TEMPE β Nahziah Carter sized up the 3-pointer and never hesitated, letting it fly with confidence. Washington hasn't been able to finish many games for wins during a frustrating season but this time it was different.
Carter's shot splashed through the net and it helped the Huskies close out a 90-83 victory over Arizona State on Thursday night. The Pac-12's last-place team is trending in the right direction with one game remaining in the regular season and the conference tournament approaching in Las Vegas.
βWe're not defeated and we don't feel defeated,β Carter said. βWe still have aspirations of winning (the Pac-12 Tournament). We're going to take it one game at a time. This was a start.β
Carter scored 23 points, Jaden McDaniels added 16 and the Huskies won for the second time in three games. The good stretch of basketball comes on the heels of a nine-game skid that knocked Washington's once-promising season off course.
βIt's a cannibal league, everybody's eating on each other,β Washington coach Mike Hopkins said. βThere are so many good teams. That's what makes it great. It's one game β so we played well β we've got to come back and play another good game and use it as momentum.β
Washington looked like it was headed to another disappointing loss for a big chunk of the night.
The Sun Devils led by four at halftime and stretched the advantage to 61-49 early in the second half. But Washington responded with nine straight points and tied the game at 65 with about 10 minutes left. Isaiah Stewart's dunk with 8:15 left put the Huskies up for the first time in the second half.
Washington (14-16, 4-13 Pac-12) went ahead for good, 73-72, with 5:17 left on McDaniels' layup. Carter's big 3-pointer with 1:51 left pushed the Huskies ahead 83-74 to essentially end Arizona State's hope for a rally. Stewart finished with 14 points and 12 rebounds.
Arizona State (19-11, 10-7) lost its third straight game. Rob Edwards led the Sun Devils with 23 points but leading scorer Remy Martin had one of his worst games of the season, finishing with six points on 2 of 14 shooting from the field, including 1 of 10 from 3-point range.
βI think we could have gotten better shots, especially my shots,β Martin said. βThey've been going in a good amount of time this year, but it just wasn't falling. I just need to find something else if it's not falling to try and affect the game.β
Arizona State led 45-41 at halftime after making 6 of 11 shots from 3-point range. Alonzo Verge Jr. and Edwards both had 11 points for the Sun Devils before the break. Verge finished with 19 points.
Arizona State coach Bobby Hurley said his team didn't do a good job of getting back on defense when Washington rallied in the second half.
βAt home, you've got to win these type of games this time of year,β Hurley said. βYou can't afford to lose these games. But credit to Washington β they have the players and a great coach.β
No. 13 OREGON 90, CALIFORNIA 56
EUGENE, Ore. β Oregon is thinking championship β and the No. 13 Ducks certainly looked the part Thursday night.
By scoring 21 consecutive points to pull away from California in the first half, the Ducks went on to win 90-56. It was their widest margin of victory in a Pac-12 game this season.
That sets up a home game Saturday against Stanford that could result in a share of the conference title, or possibly outright possession of the championship. The Ducks (23-7) moved back into a tie with UCLA for first place in the conference at 12-5 with the regular season ending Saturday. UCLA meets USC to conclude its season before Oregon hosts Stanford.
βIt will be a big game Saturday night, we have to play real well,β Oregon coach Dana Altman said. βWe are playing a team that really needs a win and we need a win to win a conference championship.
βItβs not like with our tradition that we can take that lightly. Everyone talks about March and the NCAA Tournament, but I still think conference titles mean a lot.β
Payton Pritchard led five Ducks in double figures with 20 points and passed out nine assists in Oregonβs 21st consecutive home victory, including all 16 home games this season. Pritchard shot 6 of 8 overall, including making all three of his 3-point attempts.
Oregon guard Payton Pritchard (3) drives to the basket against California guard Paris Austin (3) during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game in Eugene, Ore., Thursday, March 5, 2020. (AP Photo/Thomas Boyd)
Oregon shot 63% from the field overall, including 71% (12 for 17) on 3s as Anthony Matthis added 17 points on 5 for 6 shooting from 3-point range. Will Richardson and Addison Patterson each had 13, and Shakur Juiston chipped in 10. Oregon had 18 assists with only eight turnovers, and aΒ 32 -25 advantage in rebounds.
βA lot of good stats there,β Altman said. βI thought it was a really good effort.
βEverybody gave us a little something. If you can get eight or nine guys contributing at this time of year, that can make a real difference.β
Matt Bradley led the Bears (13-17, 7-10) with 15 points, and Grant Anticevich added 10. Cal shot 36% from the field and struggled to get into an offensive flow against Oregonβs pressure defense.
βI donβt want to take anything away from Oregon, theyβve got a great team,β Cal coach Mark Fox said. βTheyβre still playing for the championship, but Iβd hoped to give them a better fight.
