UCLA beats top-ranked Arizona in Pac-10 tourney

Steve Lavin still has a job _ and UCLA still has a chance to make the NCAA tournament. <br><br>The Bruins' 96-89 overtime victory over No. 1 Arizona was the biggest surprise of the Pac-10 Conference

Friday, March 14th 2003, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

Steve Lavin still has a job _ and UCLA still has a chance to make the NCAA tournament.

The Bruins' 96-89 overtime victory over No. 1 Arizona was the biggest surprise of the Pac-10 Conference tournament, but it wasn't the only one Thursday in Los Angeles. Oregon and Southern California also won as the Nos. 1, 2 and 4 seeds lost.

The Bruins (10-18) will face Oregon in the semifinals Friday. The fifth-seeded Ducks beat fourth-seeded Arizona State 83-82.

UCLA (10-18) lost its two regular-season games to Arizona by a combined 71 points, but the Bruins came out scrapping, knowing that only a victory would prolong their season _ and Lavin's tenure.

``It's nice that we're playing our best basketball again late in the year,'' said Lavin, expected to be fired after UCLA's first losing season in 55 years. ``Now we're in position to do something special.''

It was the 10th time the Bruins have upset a No. 1 team, breaking a tie for the national record with Notre Dame. Four of those have been under Lavin.

``We have not been able to put 40 minutes together, and today we finally did,'' senior Ray Young said. ``Although they made a run, we stuck together. Everybody was completely focused.''

Arizona (25-3) probably will get a No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament.

``We got our hit, now let's see how well we bounce back from that,'' Wildcats coach Lute Olson said.

Jason Kapono led the Bruins with 26 points. T.J. Cummings added 18 points before fouling out, while Young had 17, Dijon Thompson 15 and Andre Patterson 13 points and 12 rebounds.

Rick Anderson had a career-high 23 points and 11 rebounds for Arizona. Channing Frye also had 23 and Salim Stoudamire added 17. The Wildcats shot just 37 percent and were 2-of-14 in overtime.

Southern California beat No. 15 Stanford 79-74 to set up a semifinal against No. 24 California, which beat Oregon State 69-46.

Desmon Farmer scored 24 points and Roy Smiley added a career-high 20 for Southern Cal (12-16). Julius Barnes led Stanford (23-8) with 18 points and Davis added 15 points and 11 rebounds.

Richard Midgley scored 12 points for California (21-7) against Oregon State (13-15).

Big East

At New York, favorites Boston College, Pittsburgh, Syracuse and Connecticut advanced to the semifinals.

Boston College freshman Craig Smith tied it with a three-point play and then scored 10 of his 33 points in overtime of an 82-75 victory over St. John's (16-13).

The Eagles (18-10) will face fifth-ranked Pitt (24-4), which pulled away for a 67-59 win over Providence (16-13).

No. 11 Syracuse moved on with a 74-69 win over Georgetown (15-14). Carmelo Anthony led Syracuse (24-4) with 21 points to help overcome the performance of Georgetown's Mike Sweetney, who scored 29 points and had 13 rebounds.

The Orangemen will face Connecticut, 83-70 winners over Seton Hall (17-12). Emeka Okafor had 11 points, 18 rebounds and four blocked shots for the Huskies (20-8).

Conference USA

At Louisville, Ky., No. 8 Marquette committed a tournament-record 30 turnovers and lost for just the second time in 17 games. Morris Finley led UAB (18-11) with 23 points.

The Blazers will face fourth-seeded Saint Louis (16-12) in Friday's semifinals. Freshman Anthony Drejaj went 10-of-11 from the field and scored 27 points to lead the Billikens to a 69-56 win over Southern Mississippi (13-16).

No. 20 Louisville (22-6) defeated Tulane 82-66, thanks to 25 turnovers by the Green Wave (16-15). The Cardinals will face No. 16 Memphis in the semifinals.

Chris Massie had 18 points and 11 rebounds to lead the Tigers (23-5) to a 62-56 win over South Florida (15-14).

Atlantic 10

At Dayton, Ohio, all four of the top seeds advanced to the semifinals for the first time since 1999.

Keith Waleskowski scored 16 points and Sean Finn added 15 as No. 22 Dayton (22-5) showed little sign of rust after a 12-day layoff in defeating Rhode Island 74-57.

Rhode Island (18-11) shot only 21 percent, going 6-of-29.

The Flyers will face Temple (14-14), 66-52 winners over Richmond (15-13).

No. 10 Xavier (25-4) got a 78-73 win over George Washington (12-17) thanks to David West's 27 points. The Musketeers will face No. 25 St. Joseph's (23-5). The Hawks beat La Salle 64-48.

Big Ten

At Chicago, Jeff Newton set the tone for Indiana (19-11) with 23 points, seven rebounds, five assists, two blocks and two steals as the Hoosiers beat Penn State 77-49.

Indiana will play third-seeded Michigan (17-12) in Friday's quarterfinals. The other quarterfinal games will feature No. 18 Wisconsin, the regular-season champs, against Ohio State; No. 13 Illinois against Northwestern; and Michigan State playing Purdue.

The Buckeyes (15-13) blew a 12-point lead before holding off Iowa 66-64. Northwestern (12-16) dressed only nine players but still stunned Minnesota (16-12) 76-64.

Big 12

At Dallas, Kansas State should have had a victory after Pervic Pasco intercepted Colorado's desperation court-length inbound pass with 3 seconds left. Instead, Pasco raised an arm in celebration and took some steps with the ball, thinking his team had won the game. But the referees whistled him for a traveling violation with 1.8 seconds still left on the clock. That allowed James Wright to bank in a 3-pointer at the buzzer for a 77-76 victory.

The Buffaloes (20-10) will play sixth-ranked Oklahoma (21-6) in a quarterfinal game Friday.

In other opening-round games, it was: Iowa State 97, Texas A&M 70; and Missouri 70, Nebraska 61. Texas Tech (17-11) plays Friday against third-ranked Texas (22-5) after beating Baylor 68-65.

Southeastern Conference

At New Orleans, freshman Mario Moore scored a career-high 25 points, and Vanderbilt (11-17) took control with an early 12-0 run in defeating Alabama 82-69.

Alabama (17-11), once ranked No. 1, is in danger of missing the NCAA tournament. The Commodores will play No. 2 Kentucky in the quarterfinals.

Mississippi (14-14) beat South Carolina 62-56 and will face Mississippi State. LSU (20-9) beat Arkansas 85-56 and will play Florida. Auburn will play Tennessee in the final quarterfinal.