COLLEGE BASKETBALL / PACIFIC 10 ROUNDUP : Arizona, Geary in the Groove in 90-70 Victory

After Arizona guard Reggie Geary made his first two shots, he knew that he was in for a good night.

Geary finished with eight-of-11 shooting from the field and a career-high 21 points Saturday night as No. 4 Arizona beat Texas El Paso, 90-70, at Tucson.

“It’s always big for me to hit my first couple of shots,” said Geary, whose first two baskets were on three-point shots. “I’m a streak shooter. When I can hit the first two that gives me confidence for the whole game.”

That confidence seemed to be shared by his teammates as Arizona (8-0) shot 66% from the field. The Wildcats never trailed and led by as many as 28 points in the second half.

Carl Davis scored 20 points for Texas El Paso, which made 40% of its floor shots.

No. 18 Michigan 60, Washington 59--For the second game in a row, forward Maceo Baston made a late defensive play that determined the outcome for the Wolverines (8-2), blocking a shot by Bryant Boston as time ran out at Ann Arbor.

“I just kind of read it,” Baston said. “He had three or four in a row that he had made, so I knew he was going to take the last shot. I knew he was hot, so I stepped up, got a piece of it, and blocked it.”

In last Saturday’s victory over Duke, Baston blocked a three-point attempt by Chris Collins that would have given the Blue Devils a one-point lead with 16 seconds left.

Baston, a 6-9 sophomore forward, also made his presence felt offensively, getting a game-high 23 points. He had a career-high 26 points against Duke.

Washington (3-2) started a lineup with two 7-footers and a 6-8 forward and outrebounded Michigan, 42-34, but had 27 turnovers and shot 42% from the floor. The Wolverines didn’t shoot much better--40% from the floor while missing 17 of 32 free throws.

Boston had scored five of his team-high 13 points to help Washington rally from a seven-point deficit with 4:28 left to a 59-59 tie with less than a minute.

California 70, Minnesota 67--The Bears (4-0) almost lost a 12-point lead before a crowd of 25,614 at the Metrodome, which will be the site of NCAA Midwest Regional in March.

Three consecutive baskets by Quincy Lewis helped the Gophers (5-3) make their late run but Sam Jacobson missed a three-point shot that could have given Minnesota the lead with six seconds left. Alfred Grigsby made one of two free throws to close out the scoring.

California entered the game averaging 104 points but struggled with 31% shooting in the first half.

Ed Gray led the Bears with 22 points and freshman Shareef Abdur-Rahim had 17--far less than the 31.3 average he brought into the game as the nation’s leading scorer.

Arizona State 85, Cal State Sacramento 73--Ron Riley, the Pacific 10’s second-leading scorer, had 24 points to go with eight assists at Tempe.

Sacramento (3-5) trailed, 48-46, with 17:15 to play when Arizona State (3-2) went on a 16-2 run, capped by Riley’s fourth three-point basket. The Sun Devils could not pull away from their America West Conference foe as they continued their poor free-throw shooting (14 of 27).

Arizona State was playing without starting point guard Lenny Holly, who is being treated for a seizure disorder, and center Okeme Oziwo, who was at his grandmother’s funeral.

Jerome Veal, assuming most of the point-guard duties, had a game-high 25 points and seven assists while teammate Rodger Farrington took over the frontcourt matters with 22 points and a career-high 15 rebounds.

Washington State 66, Idaho 54--Mark Hendrickson had 20 points and 10 rebounds for the Cougars (5-1) at Pullman, Wash.

Washington State had its worst-shooting game of the season (38% from the field) and was outrebounded, 39-27.

Idaho (3-3, including a victory over Washington) committed 27 turnovers.

The Vandals’ Reggie Rose tied the game at 36-36, but the Cougars took the lead for good on the next play. After Hendrickson missed a layup, Idaho’s Harry Harrison received a technical foul for taunting. Hendrickson made both free throws to start a 12-4 run.

Texas 83, Oregon State 51--The Longhorns (4-2) bounced back from a cold-shooting first half that resulted in 19 points to rout the Beavers (1-4) at Austin.

Texas made 58% of its shots from the field in the second half to outscore Oregon State, 64-26. Reggie Freeman scored 19 of his game-high 23 points to led the second-half surge.