Cal gets third crack at No. 5 Oregon

LAS VEGAS -- Fifth-ranked Oregon may have looked under pressure Thursday in the first half against Arizona State, but the Ducks played their normal selves in the second half, loose and in control while having fun.

"That's kind of the biggest thing, enjoying it, soaking it up, knowing that it doesn't happen like this, to have these opportunities to play on this stage," Oregon guard Casey Benson said about the Pac-12 tournament in Las Vegas inside the brand new T-Mobile Arena.

The top-seeded Ducks turned a 34-31 lead at halftime over the Sun Devils to a dominating 80-57 victory, their 10th consecutive win.

Fifth-seeded California (21-11) took a different route to Friday's semifinal game against the Ducks (27-4).

The Golden Bears almost blew an 11-point lead with almost two minutes remaining before holding to beat fourth-seeded Utah 78-75. The victory improved Cal's chance for an NCAA Tournament bid.

A win over Oregon should leave no doubt, but Cal coach Cuonzo Martin believes the NCAA Tournament selection committee should already have its mind made up.

"Well, if you ask me, I think we've done enough when you're talking about a league that has three top, maybe five or six teams, in the country," Martin said. "No other league, I don't think, in America can say that. There are very talented teams. We have 21 wins in the Pac-12."

Cal's victory over Utah -- after the Utes routed the Golden Bears 74-44 last week in Salt Lake City -- gives the Bears the confidence they can handle the challenge of overcoming Oregon.

The Ducks swept the season series, winning 86-63 at home on Jan. 19 and surviving with a 68-65 win in Berkeley, Calif., on Feb. 22. Oregon came back from a 30-16 halftime deficit to win the latter game.

"We lost a tough one at home to them," Martin said. "We didn't play as well at their place. Lost a tough one at our place. I think it took a lot out of us as a team because we felt like we had the game.

"For us, we know the game plan. We understand the task at hand and what we have to do. We're playing against a tough team in our league, and we watch film, we'll game plan, and we'll be ready."

Oregon and California each have good guard play with Dillon Brooks and Tyler Dorsey for the Ducks and Charlie Moore and Jabari Bird for the Golden Bears.

Moore and Bird combined for 47 points on 15-of-26 shooting, including 6-of-11 from 3-point range, in Cal's victory over Utah on Wednesday.

Brooks and Dorsey had a combined 43 points on 15-of-27 shooting in Oregon's win over Arizona State. They also combined for 16 rebounds. Another guard, Dylan Ennis, had 12 rebounds.

"I think anytime a player gets involved in a game like that, regardless of how he is shooting the ball, he just feels really good about what he's doing," Oregon coach Dana Altman said of Dorsey. "I think if a guy is guarding well and hitting the boards, that gets his energy going."

Cal's rebounding is mostly engineered by Ivan Rabb, who averages a double-double (14.2 points and 10.7 rebounds).

Oregon forward Jordan Bell (10.8 points and 7.9 rebounds) will defend Rabb in one of the best matchups to watch in the game.