Pacific 10 Roundup : Huskies Remain in First Place With Sixth Win in Row, 72-63

Only the first-half shooting of guard Clay Damon and better rebounding in the second half enabled Washington to avoid an upset at Seattle Saturday, Husky Coach Andy Russo said.

The Huskies remained on top in the Pacific 10 Conference with a 72-63 victory over Washington State after falling behind briefly in the second half.

“Our guys didn’t come to play today, and it showed in the game,” Russo said. “We did a lot of standing around today.”

The victory was the sixth in a row for the Huskies, 6-1 in the Pac-10 and 12-7 overall.

Otis Jennings and Keith Morrison shared game scoring honors with 18 points apiece for the Cougars, 2-5 and 9-11.

Washington’s 7-foot center Chris Welp, who entered the game averaging 19.4 points, was held to 14.

Arizona 85, Oregon 68--At Tucson, Ariz., Steve Kerr and Sean Elliott each scored 19 points as the Wildcats won their 14th straight at home.

Kerr scored 11 of Arizona’s first 13 points, including a 20-footer with 10:30 left in the first half, to give the Wildcats the lead for good at 13-12.

Arizona (14-5 and 5-1) led 33-27 at halftime and by as much as nine in the second half until Oregon’s Anthony Taylor sank two free throws with 19:36 left to pull the Ducks within four at 33-29.

Oregon (6-12 and 1-7) then closed the gap to 48-42 when Jerry Adams hit a layin with 12:25 remaining. But 15 seconds later, Elliott’s three-point play put Arizona ahead, 51-42, and the Ducks never got any closer.

Arizona St. 71, Oregon St. 56--Steve Beck scored a career-high 27 points and Arthur Thomas had 17 of his 21 in the final eight minutes as Arizona State rallied to beat Oregon State at Tempe, Ariz.

Thomas, a sophomore guard who was 15 of 16 from the free-throw line, sank two foul shots and then hit a jumper with 5:48 remaining to give the Sun Devils a 51-50 lead.

His free throws with 4:15 left put Arizona State ahead to stay at 53-52.

With the win, the Sun Devils improved their record to 9-8 and 3-4. Oregon State fell to 8-7 and 4-3, despite 19 points from Jose Ortiz.