On the second day of the Pac-12 Tournament at the MGM Arena in Las Vegas, it was two individual performances that stood up to the bright lights of The Strip. Both UCLA’s Isaac Hamilton and Oregon’s Joseph Young topped 30 points en route to the tournament semi-finals.
Hamilton’s 36 points, a career high, helped the Bruins race past rival USC as the Trojans had hoped to pull their second upset in as many days. UCLA will take on Arizona on Friday, as the Wildcats out muscled and out matched California in the first game of the day.
After the game, Hamilton told reporters that his grandmother recently passed away, inspiring his performance.
For Young, it also felt personal, only for different reasons.
Once Young was named the Pac-12 Player of the Year, Oregon supporters have had to deal with a rash of criticism from both media and fans alike for the award. As Young poured in bucket after bucket, those critics were slowly converted to believers.
What makes him so special as a scorer is that he can legitimately score from all three levels. It’s impossible to sag off, because he’ll hit from downtown at an admirable clip. Once he’s started off with that, you have to deal with his ability to get to the rim, or stop and pop on a dime.
Also of note for the Ducks was the performance of Elgin Cook, who finished with 20 points on 8-for-10 shooting.
