LOS ANGELES -- In what never seemed to be a contest, No. 7 seed Arizona advanced to tomorrow night's quarterfinal matchup against No. 2 seed Stanford after running past Pac-10 bottom-dweller Oregon State with a 87-56 victory.

The Wildcats, who shot a blistering 70 percent from the field in the first half and finished 31-of-57 (54.4 percent) for the game, had all five starters score in double figures, as Jordan Hill led the way with 16 points and eight rebounds in 22 minutes of action. Jerryd Bayless tallied 15 points and Chase Budinger dropped in 14 to go along with five assists, but what might have been the most important performance for Kevin O'Neill's team was the return of Nic Wise, who suffered a knee injury during the middle of conference play but had a quality game with 15 points, eight assists and five steals in 26 minutes.

Arizona also held a 39-32 rebounding advantage over OSU, which shot just 32.8 percent from the field and only 20 percent from three-point range.

The Beavers, in the meantime, had two players finish in double-digit points, as Lathen Wallace finished his sophomore campaign with a game-high 19 points on 6-of-13 shooting, including 3-for-7 from three.

Calvin Hayes added 10 points in 24 minutes and Marcel Jones was OSU's main attack on the glass, grabbing a game-high 12 rebounds to go along with seven points, two assists, three steals and a block.

While the Beavers never seemed to pose much of a challenge for Arizona, you can be rest assured that Stanford and the Lopez twins will provide a stiff challenge for the Wildcats, who were unable to beat the Cardinal on either occasion this season.

Stanford, after all, is coming off two gut-wrenching losses to UCLA and USC, and you know that Trent Johnson's team is need of some revenge after last week's disappointment next door at The Galen Center and across town at Pauley Pavilion.

Either way, we should have four thrilling games to witness tomorrow, starting at 12 p.m. PT/3 p.m. ET with No. 4 seed USC taking on fifth-seeded Arizona State. No. 9 seed Cal will take on top-seeded UCLA at 2:30 p.m. PT/5:30 p.m. ET looking to get revenge and No. 3 seed Washington State and No. 6 Oregon follow at 6 p.m. PT/9 p.m. ET. Top that off with the nightcap between Stanford and Arizona (8:30 p.m. PT/11:30 p.m. ET) and you got one heck of a day of basketball. So if you're able to tune in for any of the action (even you East Coasters going to bed by 11 p.m.), I'd recommend doing so.

So until then, we say goodnight from Staples Center, where Cal and Arizona were both victorious in tonight's first round action.

Posted by Josh Herwitt at 01:33 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

LOS ANGELES -- Our apologies for the fewer amount of posts during this second half of play, but to be honest, not a whole lot has changed since Arizona took a 34-4 lead on Oregon State in the first half.

The Wildcats, instead, now lead 81-51 with four minutes to play and if you thought that's bad, you don't want to know what the score was before, as 'Zona nearly held a 40-point lead around the 10-minute mark.

Kevin O'Neill has his reserves in at this point and Oregon State is just going through the motions and will finish the season without a win in the Pac-10.

You can't help but feel bad for OSU interim head coach Kevin Mouton, who took over for John Jay after the head coach was fired in the middle of the season and hasn't got the Beavers that one conference win that they were hoping for.

Posted by Josh Herwitt at 01:12 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

LOS ANGELES -- With five minutes gone in the second half, not much has changed here at Staples Center, as Arizona still leads Oregon State by more than 30 points.

Lathen Wallace has been the one bright spot for the Beavers, leading all scorers with 19 points, but it's been Jordan Hill who has taken over for 'Zona, throwing down to big dunks to get the crowd -- what little of what's left at least -- going.

With this game more than in Arizona's back pocket, this remaining 15 minutes should be a good practice session in getting ready for Stanford and ever-imposing Lopez twins.

Posted by Josh Herwitt at 01:01 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

LOS ANGELES -- We're at halftime in our second game of the night here at Staples Center, and it's not exactly anything like the first game we got to watch.

Arizona is out to a 59-21 lead on No. 10 seed Oregon State, and the Wildcats already have two scorers in double figures as Jerryd Bayless and Nic Wise both have 13 points apiece. Chase Budinger and Jawann McClellan have each dropped in nine points for 'Zona, which shot a stellar 71 percent from the field and outrebounded OSU, 16-13, during the first 20 minutes of play.

The Beavers, meanwhile, could only muster up 26.7 percent from the floor in the first half, as Lathen Wallace leads the Beavers with nine points on 2-of-7 shooting. Calvin Hayes has also added six to the Beavers' scoring line, but it's not looking good for Kevin Mouton's team.

So while there's little chance of Oregon State winning tonight's contest, it will be interesting to see how much Arizona coach Kevin O'Neill will play his starters in the second half and whether or not he'll let them rest with tomorrow's big matchup against No. 2 seed Stanford on the horizon.

Posted by Josh Herwitt at 12:31 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

LOS ANGELES -- With two minutes left before halftime, we got a snoozer on our hands as Arizona leads Oregon State, 56-17 (and yes, I am reading the scoreboard correctly).

The Beavers have looked like the 0-18 team that they've been all season, and with this margin already, there's little hope going into break for Kevin Mouton's players.

That is, unless they manage to keep Arizona from pretty much scoring in the second half. But with the way the Wildcats have shot the ball in this first half, I wouldn't put my money on OSU to make any sort of comeback.

Posted by Josh Herwitt at 12:22 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

LOS ANGELES -- Arizona continues to roll here in the first half of the Wildcats' first round contest against No. 10 Oregon State, as there's not much that has gone right for Kevin Mouton's team in the first 15 minutes of play.

Jordan Hill has been particularly active down low for the 'Cats, and it doesn't seem like there's much that OSU has to offer on the interior.

Of course, this is a team that only won six games all year, including three straight against USC Upstate, Idaho State and Portland -- not exactly the nation's top-tier talent.

But with 4:34 remaining before halftime, it's Arizona already claiming a 30-point lead with the scoreboard reading 45-15.

Posted by Josh Herwitt at 12:11 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

LOS ANGELES -- While I've been finishing up some final stats and notes on our first game, Arizona has put on a shooting clinic, knocking down everything in sight and leading big, 32-8, with still 10 minutes left in the first half.

Jawann McClellan is leading the Wildcats with nine points at the moment and Jordan Hill has already had two big-time dunks to record six points in the first half. Freshman star Jerryd Bayless has seven, including a smooth-looking three from the right wing, and Chase Budinger has added five after stroking a three of his own.

Posted by Josh Herwitt at 12:03 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

LOS ANGELES -- Our apologies for the late start on our second game of the night, as we got stuck listening to Cal coach Ben Braun discuss his team's big win over Washington in the first game of our doubleheader.

Seventh-seeded Arizona, which finished the season at 18-13 and 8-10 in the conference, comes into tonight's game against No. 10 seed Oregon State desperately needing to win to have a shot at making the NCAA Tournament.

The Beavers, on the other hand, failed to win a Pac-10 game this season and most likely won't be able to match the athleticism that freshman sensation Jerryd Bayless and sharpshooting sophomore Chase Budinger present.

Posted by Josh Herwitt at 11:48 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)