LAS VEGAS (AP) — Elijah Brown scored 15 of his 21 points in the second half and Kenny Wooten had a second straight game-ending blocked shot, helping Oregon rally for a 68-66 win over Utah in the Pac-12 tournament semifinals on Thursday night.
Utah (19-11) shot well in a foul-filled game, hitting 51 percent from the field, 8 of 17 from the 3-point arc.
But the Utes had a hard time shaking the Ducks (22-11), their 11-point lead dropping to 62-60 with just under three minutes left.
MiKyle McIntosh put Oregon up 68-66 on a 3-point play with 62 seconds left and the teams traded missed shots.
Utah got the ball with 9.7 seconds left and Sedrick Barefield drove the length of the court for a layup. Wooten, who blocked two shots in the final 13 seconds against Washington State in the first round, swooped in and swatted it away, sending the Ducks into the semifinals Friday against USC.
McIntosh scored 18 points and Brown hit seven 3-pointers, one shy of the tournament record.
Justin Bibbins led Utah with 20 points and David Collette had 16 before fouling out.
The final Pac-12 quarterfinal was essentially an NCAA Tournament bubble buster.
A regular-season win over Arizona gives the Utes a slight bubble edge over the Ducks, but neither team could afford a loss and realistically expect an NCAA bid. Both teams likely need a deep run in the Pac-12 tournament to have any shot.
Oregon took its first step in the first round on Wednesday, overcoming a 17-point first half to beat Washington State 64-62 in overtime.
The Ducks made seven of their first eight shots against the Utes and Utah answered with an 8-0 run. Outside of those stretches, neither team could get much to fall.
Utah went more than seven minutes without a field goal, yet still shot 9 of 19 and led 30-25 at halftime. Oregon shot 8 of 27, missing 9 of its final 10 shots.
Utah got the second half off to a hot start just like the first, opening 6 of 7 from the field to stretch the lead to 45-36.
Oregon continued to clang away, going 5½ minutes without a field goal, yet still managed to keep the Utes within reach.
The Ducks started seeing the ball go in the basket, closing to within four on Brown's 3-pointer with seven minutes left
BIG PICTURE
Utah had multiple chances to put the Ducks away and couldn't do it.
Oregon has proven its resilience so far in the Pac-12 Tournament, rallying to win both games.
UP NEXT
Oregon moves on to Friday's semifinals against USC.
Utah will have to wait to see what its postseason options will be.