βWe played poorly from top to bottom. ... We coached poorly.β
After trailing by as many as 28 points, Cal made a brief rally to get within 15 at 58-43 with 11 minutes remaining. But after a media timeout, Pritchard made two free throws, hit a 3-pointer from the corner that was followed by a 3 from Patterson and Oregonβs lead was back to 66-43, prompting Cal to use a timeout with 9:33 remaining.
Oregon never trailed, taking a quick 11-5 lead by making its first five field-goal attempts. The lead kept edging wider until the Ducks blew it open with 21 consecutive points for a 46-18 advantage with two minutes left in the opening half as Cal went five minutes without a point.
βI was disappointed in our approach to the game, but I want to give Oregon credit. They played very well,β Fox said. βThe only thing I was surprised by was our very poor start to the game.β
It was 46-20 at halftime, with the Ducks shooting 68% overall, including 5 of 6 on their 3-point attempts. Pritchard led Oregon with 13 points and was supported by 10 from Richardson, questionable to play after a sprained ankle suffered a week ago in a win over Oregon State caused him to miss practices leading up to the game.
βI thought defensively we played real hard for most of the game,β Altman said. βIn the first half, we flew around and made defensive plays. The ball movement was good and obviously we shot it well from 3, and that gives you a big boost.β
OREGON STATE 68, STANFORD 65
CORVALLIS, Ore. β Oregon Stateβs Tres Tinkle will always take victories over records, but in Thursdayβs win over Stanford he could enjoy both accomplishments.
The Beaversβ senior forward scored 23 points to lead Oregon State to a 68-65 win over Stanford, and he became the schoolβs all-time leading scorer.
Tinkle needed six points entering the game to pass Gary Payton atop Oregon State's career scoring list with 2,172 points.
βIt wouldnβt have meant anything if we didnβt win,β said Tinkle, who now has 2,190 career points, seventh most in Pac-12 history. βThatβs how Iβm wired. Team first, you wanna win. The rest is just kind of extra.β
Ethan Thompson added 15 points for the Beavers (16-13, 6-11), who snapped a four-game losing streak.
Bryce Wills scored 16 points to lead the Cardinal (20-10, 9-8), whose four-game winning streak came to an end.
Tyrell Terry's jumper gave the Cardinal a 65-64 advantage with 33 seconds remaining - their first lead since late in the first half.
Tinkle made two free throws with 17.6 seconds left to put Oregon State back on top 66-65.
Terry missed a 15-foot jumper from the right baseline and Tinkle grabbed the rebound and was fouled with four seconds left. He made both ends of the double bonus, extending the lead to 68-65.
Oregon State's Tres Tinkle (3) passes around Stanford's Bryce Wills (2) during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game in Corvallis, Ore., Thursday, March 5, 2020. (AP Photo/Amanda Loman)
Stanford called a timeout after advancing the ball to midcourt with 3.1 seconds on the clock. Isaac White's 30-foot 3-point attempt bounced off the rim at the buzzer.
βWe needed that win to get us in the right direction,β said Tinkle, who was 6 of 15 from the field and 9 of 10 at the foul line. βHopefully we feed off this and get another one to close the regular season on a high note.β
Oregon State likely needs to win the Pac-12 tournament next week in Las Vegas to advance to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2016.
The Beavers had high expectations this season with a nucleus of Tinkle, Thompson and 7-foot center Kylor Kelley, but inconsistency has been a problem.
βHopefully from this point forward we can keep the momentum going,β said Oregon State coach Wayne Tinkle, who is Tres Tinkleβs dad.
Tinkleβs 3-pointer with 8:45 remaining gave Oregon State its biggest lead at 56-46 with 8:45 remaining.
Stanford closed to 61-58 on Oscar da Silva's layup with 4:34 left, but the Cardinal's leading scorer fouled out a minute later.
Jaiden Delaire's layup brought Stanford within one point at 62-61 with 1:49 left, and the Cardinal grabbed their only lead of the second half on Terryβs jumper.
Tinkle made four clutch free throws in the final 17 seconds to preserve the win and a regular season sweep of Stanford.
βThe last dozen minutes I thought we were us, which means defensively we had an identity and we were a little more physical in making plays,β said Stanford coach Jerod Haase, adding βI was impressed with the team for them to come back in the second half."
A major factor in the game was 3-point shooting. Stanford hit just 3 of 15 shots from long range, while the Beavers converted 8 of 20.
Kelley, who leads the Pac-12 and ranks second nationally in blocked shots, added nine points, seven rebounds and three blocks. Zach Reichle joined Tinkle and Thompson in double figures with 10 points.
Da Silva scored 14 points and was limited to 27 minutes due to foul trouble. Terry scored 13 points and Daejon Davis added 10 points for the Cardinal.
Tinkle scored Oregon State's final eight points of the first half as the Beavers took a 34-32 at the break. Neither team led by more than five points in the first half.
After a slow start, Tinkle scored 12 first-half points in the final seven minutes.
