PACIFIC 10 ROUNDUP : No. 2 Arizona Shocked by Oregon State, 84-61

Arizona Coach Lute Olson says there’s no doubt who should be favored to win the Pacific 10 Conference basketball title.

“In my opinion, it’s not us or UCLA, but definitely Oregon State,” he said. “I don’t think there’s any question that they’re the best team in the conference.”

After the Beavers beat Olson’s No. 2-ranked Wildcats, 84-61, Saturday at Corvallis, Ore., no one was arguing with him.

Gary Payton scored 25 points and led a harassing defense as the Beavers handed Arizona its worst defeat since Olson became coach in 1983.

Arizona, which beat defending national champion Michigan in its season opener but lost to Oregon, 68-63, Thursday night in Eugene, is off to an 0-2 Pac-10 start for the first time since the 1983-84 season. The Wildcats, two-time defending conference champions, are 1-2 overall.

Oregon State (3-0 and 2-0) jumped to a 20-point lead in the first half and never was threatened thereafter.

“They totally destroyed us for 20 minutes,” Olson said. “They have tremendous balance. Every guy can shoot. Every guy can defend. And they have maybe the best point guard (Payton) in America.

“They’ve got the intensity that every coach wishes for. They beat us to the ball constantly.”

Harvey Mason scored 18 for Arizona, 16 in the second half. Brian Williams added 14 for the Wildcats.

Olson, who was assessed a technical foul for kicking the ball at the end of the first half, had never had a team lose by more than 19 points since he took the Arizona job. The Wildcats lost to Illinois, 82-63, in the 1986-87 season.

“I was at least pleased that our guys played hard in the second half and battled them,” Olson said. “You’ll see a different Arizona team in January, I guarantee it.”

NONCONFERENCE

Stanford 62, Louisiana Tech 59--Kenny Ammann scored 14 points and Adam Keefe, the tournament’s most valuable player, added 13 for the Cardinal in the championship game of the Apple Invitational.

Stanford (4-0) was ahead by seven points with about four minutes to play, but Louisiana Tech (3-1) pulled to 61-59 on a layup by center P.J. Brown with 1:58 remaining. The last point of the game was on John Patrick’s free throw with four seconds left.

California 83, USF 61--Brian Hendrick set a school record by hitting 10 of 10 field goals as the Bears defeated the Dons at Berkeley.

Hendrick, a 6-foot-8 forward and the son of former major league baseball player George Hendrick, finished with a career-high 25 points.

Roy Fisher added 21 points for the Bears (4-1). Joe DeBortoli had 18 for the Dons (1-2).