Los Angeles Times - 07.03.2020

LATIMES.COM/SPORTS D3

This time of year, one
thing that can always be
counted on is trainer Bob
Baffert having some horses
that are creating substantial
Kentucky Derby buzz.
This year, he’s so loaded
he has to run two of his unde-
feated 3-year-olds against
each other Saturday in the
$400,000 San Felipe Stakes.
And those are only two of the
six prospects he has on the
Derby trail.
The San Felipe is the
most intriguing of the five
stakes races at Santa Anita

on Saturday. In days past, the headliner would have been the Grade 1 $600,000 Santa Anita Handicap, but the mega-purse races in the Middle East have watered down the Big ’Cap from its status as one of the country’s premier races to a nice stakes race for older horses. Interest in horse racing is always centered on the Ken- tucky Derby, and the winner of the San Felipe will have enough points to qualify for the race. “The pressure is on, they need to run one-two,” Baffert said about Authentic and Thousand Words. “Now it’s about points. Before, it used to be graded stakes going long. Now they run for more money everywhere else but here. That makes it tough. I wish they did it like Breeders’ Cup, where they take the

first 14 on points and the rest by committee.” Authentic is the 6-5 morning-line favorite, having won the Grade 3 Sham Stakes, his second race, by 73 ⁄ 4 lengths. But it wasn’t a flawless race as he kept ducking in and out and mov- ing his head about down the stretch. “Authentic needs to run his race and he can’t be doing that zigzagging,” Baffert said. “I think it was the noise when he came around [the far turn]. He heard and he looked. I didn’t want to put blinkers on him. He’s never done it in the morning, so now he has earplugs.” Thousand Words is the 9-5 second choice, having won all three of his races, including the Grade 2 Los Alamitos Futurity and Grade 3 Robert B. Lewis

Stakes. The winning mar- gins were a half-length, a neck and three-quarters of a length. “Thousand Words was very workmanlike when he won,” Baffert said. “He’s never had a race where you go, ‘Wow.’ They come to him and he keeps going. But I like him better in this race. We’ve brought him along in baby steps. He’s going to get some good horses to run at.” Sometimes you can tell how good a horse is by inter- preting the actions of others. Jockey Flavien Prat was the regular rider for Storm The Court, winner of the Breed- ers’ Cup Juvenile and the Eclipse Award for best 2- year-old male. He was also the rider of Thousand Words. When both horses entered into the San Felipe, Prat chose to ride Thousand

Words. “It was going to be a decision we had to make now or down the road,” said Derek Lawson, Prat’s agent and the person who usually makes the decision on which horse to ride. “We had anticipated that Storm The Court was going to the Rebel [next week in Arkansas], in which case there wouldn’t have been a decision to make. When [Storm The Court] de- cided to stay here, we went with the undefeated Thou- sand Words.” Prat won last year’s Ken- tucky Derby, his first, aboard Country House, who was ele- vated to first after the dis- qualification of Maximum Security. Baffert has two other undefeated colts. Nadal, winner of two races including the Grade 2 San Vicente Stakes,

who will run next week in the Rebel Stakes. And then there is Charlatan, who won his only race by 5^3 ⁄ 4 lengths. Charlatan is a late-devel- oping colt, similar to Justify two years ago, when he won the Triple Crown. Baffert also has Azul Coast, winner of two of three including the El Camino Real Derby, and Eight Rings, winner of two of four and the Grade 1 American Pharoah Stakes. In the Santa Anita Hand- icap, the favorite at 6-5 is Gift Box, winner of last year’s race. If the lightly raced 7- year-old wins, it will be the third Big ’Cap in a row for trainer John Sadler, who also won with Accelerate two years ago. Santa Anita has an early post of 11:30 a.m. for the 12-race card.

Baffert has chance for 1-2 punch in San Felipe Stakes

Trainer sends out

undefeated Authentic

and Thousand Words

in Derby prep.

