Isaac Hamilton scored 36 points, connecting on 13 of 17 field goals, against USC (photo by Katie Meyers)
Courtesy: UCLA Athletics
LAS VEGAS - Isaac Hamilton scored a career-high 36 points and hit seven 3-pointers to help UCLA cruise past USC, 96-70, in the quarterfinals of the Pac-12 Tournament on Thursday.
UCLA (20-12) earned its fourth consecutive win – its sixth straight in the series against the Trojans (12-20) – to advance to Friday evening’s semifinal against No. 1-seed Arizona.
Hamilton became the Bruins’ first player since Dijon Thompson to score at least 35 points in a game and to make at least seven 3-pointers in a game. Thompson dropped 39 points and had seven 3-pointers against Arizona State in a victory on Feb. 10, 2005.
“I just credit my teammates, just finding me,” Hamilton said. “The ball was moving. I took good shots, and that’s the whole point of the offense. Coach really emphasized taking good shots, and that’s what I tried to do.”
With Hamilton leading the charge, UCLA shot a season-high 60 percent from 3-point range, connecting on 12 of 20 3-pointers. Hamilton finished the game having made 13 of 17 shots, including 7 of 9 from 3-point distance.
Norman Powell and Tony Parker each scored 14 points for the Bruins, who have won nine of 12 games since losing a pair of games at Oregon State and Oregon on Jan. 22 and 24.
“In our three games against USC this year, we’ve done a good job of scoring. We’ve been able to score on them. Our focus coming into this last night, once we found out it was SC who we were going to play, it was really about our defense.”
Katin Reinhardt scored a team-leading 20 points off the bench for the Trojans, connecting on 7 of 11 field goals, and 5 of 9 shots from beyond the arc.
UCLA pushed its record to 3-0 against USC this season, having won by an average margin of 18 points per game.
The Bruins took control of Thursday’s game early in the first half, pushing their margin to 24-13 with a 14-0 scoring run. UCLA claimed a 47-29 cushion by halftime, connecting on 18 of 31 shots, including 6 of 11 from 3-point distance. Hamilton had already scored 18 points, three shy of his previous season high, by halftime.
Hamilton made a pair of back-to-back 3-pointers in the first two minutes of the second half to not only extend UCLA’s advantage, but also to eclipse his season high. His final point total of 36 points was just three shy of UCLA’s single-game Pac-12 Tournament record (Reggie Miller, who had 39 points against Arizona State on March 6, 1987.
UCLA freshman Kevon Looney exited the game in the first half with a facial injury and did not return. He was evaluated by team medical staff after the game, and his status for Friday’s game has not been determined.
The Bruins will face Arizona (29-3) at 6:10 p.m. at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in the first of two tournament semifinal matchups Friday. UCLA’s game will be televised by Pac-12 Networks.
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