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 Patrick Christopher scored 25 points, Ryan Anderson had 22 points and 16 rebounds, and the Golden Bears rallied for an 84-81 victory over Washington on Wednesday night in the first round of the Pac-10 tournament.
The ninth-seeded Bears (16-14) and top-seeded Bruins (28-3) meet in the quarterfinals Thursday
-- five days after UCLA won a controversial 81-80 decision at nearby Pauley Pavilion in the regular-season finale.
"We're pleased we have an opportunity to play UCLA again," Bears coach Ben Braun said. "It's really about an opportunity to go back and play against the best team in your league.
"It's not about settling anything," Braun added with a smile. "These guys (Anderson and Christopher) might say differently."
Last Saturday, Josh Shipp hit a rainbow jumper over the backboard with 1.5 seconds remaining to cap UCLA's rally from an 11-point deficit.
The Bruins got their final opportunity after it appeared Anderson was fouled when trapped, and then the officials ruled the ball was last touched by Anderson before going out of bounds when it looked like a UCLA player touched it last.
"Obviously we were really upset after the game," Anderson said. "We know now we can compete. This is the most ready we've been all year."
Said Christopher: "It'll be a fun game to watch. Put on your seat belts."
The Bears upset the Bruins 76-69 in overtime in the second round of the Pac-10 tournament last year.
Wednesday night, seventh-seeded Arizona routed 10th seeded Oregon State 87-56 in the only other Pac-10 game. Jordan Hill led five players in double figures with 16 points as Arizona took command early and was never threatened.
Hill didn't miss a shot, going 7-of-7 from the floor and 2-of-2 from the line while grabbing eight rebounds.
"We're going to have to play great on the defensive end," interim Arizona coach Kevin O'Neill said. "If you finish second in this league this year, you're damn good."
The Wildcats (19-13) went 8-10 in the league's regular season, their worst record since 1983-84, the last time Arizona didn't make the NCAA tournament.
They face second-seeded Stanford (24-6) on Thursday night.
In the first round of the Big East tournament held in New York, No. 25 Marquette beat Seton Hall 67-54 in the only game involving a ranked team. In the tournament's other games, it was: Villanova 82, Syracuse 63; West Virginia 58, Providence 53; Pittsburgh 70, Cincinnati 64.
Two more teams clinched spots in the NCAA tournament, too: Portland State with a 67-51 win over Northern Arizona for the Big Sky title, and Mount St. Mary's with a 68-55 win over Sacred Heart in the Northeast Conference's title game.
In the first game of the Pac-10 tournament on Thursday, fourth-seeded Southern California (20-10) meets fifth-seeded Arizona State (19-11), and No. 3 Washington State (23-7) plays No. 6 Oregon (18-12) in the third game.
The semifinals will be played Friday night and the finals Saturday at Staples Center.
UCLA, Stanford, Washington State and USC all appear to have NCAA tournament berths locked up. ASU, Oregon and Arizona are possibilities, but each might need at least one more win to get an invitation. Arizona has a streak of 23 straight appearances on the line.
Quincy Pondexter led eighth-seeded Washington (16-16) with 23 points and nine rebounds. Ryan Appleby added 12 points and Artem Wallace had 11 points and nine rebounds for the Huskies.
Washington star Jon Brockman, averaging a team-leading 17.6 points and a conference-leading 11.5 rebounds, missed his first game of the season because of a sprained left ankle.
The Bears led 75-68 before Pondexter scored six straight points to move Washington within one point with 3:35 remaining.
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The Huskies got within one point two more times before the Bears took the ball out of bounds with 43 seconds remaining and two seconds left on the shot clock. After taking a timeout, they got the ball to Anderson, who made a 3-pointer from the right wing as the shot clock ran out.
After Appleby missed a 3-pointer, Anderson made a foul shot with 21.3 seconds left to give the Bears an 83-78 lead. Washington's Venoy Overton made a 3-pointer to cut Cal's lead to two points before Eric Vierneisel's foul shot with six seconds left. Overton's 3-pointer as time expired wasn't close.
No. 25 Marquette 67, Seton Hall 54
In New York, Jerel McNeal scored 21 points and the Golden Eagles held Seton Hall scoreless over the final five minutes.
Sixth-seeded Marquette (23-8) will play third-seeded and 14th-ranked Notre Dame in the quarterfinals on Thursday night, after Georgetown plays Villanova, Connecticut meets West Virginia and Louisville faces Pittsburgh.
Marquette shot 34.4 percent (22-for-64), while Seton Hall shot 33.9 percent (20-for-59). The Pirates' plan worked well for 35 minutes as they were within 57-54 before ending the game by coming up empty on their last 10 possessions. The Golden Eagles closed with a 10-0 run.
Jamar Nutter and Eugene Harvey both had 15 points for Seton Hall (17-15), which lost its fourth straight overall and third this season to Marquette.
Big Sky Tournament
Portland State 67, Northern Arizona 51
In Portland, Ore., Deonte Huff scored 17 points to lead Portland State to its first trip to the NCAA tournament.
Kyle Coston added 14 points for PSU (23-9), which won its 14th straight Big Sky game, and Andre Murray had 13 points. Jeremiah Dominguez chipped in nine points and six assists.
Nate Geiser led Northern Arizona (21-11) with 13 points and Kyle Landry had 10 points and 11 rebounds for the Lumberjacks.
Northeast Conference
Mount St. Mary's 68, Sacred Heart 55
In Fairfield, Conn., Jean Cajou and Kelly Beidler each scored 15 points and Mount St. Mary's earned a trip to the NCAA tournament for the first time since 1999.
Jeremy Goode added 13 and Shawn Atupem had 12 for the fourth-seeded Mountaineers, who won the tournament for the third time, but the first under a coach other than Jim Phelan, who won 830 games in 49 years as Mount's coach. Current coach Milan Brown was an assistant on the last championship team.
Brice Brooks had 18 points and Drew Shubik had 13 to lead Sacred Heart.
[Associated Press; By JOHN NADEL]
Copyright 2008 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This
material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or
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