Arizona passes first test with OT win over Colorado

When the Pacific 12 Conference brought back its basketball tournament in 2000, Arizona cut down the nets at Staples Center in Los Angeles.

The Wildcats haven’t climbed the ladder since.

On Thursday, fourth-seeded Arizona passed its first test of the tournament, eliminating fifth-seeded and defending champion Colorado 79-69 in a quarterfinal game at the MGM Grand Garden Arena.

In today’s semifinals, Arizona (25-6) and top-seeded UCLA (24-8) will meet at 6 p.m., followed by 10th-seeded Utah (15-17) against third-seeded Oregon (24-8) at 8:30. The 21st-ranked Bruins edged ninth-seeded Arizona State 80-75; the Utes stunned second-seeded California 79-69 in overtime; and the Ducks outlasted sixth-seeded Washington 80-77 in overtime. The winners will play for the title at 8 p.m. Saturday.

“I’ve been on the team that has lost back-to-back in the championship game, and it would mean everything to win here and be able to cut down the nets and wear the hats and T-shirts,” Arizona senior forward Solomon Hill said. “But it’s all one game at a time. We’ve got a huge game with UCLA, and they beat us twice, so we’ve got to deal with that first.”

With a pro-Arizona following among the crowd of 12,915 cheering them on, the 18th-ranked Wildcats controlled most of the game. Sophomore guard Nick Johnson, a former Findlay Prep standout, set the tempo by attacking the rim and playing hard-nosed defense. He hit 6 of 7 shots en route to scoring a team-high 18 points.

“My personality is to play hard,” Johnson said. “I got away from it a little during the (Pac-12) season, but I got it back (Thursday).”

Colorado (21-11) had expended a lot of energy in its first-round victory over Oregon State on Thursday, and it showed against Arizona. The Buffaloes trailed 39-28 at halftime and 59-47 with nine minutes left before making a run.

They closed within 71-69 with 1:03 left, but Johnson then made two crucial plays. He hit a layup with 34.6 seconds to go and then blocked Askia Booker’s 3-point shot with 18 seconds left.

“We knew when we came to Vegas it was going to be a tremendous tournament, and it’s headed in that direction,” Wildcats coach Sean Miller said.

Spencer Dinwiddie scored 18 points, and Andre Roberson had 15 points and 11 rebounds for Colorado, which won four games in four days to capture the conference tournament last year. But this year its fate will be in the NCAA selection committee’s hands. Entering the Pac-12 tournament, the Buffaloes were projected anywhere from a No. 7 to No. 10 seed.

Arizona was projected as a No. 4 seed when the tournament began.

“Honestly, we haven’t been playing our best ball lately,” said freshman forward Brandon Ashley, another Findlay Prep alumnus who had eight points and five rebounds in 17 minues off the bench. “But we came out aggressively, and we’ve got to continue to do that to win this tournament.”

In Thursday’s other quarterfinal games:

— Freshman Shabazz Muhammad, a former Bishop Gorman High School star, scored 12 of his 16 points in the second half as UCLA rallied from a 15-point deficit to beat Arizona State (21-12).

Wearing new uniforms with sleeves and matching camouflage-patterned shorts, the Bruins appeared to be in danger of becoming the second straight top seed to lose its first game in the Pac-12 tournament. But a 17-4 second-half run got them back in the game.

— Jared DuBois’ 3-pointer with four seconds left forced overtime, and Utah got key baskets from Jason Washburn and Jordan Loveridge early in OT in its upset of Cal (20-11).

With Utah trailing 59-56, DuBois, who totaled 21 points, buried the 3-pointer to pull the Utes even. In overtime, Washburn scored four of Utah’s first seven points and finished with 18. Loveridge scored eight of his 20 points in the extra period.

Cal, which blew an eight-point second-half lead, was 4 of 12 from the field in overtime. Justin Cobbs led the Golden Bears with 26 points.

— Senior forward Arsalan Kazemi scored 11 of his 14 points in overtime to help Oregon edge Washington.

Former Bishop Gorman guard Johnathan Loyd’s two free throws with 16.6 seconds left in regulation pulled the Ducks even, and Loyd stripped C.J. Wilcox and forced a turnover as the buzzer sounded to end regulation.

Loyd finished with five points and four assists. Fellow Gorman alumnus Ben Carter had four points in four minutes for the Ducks, and Findlay Prep product Dominic Artis didn’t score in 18 minutes for Oregon.

Wilcox scored four straight points late in regulation for Washington (18-15) and finished with 19.

Contact reporter Steve Carp at scarp@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2913. Follow him on Twitter: @stevecarprj.