Williams, Womack Spark Arizona to 70-61 Win Over Arizona State

Brian Williams scored 12 of his 20 points in the second half and teamed with Wayne Womack to trigger crucial runs Wednesday night as 23rd-ranked Arizona beat Arizona State, 70-61.

The win for the Wildcats (10-3 overall, 5-3 in the Pacific 10 Conference) was their seventh in a row over their archrival and 12th in the last 13 meetings.

Arizona State (8-7, 2-5) lost its third consecutive game overall and failed to give Coach Bill Frieder the 200th victory of his 10-year career.

The Sun Devils, trailing 30-28 at halftime, used a 6-0 run to take a 34-32 lead with 16:44 remaining.

Williams and Womack, who had 14 of his 18 points in the second half, scored four apiece in an 11-2 spurt to put Arizona ahead to stay at 43-36 with 12:57 left. After Arizona State closed to 49-45 with 10:06 to play, Williams had a jumper and two free throws in an 8-0 run to make it 57-45 with 6:52 left.

Alex Austin paced Arizona State with 24 points, including six three-point goals.