Stanford and Washington State play similar styles. Both are physical, defensively minded teams who favor the grind-it-out to the run-and-gun.

But Friday night in the semifinal round of the Pac-10 Tournament, Stanford had one thing Washington State did not.

His name?

Brook Lopez.

Lopez scored 30 points and brought down 12 rebounds, and the Cardinal beat the Cougars 75-68 to advance to today’s Pac-10 Tournament title game against UCLA.

Lawrence Hill added 14 points and Mitch Johnson had seven points and eight assists for Stanford (26-6), which advanced to the title game of the conference tournament for the first time since 2004.

“I just really go out there, play as hard as I can for the team,” Lopez said. “What happens, happens, and hopefully we get a win.”

Kyle Weaver notched 25 points and 12 rebounds for Washington State (24-8), his last points coming off a layup with 23 seconds remaining to bring the Cougars within three. Stanford had missed four of eight free throws for a stretch in the last two minutes, and Daven Harmeling converted a rare four-point play with 1:16 to make it close.

Stanford, however, forced a turnover and converted its free throws to keep control in the final 20 seconds.

Stanford coach Trent Johnson has come to expect great things out of his seven-foot sophomore, who scored 14 of the team’s first 16 points in the second half.

“It’s Brook,” Johnson said, trying to defer focus to the team’s performance as a whole. “It’s what he does.”

Every time the Cougars mounted a run, Lopez had an answer.

Derrick Low hit three straight three-pointers for the Cougars to pull within two, 43-41, but Lopez responded with a lay up inside. Weaver made a nice running, fadeaway jumper, then Lopez hit two free throws on the other end. A Harmeling three-pointer? Lopez again.

That last one, a layup inside, sparked a 10-0 run over the course of three minutes to give Stanford a 66-54 advantage with 3:34 remaining. The Cardinal dominated the boards 37-28, but 12 three-pointers from the Cougars kept things close.

Stanford led 34-30 at halftime but got off to a slow start offensively. Weaver, who led all scorers with 12 points in the first half, hit a 3-pointer to give Washington State a 13-8 lead at the 14:48 mark. But the Cardinal clamped down on defense, hit the boards (Stanford outrebounded WSU 20-12 in the first half) and responded with a 7-0 run.

With that, the offense got going. The Cardinal started moving the ball and driving to the hoop, seizing a 24-17 lead with eight minutes remaining on a Landry Fields drive and dish to Hill, who finished the first half with 10 points.

Three-pointers by Taylor Rochestie and Harmeling helped spark a 9-2 Cougar run to tie the game at 26 with 4:41 remaining in the opening period. But Hill hit a 3-pointer, and Stanford closed out the half with an 8-4 run of its own.

Stanford now has a chance to avenge last Thursday’s loss to UCLA, a 77-67 overtime defeat marred by a controversial call with 2.3 seconds left in regulation. The players, however, said they would approach the title match as if it were any other game.

“It’s no consolation prize,” said Fred Washington. “We wanted to win the Pac-10 outright.”

The Bruins beat USC Friday 57-54, thanks to 19 points and 10 rebounds from Kevin Love. The freshmen big man scored 11 of his team’s first 15 in the second half, setting up a confrontation Saturday against Brook Lopez, who put on a similar performance against Washington State.

“I’m looking forward to it,” Lopez said. “It’s always fun to play them because they’re so physical. I’m always excited to play a really good post player, in the Pac-10 there are loads of them.”

The Bruins (30-3) will be without starting forward Luc Richard Mbah a Moute, who sprained his knee against the Trojans Friday.

“If he can’t go that kind of sucks because they’re not at full strength,” Washington said. “But any one player, with or without him, it’s still UCLA.”