Pac-12 basketball: Colorado downs Grand Canyon; Arizona beats Montana

McKinley Wright IV scored 21 points and Evan Battey scored 16 and Colorado used a late run to beat Grand Canyon 74-64 on Tuesday night in a Far West Classic contest.

Colorado (6-1) led the entire second after the two squads played to a 27-all tie at intermission. The Buffs extended their lead to 57-48 on Maddox Daniels’ 3-pointer with 8:02 left to play before the Lopes (4-4) rallied and closed to within 60-59 on Sean Miller-Moore’s layup with 5:17 to go.

Jeriah Horne countered with 3 to start a 10-0 Colorado run and the Buffaloes were never challenged again. Horne finished with 12 points and five rebounds.

Jovan Blacksher Jr. scored 17 points for the Lopes on 7-for-9 shooting, Asbjorn Midtgaard scored 16 missing one of nine shot attempts and Miller-Moore 12 on 5-for-6 shooting.

Grand Canyon shot 51% to 50% for Colorado, but the Buffaloes were 18 for 21 from the foul line against 5 for 8 for Grand Canyon. Colorado entered the game leading the nation in free throw shooting at 85.8%.

It marked the first-ever meeting between the two schools.

California 70, Seattle 65

Ryan Betley scored 17 points, Joel Brown had all 12 of his in the second half and shorthanded California used a late run to beat Seattle University 70-65 on Tuesday.

Cal was without its top-two scorers in Matt Bradley (19.1 points per game) and Grant Anticevich (10.3), and trailed for the first 32 minutes of the game. Betley banked in a 3-pointer with 7:17 to go for Cal’s first lead.

Brown hit two 3-pointers about a minute apart to start a 10-0 run and senior Makale Foreman closed it by making his second basket of the game, in eight attempts, and two free throws for an eight-point lead with 31 seconds left.

Kuany Kuany added 11 points and Andre Kelly had eight points and 11 rebounds for Cal (5-4), which has won three straight games for the first time since beginning last season 4-0. Bradley was out due to an ankle injury and Anticevich had an appendectomy.

Riley Grigsby had 20 points and eight rebounds, and Darrion Trammell added 15 points, five rebounds, eight assists and three steals for Seattle (5-5). Emeka Udenyi scored a career-high 14 points with 10 rebounds.

Seattle was playing its third Pac-12 opponent this season, losing to UCLA 78-52 and Washington 73-41 earlier this month. It was the third time in coach Jim Hayford’s four years the Redhawks have played at least three Pac-12 teams in a single season.

Arizona 70, Montana 64

James Akinjo scored 18 points, Jordan Brown added 15, and Arizona pulled out a 70-64 win win over Montana on Tuesday night.

The Wildcats (6-1) picked up their third win against the Big Sky Conference but for the second time they trailed at halftime before pulling it out down the stretch.

Montana led 36-29 at the half, shooting 52%, making 3 of 6 from 3-point range and all nine of its free throws. The Grizzlies were also even on the boards with Arizona, which was 1 of 8 from 3-point range and shot 33% from the field and was just 8 of 16 from the foul line.

Despite Montana (3-5) cooling off in the second half (35%), getting into foul trouble and committing 11 of their 19 turnovers, Arizona didn’t take the lead for good until Bennedict Mathurin made back-to-back buckets; his dunk at 8:29 making it 53-49.

Montana got a basket from Robby Beasley about a half-minute later but then went almost 7 1/2 minutes with a field goal, missing six times with two turnovers.

Arizona, which went 3 of 14 from 3-point range, got a pair of big ones inside the final five minutes, Akinjo making it a five-point game and Azuolas Tubelis making it 64-56 with 2:44 to go.

Montana was 20 of 22 from the foul line, Arizona 19 of 34.

Arizona (6-1) beat Northern Arizona 96-53 but only edged Eastern Washington 70-67 after trailing 43-38 at halftime before pulling out a 70-67 win.

Beasley, a freshman who missed the first six games with a leg injury, scored 17 points off the bench for the Grizzlies. Kyle Owens added 13.

Arizona, now 113-12 at McKale Center, was 36 of 73 (49%) behind the arc in its previous four games.

Oregon State 67, Portland State 62

Zach Reichle and Jarod Lucas each scored a season-high 15 points and Oregon State held off Portland State for a 67-62 victory on Tuesday night.

Warith Alatishe added 13 points and 11 rebounds for Oregon State (4-3), his second double-double of the season.

Khalid Thomas split a pair of free throws to give Portland State a 62-61 lead with 2:13 remaining. Rodrigue Andela made a layup for the Beavers with 24 seconds to play. Reichle and Alatishe each made two free throws to end it.

James Scott scored 16 points to lead the Vikings (2-4). Paris Dawson had 13 points and Thomas 11.

Ethan Thompson, who hasn’t missed a start for the Beavers in 101 games, had just seven points on 2-of-11 shooting, snapping his 15-game streak scoring in double figures, dating to last season.

Portland State opened the second half on a 24-9 run to pull to 45-43, and then a 12-2 surge gave the Vikings their first lead, 58-57 with 4:00 remaining.

The Beavers beat Portland State 81-76 last season and lead the series 15-0.

Oregon State, which had Sunday’s game against Southern California postponed due to COVID-19 issues within the Trojans’ program, is scheduled to host Stanford on Dec. 31.

Portland State is scheduled to play at Eastern Washington on Dec. 31.