Pilot men advance, Oregon women fall in quarterfinals

The University of Portland men’s basketball team overcame a four-point halftime deficit to beat Washington State 74-68 in the second round of the West Coast Conference tournament Friday night.

The Pilots gained some breathing room early in the second half when Garrett Nuckolls hit a layup for the lead, followed by a Joel Foxwell 3-pointer, and another bucket by Nuckolls. The Cougars cut the margin to a single point on four separate occasions, but the Pilots had the answer each time.

Portland stretched to a double-digit margin in the late stages after Foxwell knocked down four straight free throws.

Nuckolls finished with a career-high 23 points on 7-of-8 (87.5%) shooting, while Foxwell added 17 points.

Portland (15-18) advances to face No. 5 seed San Francisco at 6 p.m. Saturday in a third-round game from Las Vegas.

In women’s action, the Oregon Ducks saw their Big-10 tournament run come to an end with an 80-58 loss to No. 3 seed Michigan in Friday’s quarterfinals.

The Ducks fell behind by nine points at halftime and never recovered. Katie Fiso led the Ducks with 22 points.