LAS VEGAS—Carlos Emory scored 20 points, Johnathan Loyd added 19 and Oregon pulled away from No. 21 UCLA, 78-69, to win the Pacific-12 Conference tournament championship Saturday night at MGM Grand Garden Arena.
Oregon (26-8) shook off a shaky start with superb perimeter shooting, pulling away in the second half after the Bruins made a run.
Arsalan Kazemi had 12 points and 12 rebounds, and the Ducks’ 7-of-14 accuracy from 3-point range helped them win their third Pac-12 tournament title.
UCLA (25-9) couldn’t keep up with the hot-shooting Ducks without freshman Jordan Adams, who sat on the bench with a boot on his right foot after breaking it in the semifinals against No. 18 Arizona.
Larry Drew II had 14 points and six assists, but also five turnovers for the top-seeded Bruins, who may have lost a chance to play in the West Regionals at the Staples Center in L.A.
Shabazz Muhammad had 14 points and Norman Powell had 10 in Adams’ place for UCLA.
Adams brought the Bruins back from an 11-point deficit by himself against Arizona in the semifinals.
Then one of the Wildcats’ players came down on Adams’ foot, breaking the fifth metatarsal. That left the Bruins without their second-leading scorer (15.3 points) and dimmed their hopes the rest of the postseason.
Oregon beat UCLA by nine in their lone meeting during the regular season, but was shaky on the big stage at first, with turnovers on its first four possessions and six in the opening 3 minutes.
Once the Ducks settled down, they settled in, hitting their first five 3-pointers during a 17-4 run that put them up 23-18.
Oregon’s 7-of-9 shooting from the arc helped build a 41-32 half lead.
The Ducks’ efficiency — and the officials — enraged UCLA coach Ben Howland so much that he winged his jacket three rows into the stands after a charging call on Muhammad, earning a technical foul.
Ducks scored six straight points kept a decent cushion until Damyean Dotson helped them stretch the lead to 71-62 on a 3-pointer with 21/2 minutes remaining.
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