Pacific 10 Roundup : Sun Devils Bump Cal From First

Arthur Thomas and Alex Austin scored the big points in the second half as Arizona State knocked California out its share of the Pacific 10 Conference lead with a 61-53 victory Saturday night at Tempe, Ariz.

Thomas scored 10 of his 16 points in the second half, and Austin had all of his 10 in that half as the Sun Devils (6-10 overall, 2-3 in the Pac-10) short-circuited a rally by the Golden Bears (13-8, 6-3).

Trailing, 28-16, at halftime after sinking 23% of its shots in the first half, Cal used a 12-2 run and Kevin Johnson’s three-point shot to forge a 34-34 tie with 13 minutes left.

The teams traded the lead until Thomas’ layin put Arizona State ahead for good, 40-38, with 10:21 left. Jumpers by Thomas and Austin plus a three-point shot by Steve Beck pushed Arizona State’s lead to 47-41 with 3:27 left.

Cal, which now trails UCLA (6-2 in the Pac-10) by a half-game, couldn’t get back in it.

Beck added 13 points for the Sun Devils, and Johnson had 16 for the Bears.

Oregon State 71, Washington 50--Eric Knox scored 21 points, and Jose Ortiz added 19 points, 8 rebounds, 5 assists and 4 steals as the Beavers polished off the Huskies at Corvallis, Ore.

Leading, 30-20, Oregon State (13-4, 6-3) scored the first 10 points of the second half and built a 63-34 lead with 7:07 to play.

The Beavers held Chris Welp of Washington (10-9, 4-4), who was averaging 22.2 points per game, to 9 points in 23 minutes. OSU freshman Gary Payton added 14 points, 9 assists and 5 steals.

Oregon 60, Washington State 55--Anthony Taylor scored 20 of his 22 points in the second half, and the Ducks turned back the Cougars at Eugene, Ore.

The Ducks (10-8, 4-5) trailed, 29-27, at halftime but scored the first 11 points of the second half, and Washington State (5-10, 2-6) never caught up.