Jordan Loveridge and Jarred Dubois (Getty Images)LAS VEGAS — When Jordan Loveridge had the third of three free throws rim out to leave Utah still down a point with 18 seconds to go, the freshman guard feared he cost his team its best chance to tie the game.

Thankfully for Loveridge, one of his teammates had his back.

With Utah's deficit at three after a pair of Allen Crabbe free throws, senior guard Jarred DuBois dribbled around a screen, created just enough space to get a shot off and fired a fadeaway left-wing 3-pointer with just a few ticks left on the clock. He hit all net, enabling 10th-seeded Utah to force overtime and spring the biggest upset of the Pac-12 tournament so far with a 79-69 victory over second-seeded Cal.

"Jarred and I were joking about it afterward," Loveridge said. "I'm like, 'Oh man, if you didn't hit that shot, I know I'm going to be on ESPN all night. I told him, 'Thank you. Thank you for that.'"

An appearance in the Pac-12 semifinals is the latest sign of incremental progress during the second season of coach Larry Krystkowiak's tenure. Utah staggered through a humbling 6-25 season last year that began with a flurry of transfers and included blowout losses to Weber State, Cal State Fullerton and Fresno State, but a deeper, more talented Utes team has tallied nine more wins already this season.

Loveridge, Utah's top recruit, has blossomed into one of the Pac-12's better freshmen. DuBois, a transfer from LMU, has delivered instant offense with his outside shooting. And 7-foot senior Jason Washburn has built on the progress he made last year as a interior scorer and rim protector.

Nick Johnson and Mark Lyons (Getty Images)

LAS VEGAS — Before Arizona's Pac-12 quarterfinal victory against Colorado on Thursday, the Wildcats huddled around the TV in their locker room watching the end of the previous game between Arizona State and UCLA.

Kevin Parrom admits he drew a little extra motivation from seeing UCLA win because he knew that meant if a chance to avenge two previous losses to the Bruins if Arizona could beat Colorado.

"I don't want any team thinking they have our number and I don't want to lose to any team three times in a row," Parrom said. "Both games, I think we lost because of us, not necessarily because of them. We need to play with more effort and we need to match their intensity to win."

Not only did Arizona earn its semifinal rematch with UCLA by posting a 79-69 victory over the Buffaloes, the fourth-seeded Wildcats also did some things well enough to give hope of a better outcome Friday night against the top-seeded Bruins.

Nick Johnson, who was mired in a February slump the last time Arizona met UCLA, had a second straight efficient scoring night, tallying 18 points on seven shots and delivering the driving layup that clinched the game in the final minute. The sophomore also spearheaded a strong defensive effort from Arizona by hampering Colorado catalyst Spencer Dinwiddie, yielding 18 points but holding him to 4 of 12 shooting.

"When Nick's playing like that, that's when we're at our best," Arizona coach Sean Miller said. "He does so many things for our team. There are times when he's almost like a point guard out there on offense. He's certainly a defender who has immense talent and he's a capable scorer too."

Larry Drew II (Getty Images)

LAS VEGAS — Since the ceiling at the MGM Garden Arena is so much lower than most college basketball venues, UCLA point guard Larry Drew II encountered a problem he wasn't expecting during Thursday's Pac-12 quarterfinal.

The cube-shaped scoreboard was so wide and so low to the court he seldom could see the time or score.

"Eventually, I just started trying to memorize the score," Drew said with a chuckle. "It was definitely a little distracting."

The score only became close enough to be relevant because of the most brilliant performance of Drew's improbable senior season. The senior guard scored a season-high 20 points on only 10 shots, keeping UCLA competitive long enough for the Bruins to rally from a 15-point second-half deficit and eke out an 80-75 win.

The biggest play from Drew was the decision he made coming around a high ball screen from Travis Wear with UCLA leading by one and less than 15 seconds to play. Seven-footer Jordan Bachynski took a step toward Drew to keep him out of the lane, so Drew whipped a pass to Wear, who had just enough space to knock down a pick-and-pop jumper that extended the Bruins' lead to three.

Prior to that sequence, it had been Drew's ability to shoot from the perimeter and finish at the rim that had helped carry the Bruins.

Liberty will be in the NCAA tournament despite a 15-20 record and a No. 288 RPI (USA Today Sports Images)

In the 28 years since the NCAA tournament expanded to 64 teams in 1985, No. 16 seeds are 0-for-112 in their attempts to pull an upset against a No. 1 seed in the opening round.

Don't count on that changing next week.

As a result of conference tournament carnage in the lowest-rated one-bid leagues, this year's crop of likely No. 16 seeds looks especially weak. Instead of the teams who finished at the top of those conferences making the NCAA tournament, middle-tier teams from some of the nation's weakest leagues have pushed their way into the field of 68.

The most egregious example is Liberty, which improbably rebounded from a 20-loss regular season to stun Big South favorites High Point, Gardner-Webb and Charleston Southern in the conference tournament. The Flames, only the second team ever to make the NCAA tournament with as many as 20 losses, are almost certainly bound for a First Four game in Dayton.

[Also: Villanova likely secures Big Dance invite in ugly win]

A good bet to join them in Dayton is whichever team comes out of the MEAC this year. With first-place Norfolk State and second-place NC Central going out in the quarterfinals on Wednesday, that league will produce an NCAA tournament team with at least 13 losses – possibly more if third-seeded Savannah State also falls.

