Las Vegas, NV – The lights are bright and Vegas never sleeps but day 1 of the Pac-12 tournament has been put to bed. No surprise after one day of action on the hardwood, as top four seeds awaited their first opponents. Oregon #1 Seed will start the day off today hosting 8th seed Washington for a matinee game at noon. So as we get closer to Saturday night finally, who will punch an automatic ticket to March Madness?
Each of the games finished with dominate performances, USC somehow defeated UCLA 95-71 for a third time this season. They were led by freshman Bennie Boatwright who scored 19 points, 5 of 9 from 3 point range. This victory made it three straight wins in row for the first time since 1942. UCLA didn’t make it a game only shooting 38% from the field despite having four players in double figures. USC the 7th seed advances to play Utah 2 seed at 6pm Thursday night.
Washington defeated Stanford 9th seed 91-68 led by Dejounte Murray who exploded for 25 points. The Dawgs held Stanford scoreless from the field until 8:43 mark in first. They will need this same type of energy and shooting performance to have a chance to upset the #1 seed.
Colorado the 5 seed ran away from Washington State 12th seed 80-56. Ralphie would have been proud to see George King score 21 points for the team high. They will take on Arizona 4th seed today at 2:30pm for game 2.
The night cap for day one saw the closest game between Oregon State 75 Arizona State 65. Stephen Thompson Jr. scored 13 points and Oregon State moved a step closer to its first NCAA Tournament berth in 26 years. This would be great for Corvallis after women’s basketball team just one their PAC-12 championship in Seattle last week.
All PAC-12 tournament games will be played at MGM Grand Hotel this week. The PAC-12 had already announced early in the week that the games were sold out. March Madness is here for our entertainment……
