Colorado Buffalos (22-11, 11-7) vs. Arizona Wildcats (23-10, 12-6) at The Staples Center in Los Angeles at 3 PM PST / CBS /
Oregon St. didn't quite make it to the Pac-12 Tournament Championship game, but they gave it a good try. The Beavers held a 7 point halftime lead over Arizona, but playing their third game in three days, ran out of gas in the second half, and the Wildcats rolled by for a 72-61 win, behind a 22 point performance by Kyle Fogg.
It was the second win of the year for Arizona over Oregon St., after having won the regular season matchup 81-73 in overtime in Tucson.
Colorado upset California 70-59 in the other conference tournament semi-final. The Buffs used a balanced effort, getting 17 points each from Carlon Brown and Andre Roberson, and 15 more from Austin Dufault, to (fairly) easily overcome a game high 18 points by the Golden Bears' Allen Crabbe. It gave the Buffs 2 wins in 3 games this year against the Bears.
It's not a stretch to see how the Beavers could have made it to, or possibly even won the whole thing. After all, they beat regular season conference Champion Washington just a day after dumping Washington St., and gave Arizona all they wanted in both the regular season and the tournament.
And the Beavers split with Colorado in the regular season, downing the Buffs 83-69 in the regular season finale in Gill Coliseum, a great bounce back after losing the first meeting in Boulder 82-60.
But it didn't happen, and its time to congratulate the 'Cats and Buffs on earning their way into the Tournament.
Here's the place to reflect on what was still a pretty good season for the Beavers, only their second winning season in 22 years, and look ahead at the Beavers' post season possibilities, which could include an NIT bid, or at the very least, another CBI berth.
And to analyze the championship game, and discuss how the Beavers might have handled the matchups that arise.
Congratulations Colorado and Atizona!
Go Beavs!
Andy_Wooldridge@yahoo.com