The Pac-10's own version of March Madness continued Friday night in Los Angeles with two Semifinal matchups. The first meeting saw one seed Arizona taking on four seed USC, and the late game saw Washington taking on Oregon. Here's a few of the notes on yesterday's action.
- The Trojans came into Friday on Joe Lunardi's "Last Four In" after winning their Quarterfinal game against California on Thursday, but USC would have liked another victory over Arizona to assure their spot in the Field of 68. The Trojans played hard and stayed with the Wildcats for most of the game, but in the end they fell 67-62 to Arizona.
- In my opinion, the Trojans have done enough to earn an at-large bid. USC has wins against Texas, at Tennessee, and Arizona. Not to mention wins against Washington State, UCLA, and Washington on road.
-
USC was without head coach Kevin O'Neill for the game after a bizarre situation on Thursday night. According to multiple reports, O'Neill and his wife Roberta were involved in a heated argument with Arizona booster Paul Weitman in the lobby of the JW Marriott in Los Angeles on Thursday night. According to PointGuardU.com, O'Neill and his wife were visibly intoxicated, supported by the photo below that shows O'Neill at the Marriott in the same suit he wore during the game.
Photo via PointGuardU.com - Back to action on the court, the Washington Huskies ended Oregon's cinderella run with a 69-51 win. The Ducks looked tired from the outset, as this was Oregon's third game in three days. The Huskies had a 30-21 lead at Halftime and cruised from there. The Ducks will head back to Eugene, hopefully awaiting a CBI invitation. With the win, the Huskies have safely moved away from the bubble and will face Arizona today at 3:15 PM Pacific in the Championship.
The Championship Game will be televised by CBS, with the winner taking the Pac-10's bid to the NCAA Tournament. But like I said above, both teams are safely in the Field of 68 that will be announced Sunday at 3:00 PM Pacific on CBS.
Go Beavers!