Gonzaga and three PAC-12 teams advance to Elite Eight

The PAC-12 continued its dominance this week in the NCAA tournament, with three teams advancing to the Elite Eight. USC, UCLA, and Oregon State each won their third games of the tournament. Only Oregon failed to advance, losing to USC 82-68. A great start allowed USC to get out to a big lead at the half 41-26. It was a lead that Oregon would cut to 69-60 in the second half but could get no closer. Normally a great three-point shooting team, the Ducks had a down day shooting 5-21, good for only 23.8%. USC made five more three-pointers, 10-17 for 58.8%, which was the difference in the game.

UCLA had a very balanced attack, with all five of their starters scoring at least ten points and none of them scoring more than seventeen points. All of Alabama’s players who played any minutes scored for the team. Jahvon Quinerly, who started the game on the bench for Alabama, was the game’s leading scorer with twenty points. Although UCLA had an eleven-point lead at the half, Alabama went on an 11-0 run to start the second half to tie the game at 40-40. From there, no team would lead by more than seven points as the game stayed close down to the final second in regulation when Alex Reese of Alabama hit a three-point shot to tie the game at 65-65 to send the game to overtime. UCLA slowly pulled away in overtime as Alabama missed their first six shots, including free throws allowing UCLA to build a lead that they wouldn’t give up. UCLA would go on to win 88-78. They will face #1 seeded Michigan on Tuesday, March 30.

Senior Ethan Thompson led all scorers with twenty-two points as Oregon State defeated Loyola Chicago 65-58 to advance to the Elite Eight. Oregon State’s superior shooting was the key to this game as they performed better from the field, the three-point line, and the free-throw line, where they only missed two free throws for the game. This was the first meeting of these two teams since December 31, 1927.

Oregon State faced #2 seeded Houston on March 29. Oregon State started the game shooting poorly, and Houston took advantage, building a 34-17 lead at the half. The Beavers shooting improved as the game went on, and they would make 56% of their shots in the second half. With 3:48 left in the game, Oregon State tied it at 55-55 but would never take the lead, and their tournament ended with a 67-61 loss to Houston. Usually, a great free-throw shooting team Oregon State went an uncharacteristic 11-20 from the free-throw line. It was still a very successful season from a team that was expected to finish last in the PAC-12 this season.

Gonzaga improved to 29-0 on the season after an 83-65 win over #5 seeded Creighton. Creighton stayed in the game for the first ten minutes of the first half with 27-25 Gonzaga. After that, Gonzaga built a ten-point halftime lead that they would not relinquish. The Bulldogs shot 59.6% from the field and had a balanced scoring attack. Gonzaga’s next game will be against #6 seeded USC on March 30 on TBS.

The final four games will be held on Saturday, April 3and shown on CBS.