Pacific 10 Tournament : Tolbert Is a Wildcat in 88-64 Victory Over Cal

Tom Tolbert, Arizona’s sturdy 6-foot 7-inch center, scored a routine 15 points in the Wildcats’ 88-64 victory over California in the second round of the Pacific 10 Conference basketball tournament Friday, moving the Wildcats into one semifinal against Stanford this afternoon.

But it wasn’t Tolbert’s scoring that had the 13,436 fans on their feet at McKale Center, giving him the ovation of his life.

It wasn’t the scoring that had Tolbert himself pumping his fist into the air. And it wasn’t the scoring that had Arizona Coach Lute Olson singing the praises of his front line.

Olson said: “That was the best all-around front-line defense and board work that we’ve had all year long.”

Tolbert gave a total effort from the opening tipoff--which he grabbed--until the game was well out of reach. Tolbert was so intense in his banging under the boards that at one point referee Willis McJunkin had to discourage him from pushing Cal’s 6-8, 235-pound Hartman Ortmann around with his chest after the whistle had blown.

Tolbert played just 22 minutes but finished with 15 points--his shot wasn’t dropping but he was 9 for 9 from the line--9 rebounds, 3 assists and 2 steals.

The assists were impressive from a guy who shoots 56% and whose teammates call him the Black Hole. Once the ball goes in to him, guard Steve Kerr says, it never comes back out.

The motivation for his all-out effort, Tolbert said, was the realization that this is it. This sudden-death conference tournament followed by the sudden-death National Collegiate Athletic Assn. tournament mark the end of his collegiate basketball. “I’ve been in college about 29 years now,” he joked.

Well, it has been awhile. From Lakewood High he went to UC Irvine in September 1983. After playing a year, he red-shirted a year there, then went to Cerritos College for a year. He’s in his second year at Arizona.

And now, it’s all coming together in the stretch run. He has always been a fine shooter, but he has also had a couple of years of nagging by Olson, who wanted more from him.

Tolbert said: “I feel like I’ve been playing real well for the last two or three games, rebounding-wise and defensive-wise. . . . I don’t want to lose any more games.”

The Wildcats were led by 19 points from forward Sean Elliott, the Pac-10 player of the year, who played just 30 minutes. Kerr had 12 points in 20 minutes.

Guard Craig McMillan had just five points, but he was busy shutting down Cal’s Drew Ryan, the freshman who had put the Golden Bears in this game with his 6-for-6 three-point shooting the night before. Drew had eight points and just one three-pointer.

Stanford 88, Oregon 67--The Cardinal, the only Pac-10 team that has beaten Arizona this season, advanced to today’s semifinal round against the top-ranked hometown team with a strong late-game run. The Cardinal was tied with the Ducks at halftime and had just a five-point lead with about seven minutes left in the game. But the Ducks just couldn’t keep up the pace.

Anthony Taylor, who led the Ducks with 23 points, said that he was still holding out hope for a National Invitation Tournament bid after finishing 15-13.

Stanford (20-10) was led by junior guard Todd Lichti, who had 25 points.

Oregon State 80, Washington 61--Earl Martin, a sophomore forward from Carson High School, led the second-seeded Beavers with 26 points and 7 rebounds.

Bill Sherwood, the Beaver center who suffered a sprained ankle last week and who was not expected to play, started and played 25 minutes with a brace on his left ankle. Sherwood was limping and went to the training room in the second half, but he came back again.