By John Cherwa

LAS VEGAS — Up six points entering the fourth quarter against No. 8 UCLA on Friday, USC huddled together on the bench. The Tro- jans saw their opportunity for a major upset. “Get it to 10,” they said among themselves. Michaela Onyenwere ended that goal. UCLA’s star forward led a late Bruins rally in the quarterfinals of the Pac-12 tournament as she scored 14 of her team-high 26 points in the fourth quarter of a 73-66 victory. The seventh-seeded Trojans committed eight turnovers in the fourth quarter and the second-seeded Bruins (26-4) advanced to their fifth straight Pac-12 tournament semifinal, where they will face Stanford at 8:30 p.m. Saturday. Friday’s game was just the second time this season that USC had lost when leading entering the fourth quarter. The Trojans (17-14) turned the ball over five times on in- bounds passes in the fourth quarter as the Bruins scored 24 total points off turnovers. “The tougher, more together team wins in March,” UCLA coach Cori Close said. “It took us a while to become that.” With each Trojans miscue, the UCLA bench grew more boisterous. The Trojans committed only eight turnovers in the first three quarters, but coming off a hard-fought first- round victory over Colorado on Thursday night, his players “ran out of gas,” coach Mark Trakh said. Onyenwere was just getting started. The junior scored all 10 of UCLA’s first points in the fourth quarter, with eight coming off USC turnovers. She hustled for 15 rebounds, with five in the fourth quarter. “It is amazing the things she can do,” said UCLA’s Lindsey Corsaro, who had 11 points. “And she works every day at practice.” All-Pac-12 guard Japreece Dean had nine points on two- of-11 shooting for UCLA with nine assists. With their senior leader struggling to score from the field, the Bruins found life with Natalie Chou, who had 14 points on five-of- five shooting. USC used just seven players and had four in double- digit scoring, led by 18 from freshman Endyia Rogers. Senior Kayla Overbeck added 12 points with 13 rebounds.

Pac-12 freshman of the year Alissa Pili averaged 23.5 points and 13.5 rebounds in her two regular-season con- tests against UCLA but was held to 11 points and six rebounds in 20 foul-plagued minutes. After the team’s split the regular-season series, it was fitting that the rubber-match went back and forth. USC scored the game’s first 11 points and finished with 23 points in the first quarter. The Bruins blitzed the Tro- jans for 25 points in the second quarter and took a one- point halftime lead. USC pulled back in front with 12 unanswered points to finish the third quarter before the turnovers unraveled their upset bid. Despite Friday’s loss, the Trojans, who won their previ- ous four games, are poised for a spot in the WNIT as the highest team in the Pac-12 standings not slated for the NCAA tournament. “We have another opportunity to play together as a team,” said senior Aliyah Je- une, who finished with 11 points and six rebounds. “We’re going to go into this WNIT with a winning mind- set and a lot of momentum to win the whole thing.”

In other Pac-12 quarter- final results: No. 3 Oregon 79, Utah 59: Sabrina Ionescu scored 19 points to lead the top-seeded Ducks (29-2) past the eighth- seeded Utes (14-17). Oregon connected on eight consecu- tive three-point shots to close the first half. Satou Sabally added 17 points for the Ducks.

No. 13 Arizona 86, Cali- fornia 73:Cate Reese scored a career-high 30 points on 13-for-15 shooting, and the Wildcats (24-6), seeded fourth, defeated the 12th- seeded Golden Bears (12-19).

No. 7 Stanford 68, No. 14 Oregon State 57:The third- seeded Cardinal (26-5) raced out to a 25-10 first-quarter lead and were never chal- lenged in their win over the sixth-seeded Beavers (23-9). Stanford was led by Kiana Williams’ 23 points.

UCLA’S Lindsey Corsaro puts up a shot over USC’s Endyia Rogers during the Bruins’ comeback win.

John LocherAssociated Press

Onyenwere lifts

UCLA past USC

Forward scores 14

points in the fourth

quarter as Bruins

overcome deficit.

