LAS VEGAS — N’Faly Dante’s basket and free throws by Jermaine Couisnard and Jackson Shelstad in the final 36 seconds of Thursday’s Pac-12 tournament quarterfinal helped fourth-seeded Oregon survive a UCLA comeback attempt with a 68-66 win.
UCLA had one last chance to tie or win the game with 4.4 seconds left, but Dylan Andrews drove to the basket only to have his shot bounce off the rim at the buzzer.
Dante finished with 22 points to lead Oregon (21-11), which advanced to the semifinals on Friday to play the tournament’s top seed, Arizona. Andrews led the fifth-seeded Bruins with 24 points.
Dante dropped in a hook shot that bounced high off the rim and went through the net with 35.1 seconds to play for a 65-62 Oregon lead, but Andrews responded with a jumper with 11.1 seconds to go.
Couisnard, who left the game briefly with a shoulder injury, made two free throws after that, and Shelstad, a freshman in his first conference tournament game, made one of two free throws after Andrews knocked down two at the other end.
The Bruins finished the season with a 16-17 record despite Andrews’ play and 16 points from Sebastian Mack.
UCLA ran three different big men at Dante and the Ducks, and one fouled out, Kenneth Nwuba. The Bruins had to come back with Adem Bona despite his four fouls around the five-minute mark, and the Pac-12’s Defensive Player of the Year was not much of a factor.
After trailing for most of the first half, Oregon took its first lead of the second half, 37-36, on a Jadrian Tracey layup at the 16:48 mark. Then Kario Oquendo hit a 3-pointer for a 40-38 Ducks lead.
Oquendo had 10 points off the bench.
Oregon was fortunate to be down only five after a miserable first half of shooting. At one point, the Ducks were 3 of 18 from the floor, including 0-for-7 from 3-point range although they warmed up a little and made 10 of 27 shots for the half.
–Jose M. Romero, Field Level Media
