Saturday, March 15, 2014

UCLA Advances to Title Game, Cruising Past Stanford, 84-59


Courtesy: UCLA Athletics
Release: Friday 03/14/2014
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LAS VEGAS (AP) - Norman Powell scored 22 points, Travis Wear added 16 and UCLA cruised past Stanford, 84-59, in the Pac-12 tournament semifinals on Friday night.
Coming off a lopsided victory over Oregon in the quarterfinals, UCLA (25-8) started another one by building a 12-point lead in the opening four minutes. The Bruins kept making shots and kept building the lead, racing off to Saturday's championship game against fourth-ranked and top-seeded Arizona.
Kyle Anderson added 13 points, eight rebounds and seven assists for UCLA, which shot 65 percent. Stanford (21-12) was listless from the start of its third game in three days, unable to match UCLA's intensity or athleticism.
UCLA has earned its sixth championship game appearance in the 17-year history.  This marks the first time in tournament history in which UCLA has advanced to the conference's championship game in consecutive seasons.
The Cardinal labored offensively and barely got in the Bruins' way on defense, left now to wait for Selection Sunday to see if they will advance to the NCAA tournament.
Dwight Powell scored 16 points and Chasson Randle added 11 for Stanford.
UCLA handled the athleticism and quickness of Oregon with relative ease in the quarterfinals, using a big second-half run to turn what was supposed to be a close game into an 82-63 win.
The Bruins had to shift gears for the semifinals against Stanford, a much more methodical team.
The Cardinal had success with their patient, get-the-right-shot style in the tournament's first two rounds, blowing out third-seeded Arizona State 79-58 after pulling away for a victory over Washington State in the opener.
UCLA won the battle of styles in the first meeting this season, blowing out Stanford 91-74 in Westwood.
The Cardinal turned the tables in the second meeting, beating the Bruins 83-74 at home for a big boost to its NCAA tournament chances.
UCLA dominated the start of round 3, opening with a 14-2 run and dropping shots from all over throughout the first half.
Travis Wear had 12 points by halftime, Anderson had 11 and the Bruins made 18 of 29 shots for a 44-29 lead.
The Cardinal opened 2 of 9 from the floor, while UCLA hit seven of its first nine to build the lead to 62-34.
The Bruins hit 12 of 17 shots in the second half to keep the momentum continuing.
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