NO. 8 UCLA 73, USC 66

By Thuc Nhi Nguyen

While the first-year coach across town became a meme and his team’s stunning seven-game winning streak caught the attention of the nation, an exasperated Andy Enfield threw up his hands last Saturday night. The Trojans had just won their fourth game in six tries, temporarily securing their spot on the tournament bubble, when the USC coach was asked at the postgame news conference about his team’s home court. The frus- tration came flowing out from there. “We don’t have that ener- gy in the building,” Enfield said after USC upended Ari- zona State 71-61. “We don’t have that great home-court advantage. Today was a home-court advantage. I thought it was tremendous. Next Saturday should be a sellout and the students will be here. It’s an ever-evolving process, with the traffic in L.A., the student support. I don’t know what else we can do. “When you put four guys in the NBA the last two years, you have a lottery pick on your team now, you’ve won 20 games four out of the last five years, and you’re competing for NCAA tournaments and Pac-12 champi- onships. It’s pretty good basketball.” Unlike its ice-cold- turned-scorching-hot rival

UCLA, USC has played pretty good basketball for most of the season. With five Quadrant 1 wins, according to the NCAA’s NET rank- ings, and just two losses out- side of that top tier, the Tro- jans have been steady, albeit unspectacular. They haven’t won more than three Pac-12 games in a row, nor have they lost more than three con- secutively. But their NCAA tournament case, on paper, is still more convincing than the crosstown rival Bruins, who were just a game above .500 one month ago. That disparity will be meaningless on Saturday, when the rivals on the tournament bubble meet in a high-stakes, nationally tele- vised matchup at sold-out Galen Center. UCLA (19-11, 12-5) is perhaps the nation’s hottest team, with a chance to legitimize its late-season run and clinch a share of the Pac-12 regular-season title, while USC enters with a better record (21-9) but none of the same sizzle. That’s fine with senior forward Nick Rakocevic, who doesn’t bother with bracketologists anymore. Not after 2018, when the Tro- jans entered their regular- season finale under eerily similar circumstances. UCLA entered that early March matchup firmly on the tournament bubble and beat USC in front of a capac- ity crowd — the last time Galen Center was sold out. The Bruins made the tournament. The Trojans, who rebounded to advance to the finals of the conference tournament, did not. “We were 20 minutes away from winning the Pac-12, that’s how close we

were,” Enfield said, shaking his head. The disappointment of that snub also stuck with Rakocevic, who along with senior guard Jonah Ma- thews could become the win- ningest Trojans in program history with a victory Sat- urday. “I don’t care what they say,” Rakocevic said when asked if USC’s tournament resume was getting enough attention. “It’s all just noise.” Bruins coach Mick Cronin has kept with some variation of that message over the course of UCLA’s two-month turnaround, treating every game like “a one-game tournament.” En- field has only just fully em- braced the cliche as the postseason draws near. Both are trying to maintain composure through a make- or-break stretch. But where the Trojans are still seeking validation, the surging Bruins — and their 8-1 record in February — aren’t sliding under the radar any longer. “It’s not going to go to my head,” Cronin said. “The players is another concern. ... It’s your job as a coach, you’ve got to make sure your team’s feet get back on the ground.” USC’s best hope of keep- ing its soaring rivals grounded involves its star freshman. Onyeka Okongwu was a victim of early foul trouble and became inconsequential in their first meeting, finishing with a season-low four points. That won’t fly this time in likely his last game at Galen Center. Okongwu’s coaches and teammates have already ac- cepted his one-and-done status as a foregone conclu- sion. So Saturday presents an opportunity for the big man to put a stamp on his sole season at USC. “I’ve been saying since lit- erally the first game that this kid was going to be a lottery pick,” Rakocevic said. That fawning attention has been there all season for their star freshman. With the tournament looming and their NCAA tournament status uncertain, now is the time for the Trojans to prove they’re deserving of the same.

Trojans look to add

pop to their record

A strong win against

the on-fire Bruins can

boost their NCAA

tournament case.

By Ryan Kartje

WCC

MEN FRIDAY’S RESULTS 8 San Francisco 82, Loyola Marymount 53 8 Pepperdine 84, Santa Clara 73 TODAY’S GAMES 8 No. 4 Pacific (23-9, 11-5) vs. No. 5 San Francisco (21-11, 9-7), 7 p.m., ESPN2 8 No. 3 St. Mary’s (24-7, 11-5) vs. No. 6 Pepperdine (15-14, 8-10), 9 p.m., ESPN2

WOMEN FRIDAY’S RESULTS 8 Pepperdine 87, St. Mary’s 72 8 Pacific 67, Santa Clara 49 TODAY’S GAMES 8 No. 4 Portland (18-11, 11-7) vs. No. 5 Pacific (17-13, 9-9), 1 p.m., WCC Network 8 No. 3 Brigham Young (18-10, 13-5) vs. No. 6 Pepperdine 16-15, 8-8), WCC Network

