Pac-12 Tournament 2016: Round 1 Scores, Quarterfinals Bracket and Schedule

The 2016 Pac-12 tournament is in full swing from the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, with four first-round games on Wednesday featuring bubble teams such as Oregon State and USC looking to strengthen their resumes.   

Colorado, one of the conference's most fascinating teams, is also in action Wednesday. The Buffaloes entered the day with a stellar resume, sitting 30th in the RPI with key wins over Pac-12 powers Oregon and Arizona. 

With so much at stake for all eight teams in action, the simplest thing for them to do is win to avoid leaving their fates up to the selection committee. Here's a look at how things shook out for the Pac-12 tournament's first round, along with an updated bracket. 

Tournament Schedule

Game	Round 1	Result/Start Time (ET)
Game	Quarterfinals	Result/Start Time (ET)
1	No. 8 Washington vs. No. 9 Stanford	Washington, 91-68
2	No. 5 Colorado vs. No. 12 Washington State	Colorado, 80-56
3	No. 7 USC vs. No. 10 UCLA	USC, 95-71
4	No. 6 Oregon State vs. No. 11 Arizona State	Oregon State, 75-66
5	No. 1 Oregon vs. No. 8 Washington	3 p.m. (Thursday)
6	No. 4 Arizona vs. No. 5 Colorado	5:30 p.m. (Thursday)
7	No. 2 Utah vs. No. 7 USC	9 p.m. (Thursday)
8	No. 3 California vs. Oregon State	11:30 p.m. (Thursday)

Updated Bracket

Round 1	Quarterfinals	Semifinals	Championship
	No. 1 Oregon
No. 8 Washington 91	No. 8 Washington	TBD
No. 9 Stanford 68
	No. 4 Arizona
No. 5 Colorado 80	No. 5 Colorado	TBD
No. 12 Washington State 56			TBD
	No. 2 Utah		TBD
No. 7 USC 95	No. 7 USC	TBD
No. 10 UCLA 71

	No. 3 California
No. 6 Oregon State 75	No. 6 Oregon State	TBD
No. 11 Arizona State 66

Colorado def. Washington State, 80-56

Even though March is supposed to be a time for upsets, the Pac-12 tournament has featured no drama through two games. Colorado got an easy victory over Washington State in the first round to set up a marquee showdown with Arizona on Thursday. 

The Buffaloes were led by sophomore star George King, who finished with 21 points. It's the second time in less than one month he's hit that exact point total against Washington State, previously doing it in an 88-81 double-overtime win on Feb. 11. 

An impressive day overall, King was not without some highlight-reel moments, such as this reverse layup early in the second half, via Pac-12 Networks:

King wasn't without help, though the Buffaloes got more contributions from the entire team than additional standouts. Josh Fortune had 13 points and hit a team-high three three-pointers in the victory. Wesley Gordon and Troy Miller each grabbed seven rebounds. 

The Colorado defense had a strong game against an overmatched Washington State team. The Cougars were held to 35.2 percent shooting, going just 3-of-13 from beyond the arc. Josh Hawkinson had a solid game with eight points and 14 rebounds, but there wasn't enough offense around him to support the Colorado onslaught. 

A matchup with Arizona figures to be a bigger test for Colorado. The two teams met at the Coors Events Center on Feb. 25, with the Buffaloes holding serve at home with a 75-72 victory. 

Colorado sits comfortably in the tournament field right now, with ESPN's Joe Lunardi projecting it as a No. 9 seed. A win over Arizona would certainly bump the Buffaloes up another line or two, so there is no lack of motivation for this program heading into Thursday. 

Washington def. Stanford, 91-68

Elaine Thompson/Associated Press

Knowing it will likely need to win the Pac-12 tournament to get an invite to the Big Dance, Washington came storming out of the gates on a 10-0 run against Stanford and never looked back. 

The Huskies led by as many as 25 in the first half, briefly increased that margin to 29 early in the second half and put things on cruise control to prepare for a matchup against Pac-12 regular-season champion Oregon on Thursday. 

Washington was stellar on both sides of the ball, limiting Stanford to 38.3 percent shooting from the floor and just 3-of-21 from three-point range.

Dejounte Murray led the Washington offense with 25 points. Marquese Chriss and Malik Dime both posted double-doubles. 

Senior guard Andrew Andrews nearly upstaged Murray and Chriss, finishing one rebound and assist shy of a triple-double with 14 points, nine rebounds and nine assists. Not a bad follow-up after he scored 47 points in the regular-season finale against Washington State. 

