STANFORD, CALIF. — Michael Wright's layup with three seconds left gave No. 8 Arizona a 76-75 victory over top-ranked Stanford on Thursday night.
Gilbert Arenas' 22 points, Wright's inside play and tough defense in the final minutes allowed the Wildcats to claim their second victory over a No. 1 Stanford team in two seasons. Arizona (22-7, 14-3) also delayed the Cardinal's hopes of claiming the outright Pac-10 title.
Stanford (27-2, 15-2) led for much of the second half, but Arenas' steal and layup with 3:06 left gave Arizona a two-point lead. Stanford went ahead on four points by Jason Collins, but he was called for an offensive foul with 42 seconds left. Jason Gardner hit one free throw to pull Arizona within 75-74.
Casey Jacobsen missed a three-pointer with 16 seconds left, and Arizona set up one last play. Wright got the ball in the middle of the key, sliced between two defenders and put the ball in.
No. 10 Boston College 93, Villanova 79
New York Boston College punctuated its worst-to-first march through the Big East, ripping Villanova 93-79 and advancing to the semifinals of the conference tournament.
BC, which went from 3-13 and last in the league a year ago to 13-3 this season, made 10 three-pointers. The Eagles (24-4) will face Seton Hall tonight.
Troy Bell, the conference's co-Player of the Year, led BC with 25 points. Kenny Harley had 19, and Ryan Sidney had 13.
Ricky Wright scored 21 points to lead Villanova (18-12). Michael Bradley had 14 points and 12 rebounds.
No. 13 UCLA 86, Washington State 76
Pullman, Wash. Jason Kapono scored 28 points as UCLA rallied to win. The Cougars have lost to UCLA 17 straight times. The Bruins (21-7, 13-2 Pac-10) tied the score at halftime and went on a 16-2 run down the stretch. Washington State finished 12-15.
No. 17 Syracuse 55, Providence 54
New York Syracuse, which led by 15 points at halftime, had to rally in the final five minutes for a victory over Providence (21-9) in the quarterfinals of the Big East tournament. Syracuse (24-7) capped a quarterfinal day in which three of four teams that received first-round byes lost. The Orangemen will play Pittsburgh today. Preston Shumpert led the Orangemen with 14 points.
Seton Hall 58, No. 18 Georgetown 40
New York Seton Hall, the team that didn't clinch a spot in the Big East tournament until the last game of the regular season, advanced to the semifinals with a victory over Georgetown. The Pirates (16-13) opened the second half with a 24-3 run and held the Hoyas (23-7) to half their scoring average in matching the fewest points ever allowed in a Big East tournament game. Andre Barrett had 12 points to lead Seton Hall.
Pittsburgh 66, No. 19 Notre Dame 54
New York Pittsburgh held All-American Troy Murphy to eight points and advanced to the semifinals of the Big East tournament. Ricardo Greer led four Pitt players in double figures with 17 points as the Panthers (17-12) reached the tournament semifinals for the first time since 1989.
No. 21 St. Joseph's 82, La Salle 74
Philadelphia Jameer Nelson set career highs with 23 points and 11 rebounds to lead St. Joseph's into the semifinals of the Atlantic 10 tournament. St. Joseph's (25-5) will play Massachusetts in tonight's semifinals. Rasual Butler scored 28 points to lead La Salle (12-17).
No. 25 Fresno State 60, Rice 52
Tulsa, Okla. Demetrius Porter scored 21 points to help Fresno State beat Rice in the WAC quarterfinals.
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