Pac-12 women

FRIDAY’S RESULTS 8 UCLA 73, USC 66 8 Arizona 86, California 73 8 Oregon 79, Utah 59 8 Stanford 68, Oregon State 57 TODAY’S GAMES Games on Pac-12 Networks 8 No. 4 Arizona (24-6) vs. No. 1 Oregon (29-2), 6 p.m. 8 No. 2 UCLA (26-4) vs. No. 3 Stanford (26-5), 8:30 p.m.

LAS VEGAS — Kameron Edwards had 21 points and 16 rebounds and Pepperdine never trailed in its 84-73 win over Santa Clara on Friday night in the second round of the West Coast Conference tournament. Colbey Ross added 18 points, eight rebounds and eight assists and Skylar Chavez scored 15 points for the Waves (16-15), who play St. Mary’s in the quarterfinals. No. 6-seed Pepperdine made 11 of its first 16 shots to take a 20-point lead when Edwards hit a three-pointer with 10:45 left in the first half. Santa Clara started the game two-for-12 shooting and shot just 28% from the field in the first half.

The seventh-seeded Broncos (20-13) were led by Josip Vrankic’s 18 points.

San Francisco 82, Loyo- la Marymount 53:Charles Minlend scored 11 of his 16 points in the first half as the Dons (21-11) grabbed the lead early and kept going to elimi- nate the Lions (11- 21 ). Eli Scott had 19 points and 10 rebounds for Loyola Marymount.

Women Pacific 67, Santa Clara 49: Valerie Higgins scored 14 points and grabbed 11 rebounds as the Tigers (17-13) defeated the Broncos (12-19).

Pepperdine 87, St. Mary’s 72:Hannah Friend scored 26 points for the Waves (15-14) against the Gaels (12-19).

WCC TOURNAMENT

Pepperdine starts

fast, sails to quarters

wire reports

MEN
TOP 25
No. 5 San Diego State 81, Boise State 68
SOUTHLAND
San Francisco 82, Loyola Marymount 53
Pepperdine 84, Santa Clara 73
San Diego State 81, Boise State 68
CCAA semifinals
Cal Poly Pomona 78, Chico State 53
UC San Diego 86, Cal State East Bay 82
Pac West semifinals
Point Loma 83, Chaminade 74
Biola 82, Azusa Pacific 79
Golden State Athletic semifinals
Hope International 75, Menlo 72
Arizona Christian 102, Westmont 86
Division III first round
Pomona-Pitzer 84, Centre 64
WEST
Mountain West semifinals
San Diego State 81, Boise State 68
Utah State 89, Wyoming 82
WCC second round
San Francisco 82, Loyola Marymount 53
Pepperdine 84, Santa Clara 73
EAST
Brown 64, Harvard 55
Princeton 81, Columbia 58
Penn 78, Cornell 64
Fairfield 66, Manhattan 50
St. Peter’s 68, Iona 65
Canisius 67, Niagara 63
Richmond 73, Duquesne 62
Siena 86, Monmouth (NJ) 72
Yale 72, Dartmouth 61
SOUTH
Georgia Tech 65, Clemson 62
North Carolina State 84, Wake Forest 64
Davidson 75, Virginia Commonwealth 65
Big South semifinals
Winthrop 78, Gardner-Webb 66
Hampton 86, Radford 78
Southern Conference first round
VMI 96, Samford 78
Wofford 93, The Citadel 76
MIDWEST
Buffalo 88, Bowling Green 84
Akron 79, Kent State 76
Toledo 79, Eastern Michigan 57
Ohio 67, Miami (Ohio) 65
Central Michigan 85, Western Michigan 68
Ball State 75, Northern Illinois 54
Missouri Valley quarterfinals
Drake 77, Northern Iowa 56
Bradley 64, Southern Illinois 59
Valparaiso 74, Loyola of Chicago 73
Missouri State 78, Indiana State 51
Ohio Valley semifinals
Belmont 60, Eastern Kentucky 50
Murray State 73, Austin Peay 61

