UCLA's Reeves Nelson was a major factor in the Bruins defeating Arizona, 75-69 Thursday in the Pac-10 men's basketball tournament. (Photo by Mario Villegas)
Story Created:
Mar 12, 2010 at 1:10 PM PST
Story Updated:
Mar 12, 2010 at 1:45 PM PST
Reeves Nelson made a dramatic return to the lineup and for that UCLA can be thankful.
The freshman forward, who missed the last four games with a partially torn retina requiring surgery, scored a game-high 19 points on 8-of-9 from the field, grabbed 10 rebounds and added a career-high three assists in helping the Bruins stop Arizona, 75-69 Thursday in the quarterfinals of the Pac-10 men’s basketball tournament at Staples Center.
The win puts the Bruins (14-17) into Thursday’s 6:18 p.m. semifinal against top-seeded California (22-9), a 90-74 winner over Oregon.
The return of Nelson gives UCLA a better shot against the Golden Bears.
“Having Reeves Nelson back and healhy makes them more dangerous,” Cal coach Mike Montgomery said. “Any time a team plays UCLA in Los Angeles, it has to be ready for that.”
UCLA snapped a three-game losing streak with Thursday’s win and the return of the 6-foot-8 Nelson, who had four offensive rebounds among his total.
“Having Reeves back is a huge boost for us,” Bruins coach Ben Howland said. “He’s very good on getting the offensive rebounds and he’s got great hands. Once he gets the ball it’s very difficult to wedge it away from him.”
Nelson agreed with his coach.
“I’m the team’s only inside player,” he said. “I just want them to pay attention to me, and I want to try to score whenever I get the ball.”
Michael Roll and Nikola Dragovic each had 18 points for UCLA.
Nic Wise led Arizona with 16 points and freshman Derrick Williams had 14.
California 90, Oregon 74
Jerome Randle scored 22 points and Patrick Christopher had 21 points, five rebounds and five assists to lead the Golden Bears past Oregon.
The backcourt duo had a lot to do with Cal hitting 33 of 61 field goal attempts, including going 11 of 20 from 3-point range.
“I thought we shot extremely well for not being able to shoot around as much before as we would have at home,” Christopher, the former Dominguez High School standout, said.
Randle, the Pac-10 player of the year, said, “I credit my shooting in the first half with great passes from my teammates.”
Washington 59, Oregon State 52
Isaiah Thomas scored 15 points as Washington (22-9) advanced to the 8:40 p.m. semifinal Thursday against Stanford, a 70-61 upset winner over Arizona State.
Stanford 70, Arizona State 61
Jeremy Green scored 18 points to lead the Cardinal (14-17) past the Sun Devils (22-10) in the other quarterfinal.
Friday schedule
at Staples Center
UCLA vs. California, 6:18 p.m.
Stanford vs. Washington, 8:40 p.m.
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