ESPN's Kevin Pelton went so far as to call Washington's first-half performance its best of the season:

Defense has been a problem for the Huskies this season. They entered Wednesday ranked 332nd out of 351 teams, allowing 80.1 points per game, per Sports-Reference.com. 

The duo of Murray and Chriss also hooked up for one of the Huskies' most spectacular plays of the day, via UW Men's Basketball on Twitter:

Stanford's mediocre season ends in appropriately disappointing fashion. The Cardinal have nothing to take away from this game. It was a perfect combination of their playing their worst and Washington's playing its best. 

Washington's victory pushes its overall record to 18-13. Six losses over seven games before defeating Washington State last week destroyed any hope the Huskies have of reaching the tournament without an automatic bid. 

Things will be more difficult for Washington on Thursday with Oregon waiting. The Ducks ran all over the Huskies on Feb. 29 in an 86-73 victory. Head coach Lorenzo Romar will need his defense to perform well once again and hope Andrews' hot streak continues for his team to march on.

USC def. UCLA, 95-71

UCLA may be one of the premier programs in college basketball history, but it certainly didn’t look the part this season. The Bruins dropped to 15-17 on the campaign with a 95-71 loss to the USC Trojans.

UCLA’s archrivals were likely thrilled to be the ones to end the Bruins’ suffering. This is the third time USC beat UCLA in three tries this season, and all three victories came by double digits in commanding fashion. 

Six different Trojans scored in double figures, including Bennie Boatwright and Jordan McLaughlin. Boatwright led the way with 19 points and nine rebounds, while McLaughlin tallied 18 points, five rebounds and three assists.

Julian Jacobs also directed the offense with 11 points and nine assists, and Chimezie Metu posted a double-double with 10 points and 11 boards off the bench and finished off arguably the best play of the game, via Pac-12 Networks:

USC as a whole drilled 11 three-pointers, five of which came from Boatwright, and hit 24 free throws as it put UCLA early with sharp shooting.

UCLA received 12 points and six rebounds from Thomas Welsh in the losing effort.

USC was ahead 48-29 by halftime and was never truly challenged in the final 20 minutes after the dominant start.

The Trojans face Utah next in Thursday’s quarterfinals. The Utes won the only matchup of the season between the two teams, 80-69, and it came on USC’s home court. Somehow, the Trojans will have to find a way to overcome the No. 2 seed in the Pac-12 tournament on a neutral court this time around. They will also have to deal with double-double machine Jakob Poeltl down low. 

If they hit their outside shots like they did Wednesday, they could spring the upset and bolster their NCAA tournament resume.

Oregon State def. Arizona State, 75-66

Oregon State needed a victory to bolster its NCAA tournament resume, and it received just that Wednesday against Arizona State, 75-66.

Oregon State was only 7-of-22 from three-point range but exploited the Sun Devils defense by attacking the rim and earning 32 free throws, 26 of which it converted.

The backcourt led the way for the Beavers. Gary Payton II scored 10 points, grabbed nine rebounds and tallied four steals, Malcolm Duvivier scored 12 points and grabbed six boards, and Stephen Thompson Jr. posted 13 points, five assists and two steals.

Oregon State's suffocating defense forced 12 Arizona State turnovers and held the Sun Devils to a mere 8-of-29 shooting from three-point range. The Pac-12 Networks provided an example of that defense at work that resulted in a rim-rattling dunk:

Gerry Blakes was impressive in defeat for Arizona State with 20 points, eight rebounds and three steals, but he was also 5-of-17 from the field and struggled to establish much shooting rhythm against that Oregon State defense.

The Beavers set the tone early with a 32-23 halftime lead and appeared to be in full control when they extended the advantage to 48-33 with less than 14 minutes remaining in the game with a Payton layup.

Arizona State did close the gap to seven at 52-45 with less than nine minutes left, but Oregon State answered with a run of its own to push the gap to double digits again, where it remained for the majority of the second half. While the Sun Devils closed to within single digits in the final two minutes, they never truly threatened.

Next up for Oregon State is a quarterfinals showdown against California Thursday.

The Golden Bears are the No. 3 seed in the Pac-12 tournament, but these two teams split during the regular season with the home team winning each game. It feels appropriate then that the rubber match will come on a neutral floor.

Fatigue could be a factor for the Beavers after playing the late game Wednesday, but they also have momentum on their side and understand the tournament environment. If they want to play in an even bigger environment in the NCAA tournament, they have to keep taking care of business in Las Vegas.

Stats courtesy of ESPN.com unless otherwise noted.