WOMEN
TOP 25
No. 1 South Carolina 89, Georgia 56
No. 3 Oregon 79, Utah 59
No. 4 Louisville 71, Syracuse 46
No. 6 Maryland 74, Purdue 62
No. 7 Stanford 68, No. 14 Oregon State 57
No. 8 UCLA 73, USC 66
No. 9 Mississippi State 79, Louisiana State 49
No. 10 North Carolina State 57, Georgia Tech 48
Michigan 67, No. 11 Northwestern 59
No. 13 Arizona 86, California 73
No. 25 Arkansas 67, No. 15 Texas A&M 66
No. 16 Kentucky 86, Tennessee 65
Ohio State 87, No. 19 Iowa 66
No. 20 Indiana 78, Rutgers 60
No. 21 Princeton 77, Columbia 52
No. 22 Florida State 76, Wake Forest 47
SOUTHLAND
UCLA 73, USC 66
Pepperdine 87, St. Mary’s 72
CCAA semifinals
UC San Diego 73, Stanislaus State 53
Cal State San Marcos 77, Cal State East Bay 69
Pac West semifinals
Azusa Pacific 72, Fresno Pacific 57
Hawaii Pacific 68, Biola 65
Golden State Athletic semifinals
The Master’s 77, Vanguard 64
Westmont 74, William Jessup 54
Division III first round
Redlands 70, Wisconsin Whitewater 62
WEST
Portland State 91, Sacramento State 68
Pac-12 quarterfinals
Arizona 86, California 73
Oregon 79, Utah 59
UCLA 73, USC 66
Stanford 68, Oregon State 57
WCC second round
Pacific 67, Santa Clara 49
Pepperdine 87, Saint Mary’s 72
ROCKIES
Southern Utah 84, Montana 81
Weber State 83, Eastern Washington 77
Idaho 61, Idaho State 50
Montana State 73, Northern Colorado 63
OTHER TOURNAMENTS
American Athletic first round
Tulane 67, Tulsa 61
Temple 67, East Carolina 57
Wichita State 72, Houston 64
Memphis 76, Southern Methodist 65
Atlantic 10 quarterfinals
Dayton 79, Richmond 68
Saint Louis 65, Massachusetts 52
Virginia Commonwealth 58, Davidson 52
Fordham 54, Duquesne 47
Atlantic Coast quarterfinals
Boston College 84, Duke 77
Louisville 71, Syracuse 46
North Carolina State 57, Georgia Tech 48
Florida State 76, Wake Forest 47
Big East first round
Providence 49, Georgetown 46
Villanova 65, Xavier 56
Big Ten quarterfinals
Maryland 74, Purdue 62
Michigan 67, Northwestern 59
Indiana 78, Rutgers 60
Ohio State 87, Iowa 66
Ohio Valley semifinals
Southeast Missouri State 114, Belmont 99
Tennessee Martin 63, Eastern Illinois 52
Southeastern quarterfinals
South Carolina 89, Georgia 56
Mississippi State 79, Louisiana State 49
Arkansas 67, Texas A&M 66
Kentucky 86, Tennessee 65
Southern Confernce semifinals
Samford 75, Furman 45
UNC-Greensboro 75, Mercer 73

COLLEGE

RESULTS

MEN TODAY

Cal Baptist at
Rio Grande Valley ...... 5 p.m.
Cal Poly at
UC Santa Barbara ...... 7 p.m.
Hawaii at
CS Northridge ............. 7 p.m.
UC Davis at
UC Riverside ................ 7 p.m.
Long Beach State at
CS Fullerton ............ 7:30 p.m.

SOUTHLAND

vance to the Mountain West tournament championship game for the third straight year. The top-seeded Aztecs (30-1) made 15 three-point- ers and shot 49.1% from the field. They will face the Utah State, an 89-82 winner over Wyoming, in the title game. Boise State fell to 20-12 overall.

LAS VEGAS — Malachi Flynn had 22 points, five rebounds and five assists, KJ Feagin added 21 points and six rebounds and No. 5 San Diego State beat Boise State 81-68 on Friday night to ad-

Aztecs reach MWC final

NO. 5 SAN DIEGO ST. 81 BOISE STATE 68

associated press

Los Angeles Times - 07.03.2020

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