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By Paul Schulz
Cronkite News

LAS VEGAS – T-Mobile Arena was the place to be for the Pac-12 Men’s Basketball Tournament quarterfinals Thursday. After two close games in the morning session, the stage was set for the Arizona Wildcats and Stanford Cardinal.

Despite the neutral site setup, the cheers and colors in the crowd created an atmosphere similar to McKale Center and made coach Tommy Lloyd’s team feel right at home. Nearly every basket and defensive stop made by Arizona brought the crowd to life at a deafening volume, and fans were still cheering when they closed the game with a 95-84 victory.

In the lone regular season matchup between the two teams in Palo Alto, Stanford’s Spencer Jones posted 18 points in the comeback win. He again played a vital role in the Cardinal’s effort against the Wildcats, putting up 22 in the Las Vegas matchup. Despite the severely outnumbered fanbase, coach Hasse’s squad jumped out to an early 8-6 lead by the 16-minute media timeout.

“I thought our guys played with a lot of heart, a lot of passion,” Stanford coach Jerod Haase said. “Offensively, I thought we were extremely efficient, but on the defensive end we just couldn’t get it done.”

The Pac-12’s 10th seed kept pace with the Wildcats throughout the entire first half, only trailing by four at halftime thanks to a buzzer-beating three pointer by Michael Jones.

It was the versatility and balance of Arizona’s offense that create problems for Stanford on the defensive end. In the first half alone, Cedric Henderson Jr., Oumar Ballo and Azuola Tubelis reached double figures in points. Thanks to outstanding shot selection, Henderson Jr. made 7 of 11 from the field in the first half, while Ballo and Tubelis were 6 of 7 and 5 of 7, respectively.

“We ended up with a lineup out there that was able to switch some things and just give it a different look,” Lloyd said. “Luckily our offense kept clicking all night.”

One of the Wildcats’ usual top performers, Kerr Kriisa, had a quiet night with a scoreless first half before being ruled questionable to return for the final 20 minutes. After working with the training staff, he returned as a second half starter but continued to struggle. The right-hand shooting Kriisa’s only point of the night came from a left-handed free throw in the final two minutes of the game.

In the first half, Kriisa suffered a “contusion-type injury,” Lloyd said, after colliding with a Stanford player.

“I just talked to our trainer and he felt he’ll be better tomorrow than he was (Thursday),” Lloyd said. “Who knows, maybe he’s being a little dramatic and just wanted to prove he could shoot left-handed free throws.”

Despite the guard’s inefficient performance, the continued dominance of Ballo and Tubelis, along with 12 second-half points from Courtney Ramey, allowed Arizona to build and maintain a lead over Stanford throughout the last fifteen minutes of play.

“We just played for each other,” Ballo said. “Guards found me and (Tubelis) pretty well and (Tubelis) also found me well, too, to get me the ball, and I took some quick shots and they just fell in.”

In the semifinal round of tournament competition, the Wildcats will once again battle their in-state rivals, the Arizona State Sun Devils, just two weeks after a last-second loss at home on a half-court buzzer beater from ASU’s Desmond Cambridge Jr. However, the approach entering the game is not that of a rivalry, but of trying to win one game at a time.

“Whoever we play, we know we’re going to get their best shot,” Ramey said. “We just want to play our best game (Friday) and rest up after (Thursday night’s game).”

The Sun Devils, on the other hand, appeared to be motivated by the rivalry as well as the resume Arizona built throughout the season.

“We have a lot of respect for Arizona and the program they have and what they have accomplished since I’ve been here, and more particularly the last two years,” ASU coach Bobby Hurley said. “To be in the semifinals of a tournament like this with the teams that are still left, we feel like blessed and just can’t wait for the opportunity.”

With one win and one loss to the Devils this season, the battle for bragging rights and a trip to the tournament championship game will tip off at 9:30 p.m. MST.

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