UCLA rolls by USC, faces Arizona

When Isaac Hamilton scored 13 points against Southern California last week, it was a small measure of revenge for the UCLA sophomore guard.

Hamilton had managed just three points in the first meeting with the Trojans on Jan. 14. But he knew he was capable of even more than the 13 he had tallied on March 4.

On Thursday, he responded with much more — a career-high 36 points — in UCLA’s 96-70 win over USC in the quarterfinals of the Pacific-12 Conference tournament at the MGM Grand Garden.

“I just credit my teammates,” said Hamilton, whose previous best as a collegian was 21 points against Alabama-Birmingham on Nov. 28. “They were moving the ball and finding me, and I took good shots. That’s something coach really emphasized — taking good shots — and that’s what I tried to do, and they were falling for me.”

The win put the fourth-seeded Bruins (20-12), the defending Pac-12 tournament champions, in today’s 6 p.m. semifinal against No. 1 Arizona, which eliminated California 73-51.

In the other semifinal, Oregon will meet Utah at 8:30 p.m. The Ducks defeated Colorado 93-85, and the Utes beat Stanford 80-56.

UCLA, on the bubble for a berth into the NCAA Tournament, now gets another chance to impress the selection committee, which is meeting in Indianapolis and will be watching.

“We’re like everybody else,” UCLA coach Steve Alford said. “We would like more wins at this point, but it’s the 20th win playing a difficult schedule, and we finished fourth outright in the league, and now we’re guaranteed to be in the top four of the conference tournament. This team’s done what it’s supposed to do.”

Hamilton, a former star at St. John Bosco High School in Los Angeles, had planned to play at Texas-El Paso. But he had second thoughts and asked for his release after signing his national letter of intent.

UTEP coach Tim Floyd refused to free up the McDonald’s All-American, so Hamilton left on his own, came home, enrolled at UCLA and appealed to the NCAA to be allowed to play for the Bruins in 2013.

The NCAA denied his appeal, so he sat out last year.

While this season has been a bit of a roller-coaster ride, Hamilton seems to be trending upward given Thursday’s performance, which came in the face of some personal adversity. His grandmother died Sunday.

“I couldn’t be happier for Isaac,” Alford said. “He had the passing of his grandmother this week, and for him to have a game like this, on the heels of her passing, that’s a pretty special situation to be in.”

The Bruins have a lot to play for this week as a bubble team. But by making today’s semifinals, they have the opportunity to spring an upset against Arizona.

“Obviously, each game you try and build that resume,” Alford said. “But our resume looks pretty good, and we’re playing our best basketball. Now we’ve got a chance to play easily one of the best teams in the country, and we’ve got to go through them if we’re going to have a chance to defend the title.”

Hamilton, who scored just two points in the Bruins’ 57-47 loss to Arizona on Feb. 21, no doubt will be looking for a duplicate effort of Thursday in tonight’s semifinal.

“This game definitely gave me confidence, but I need to continue to attack against Arizona,” he said.

UCLA took control against USC midway through the first half, hitting the Trojans with an 18-3 run and turning a 13-10 deficit into a 28-16 lead with 7:46 left in the half.

It was 47-29 at halftime, and the Bruins led by as many as 29 points in the second half.

“Good players make shots,” USC coach Andy Enfield said when asked about the challenge of defending Hamilton. “He got the first one to go down, and it probably helped his confidence.”

Former UNLV guard Katin Reinhardt made 5 of 9 3-point attempts and led USC (12-20) with 20 points.

■ Arizona 73, California 51 — The top-seeded Wildcats built a double-digit lead early in the second half and cruised into tonight’s semifinals, forcing 14 turnovers.

“Statistically, we did a great job,” Arizona coach Sean Miller said of his team’s defense. “We held them to 51 points. They shot 34 percent from the floor. We tried to make sure we stuck to our half-court man-to-man defense and take away their transition (offense).”

Stanley Johnson scored 19 points and former Findlay Prep standout Brandon Ashley 15 for Arizona (29-3). Tyrone Wallace scored 19 for Cal (18-15).

■ Oregon 93, Colorado 85 — Led by Joseph Young, the second-seeded Ducks outplayed the No. 10 Buffaloes in the second half, using a 16-1 run to take control.

Young finished with 30 points, seven rebounds, four assists and three steals for Oregon (24-8), which had five players score in double figures.

With the game tied at 46 with 16:01 to play, Oregon went on the big run to take a 62-47 lead with 11:28 remaining. The Buffaloes (15-17) cut the deficit to 80-76 with 2:16 left, but got no closer.

Oregon scored 27 points off 13 Colorado turnovers.

Josh Scott had 16 points to lead the Buffaloes, who also had five players score in double figures.

■ Utah 80, Stanford 56 — The third-seeded Utes used a 24-3 run over a 6:45 span in the second half to overtake the No. 6 Cardinal. Delon Wright scored 20 points to lead Utah (24-7).

Stanford (19-13) had a 39-34 halftime lead but managed just 10 points in the first 12½ minutes of the second half.

Chasson Randle paced the Cardinal with 22 points.

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