Dawgs keep eye on prize

LOS ANGELES – Isaiah Thomas scored 15 points and third-seeded Washington roared back from a big second-half deficit to keep its NCAA basketball tournament hopes alive with a 59-52 victory over Oregon State in the Pac-10 quarterfinals Thursday night.

Matthew Bryan-Amaning and Elston Turner added 10 points apiece for the Huskies (22-9), who trailed 35-23 with 16 1/2 minutes to play before making a 23-4 run over the next 8 minutes, playing with all the passion that this underachieving team lacked in the first half.

Washington will face Stanford in today’s semifinals as the only non-California school left in the Pac-10 field. Regular-season champion California will face UCLA in the first game.

Roeland Schaftenaar had 17 points and Jared Cunningham added 15 as the sixth-seeded Beavers (14-17) lost to Washington for the second time in six days, following the Huskies’ 82-70 win in Corvallis, Ore., last weekend. Washington has seven straight wins over Oregon State after beating the Beavers three times in a season for the first time since 1953.

Both teams’ best offensive players struggled mightily in the Pac-10’s fourth quarterfinal. Thomas led the Huskies in their second-half comeback despite 4-for-16 shooting, while regular-season scoring leader Quincy Pondexter had eight of his nine points in the second half, all during a mid-half burst before going scoreless in the final 8:53.

Calvin Haynes, Oregon State’s leading scorer, managed just two points on 1-for-7 shooting, while Seth Tarver had just six points. Haynes also missed a free throw with 27 seconds to play, killing the Beavers’ comeback hopes.

Washington began the season as a conference favorite, but struggled through a midseason lull before winning nine of 11 heading into the tournament. A win over seventh-seeded Stanford could put the Huskies in the best position to be the Pac-10’s second NCAA selection – although only a tournament title will get them in without a nervous Selection Sunday.

The Huskies were mostly lifeless until early in the second half, when they scored 14 points in just over 4 minutes to tie it. Pondexter got his first two field goals of the night during the run – and Turner and Thomas hit 3-pointers to put Washington up 43-37 with 10:12 left.

Oregon State got back within 49-47 before Thomas’ 3-pointer with 4:41 left. Schaftenaar’s 3-pointer cut the lead to four points with 43 seconds to play, but the Beavers didn’t score again.

Stanford 70, Arizona State 61: The Sun Devils came up with a clunker just when they needed a win.

Losing to Stanford in the quarterfinals may have cost the Sun Devils a berth in the NCAA tournament.

Regular-season champion California is expected to get in, and Arizona State seemed to have earned its way in by finishing second.

But then came Stanford.

Jeremy Green scored 18 points and Landry Fields added 17 for the seventh-seeded Cardinal (14-17), who dominated against a team that swept them in the regular season.

Now, the Sun Devils (22-10) have to hope the NCAA tournament committee is feeling generous toward the Pac-10 in what has been a down year for the conference, which doesn’t have any teams in the AP Top 25.

“I don’t know how anybody knows,” Arizona State coach Herb Sendek said. “Obviously, the more you win, the better your chances get. We’ll have to hope for the best.”

UCLA 75, Arizona 69: Michael Roll scored 19 points, Reeves Nelson added 18 and the Bruins (14-17) held off the Wildcats in a quarterfinal between two powerhouses that once ruled the league but have struggled this season.

Nelson grabbed 11 rebounds as the gritty heart-and-soul of the Bruins, which he’s been all season. Wearing protective glasses, he played for the first time since missing the previous four games with a slight retinal tear in his left eye. Nikola Dragovic also scored 18 points.

Nic Wise scored 16 points and Derrick Williams added 14 for Arizona (16-15), which lost in the quarterfinals for the third consecutive year. The Wildcats salvaged NCAA tournament appearances both times, extending their nation’s best streak to 25 straight years. That will end this season, although their winning record could land them in the NIT.

The Bruins still have a shot at trying to improve what is their worst record since 2003-04, coach Ben Howland’s first season in Westwood. They advanced to a semifinal today against California.

California 90, Oregon 74: Jerome Randle scored 22 points without missing a shot in the first half, and the top-seeded Bears easily advanced to the semifinals with a victory over the Ducks.

Patrick Christopher had 21 points and five assists for the Golden Bears (22-9), who followed up their first outright conference title in a half-century by sending home the weary Ducks (16-16) in what could be coach Ernie Kent’s final game.

Randle went 8 for 8 with four 3-pointers in the first half, staking Cal to a 15-point lead. Jamal Boykin then scored all 15 of his points in the second half to finish the eighth-seeded Ducks, who were taken to overtime by Washington State in their first-round game Wednesday night.

Cal will face UCLA today.