• Preview
• Recap
• Bleachers

Oregon dominates Arizona in Pac-10 quarterfinals

Mar 9, 2007 - 2:58 AM LOS ANGELES (Ticker) -- Arizona did not help its NCAA Tournament seeding with a lethargic effort in the Pac-10 Conference Tournament.

Tajuan Porter, a conference All-Freshman selection, scored 21 points to lead No. 18 Oregon to a 69-50 victory over Arizona in the Pac-10 quarterfinals.

Pretty much a lock for an at-large bid in the NCAAs due to an RPI ranking of 13, the Wildcats (20-10) did not leave a positive impression for the NCAA Tournament Selection Committee, mustering their lowest point total of the season.

"There's no question of who played the hardest, smartest and most competitively," Arizona coach Lute Olsen said. "It starts out front with Aaron Brooks, but Tajuan Porter knocked down shots too. They're a problem to defend and the fact they had so much room to work makes them very difficult to defend."

Arizona, which led the league in scoring offense at over 79 points and finished third in field goal percentage at 48.5 percent, shot just 34 percent (21-of-62) from the field, including 3-of-16 on 3-pointers.

"I thought for us it was the best defensive performance in 10 years against Arizona," Oregon coach Ernie Kent said. "Keeping them on the transition and keeping them off the offensive glass. ... I thought they were just outstanding defensively and they've always been a pretty good offensive team."

Aaron Brooks, a first-team All-Pac-10 selection, scored 16 points - all in the first half - as the Ducks (24-7) opened a 34-23 advantage at the break.

"We were prepared for the game," Brooks said. "Our coaches came up with a great game plan, we executed well, came out and played defense. We just came out and played hard. We played hard today on defense."

Oregon extended the lead to 21 points on a 3-pointer by Beau Poppen-Abajian with 2:09 left in the game, making it 67-46.

The 5-6 Porter lit up the Wildcats from the outside, connecting on 5-of-6 3-pointers.

"It was our skill and quickness against their skill and quickness," Kent said, "and today we were a little bit better at shooting the ball."

Oregon, which has won its last five games, will meet California in Friday's semifinals. The Golden Bears upset top-seeded UCLA, 76-69, in overtime on Thursday.

Ivan Radenovic, a senior who scored 37 points in Arizona's overtime victory over Stanford in the regular-season finale on Saturday, managed just six points on 2-of-7 shooting.

Freshman Jordan Hill led the Wildcats with 15 points off the bench.

"We just came out today and didn't have our head in the game and made a lot of mistakes, Hill said. "I came out and played my game and Coach relied on me and gave me the opportunity to just go out there and play hard. We've just got to shake this off and go out there and play hard and play smart because we have the physical ability, but we just need to stay mentally focused to stay on top of it."

The No. 5 seed was the lowest for Arizona in the 10-year history of the Pac-10 tournament.