Also potential candidates for No. 16 seeds are Western Kentucky, which went 10-10 in the Sun Belt but caught fire last week, and James Madison, which finished fourth in the weakest CAA in recent memory. Throw in NEC conference tournament champ LIU Brooklyn and whoever comes out of the SWAC, and the NCAA tournament is guaranteed at least six teams with RPIs of 150 or worse.

The front of this morning's Greensville News & Record sports section (via @mgiannotto)

Having already taken out an ad in the Wake Forest paper demanding the firing of third-year coach Jeff Bzdelik, a group of Demon Deacons fans upped the ante considerably on Thursday morning.

The fans shelled out a combined $2,400 to put a similar #BuzzOut ad on the front page of the Greensboro News & Record sports section the same day as Wake Forest begins ACC tournament play in Greensboro against Maryland. Featured in the ad are two stats: Bzdelik's 1-24 road record in the ACC during his tenure and the fact that 20 of those 24 losses have come by more than 10 points.

It appears the ad was paid for at least in part by the creators of the anti-Bzdelik website www.firebz.com, which popped up earlier this season as Wake Forest (13-17, 6-12) was in the midst of its third straight losing season. The Demon Deacons went a combined 21-42 in Bzdelik's first two seasons after he attempted to improve the culture of Wake Forest basketball by sending a number of former coach Dino Gaudio's players packing and all but starting anew.

The Demon Deacons began this season almost as poorly as the previous two, losing by 26 to Iona, by 16 to Nebraska and narrowly to middling Richmond and Seton Hall. They did show improvement in ACC play, struggling on the road but toppling Miami, NC State and Virginia in home games.

Considering that athletic director Ron Wellman made the unpopular decision to hire Bzdelik after his third straight losing season at Colorado, Bzdelik's fate after the season may come down to how willing Wellman will be to admit he erred.

San Diego State held off Boise State despite 19 turnovers (Getty Images)

LAS VEGAS — The last time he was on the staff of a bubble team, Boise State coach Leon Rice was an assistant at Gonzaga under Mark Few.

He recalls tracking every fellow bubble team in its conference tournament and cringing whenever one of them pulled out an unlikely win.

"I remember watching Colorado and Kansas State, and [Kansas State] got the ball, started celebrating a win and traveled," Rice said. "Then [Colorado] threw it in, hit a three, sent it to overtime and won it in overtime. So I'm not going to do that again."

For the first time since that 2002-03 season at Gonzaga, the fate of Rice's team is again in the selection committee's hands. His Boise State team could have taken a huge step toward securing an at-large bid Wednesday night with a win over San Diego State in the Mountain West quarterfinals, but they shot the ball uncharacteristically poorly against the Aztecs' stingy defense and lost 73-67.

Though it's a helpless feeling having no more chances to play between now and Sunday, Rice lobbied for his team during his postgame press conference and again with a small group of reporters afterward.

He noted his team's 21-10 record includes top 50 RPI wins at Creighton and at home against UNLV, Colorado State and San Diego State. He noted several of his team's losses came on the final possession or in overtime against elite competition. And he noted that his team played the type of non-conference schedule the selection committee insists it values, one that included power-conference programs Michigan State, LSU and Utah and elite mid-major Creighton.

Dorian Green (Getty Images)LAS VEGAS — If Colorado State is going to advance beyond the Mountain West semifinals, the Rams will likely have to do it without their starting point guard.

Senior Dorian Green sat out Colorado State's quarterfinal victory against Fresno State on Wednesday afternoon as a result of a left ankle injury he suffered in his team's regular season finale against Nevada. Coach Larry Eustachy said afterward Green's injury is a bit more serious than the staff first thought, so there's a "99.9 percent" chance he won't play Friday night when the second-seeded Rams meet host UNLV with a spot in Saturday's title game at stake.

"This tournament is extremely important, but obviously the NCAA tournament is what we've worked for all year," Eustachy said "If there's any doubt at all, he won't play."

The absence of Green would deprive Colorado State of one of its emotional leaders and its top playmaker and perimeter shooter. Green is averaging 13.1 points and 3.9 assists as a senior and he lit up UNLV for 24 points in the Rams' January victory over the Rebels.

Colorado State managed to rally from a three-point halftime deficit against Fresno State without Green, but the Rams clearly aren't as dangerous offensively with junior Jon Octeus starting in Green's place. Octeus had nine points, three assists and zero turnovers, but he missed six of the eight shots he attempted.

Anthony Bennett (Getty Images)

LAS VEGAS — Moments after Anthony Bennett beat his man down the floor and finished a secondary break with a crowd-pleasing reverse slam, UNLV coach Dave Rice met him with a fist bump as he walked off the floor.

Nobody would have blamed Rice if he'd given Bennett a bear hug.

The way Bennett played in the second half of UNLV's 72-56 Mountain West quarterfinal victory over Air Force is the way UNLV will need him to play if it is going to enjoy success the rest of March.

Bennett emerged from a three-week slump exacerbated by a lingering shoulder injury, erupting for an efficient 23 points on 10 of 14 shooting. More importantly, Bennett played with the concentration and effort he sometimes lacks, sprinting in transition, competing for rebounds and chasing Air Force's shooters on the perimeter.

"The place I'm proudest was his commitment to the defensive end in the second half," Rice said. "He made a great commitment on the defensive end. You have to do that because the way we guard Air Force, we switch five. We've got to get out, certainly their shooters are able to take advantage of big guys."

The breakout game from Bennett came on the heels of three weeks at the end of the regular season during which he hasn't played like a future lottery pick. Bennett scored in double figures only one of UNLV's previous five games, a stretch that included the Feb. 23 game at Wyoming when he injured his left shoulder early and played only four minutes.