' wake-up call, and they responded with a tremendous second half.

If Oregon wasn't in NCAA tournament mode already, Thursday's slight scare will kick up the competitive juices. It was actually beneficial for the Ducks to get their jitters out of the way prior to a marquee showdown with Utah, and then likely with Arizona should they make the final.

Utah 80, Stanford 56

John Locher/Associated Press

Little suspense was to be had when the Utes took the court on the heels of Oregon's single-digit win. Utah smashed the Cardinal with a similar second-half surge, though the Utes already had a five-point advantage entering halftime.

Stanford managed just 17 points to Utah's 46 after the midway intermission.

Utes star Delon Wright made his own strong case for conference player of the year this season, and showed off his skills on this follow-up dunk, courtesy of Pac-12 Networks:

Wright had 20 points and connected on seven of his 11 shots, including no misses on four three-point attempts. Forward Jordan Loveridge stuffed the stat sheet for the Utes with 18 points, eight rebounds, five assists and two steals.

What Loveridge attributed his side's huge second half to was the Utes' ability to get stops and use it as momentum at the other end, via KSL.com's Robert Jackson:

"

Jordan Loveridge: "The biggest thing that helped our offense was our defense"

— Robert Jackson (@rojackKSL) March 13, 2015"

Kyle Goon of The Salt Lake Tribune felt Loveridge's standout performance was his best in quite some time:

Even the presence of a couple contributors from Stanford's Sweet 16 squad from last year couldn't stem the tide.

Cardinal guard Chasson Randle topped Wright with 22 points but needed 16 shots from the field to reach that number, while center Stefan Nastic was just 4-of-13 shooting and managed just four rebounds before fouling out.

It's a tough way for Stanford to go out after a rally in the previous contest to beat Washington 71-69. As resilient as the Cardinal were during last year's Big Dance, their shot to get in was through this tournament, and they probably didn't do enough.

The same can't be said for Utah, who has a great opportunity to move forward and notch a quality win versus Oregon to bolster its March Madness resume. A head-to-head battle between the likes of Wright and Joseph Young ought to be fascinating to watch, adding more excitement than usual to a conference tournament semifinal.

Only the top four seeds remain in the Pac-12 tournament, which is how it should be. All teams involved will be in the NCAA tournament field, so this will be a great look into where they all are ahead of the most important games.