Huskies Hope It’s Good Enough

Donald Watts and Washington made a strong case for ending their 12-year NCAA tournament drought.

Watts scored 21 points Saturday as the Huskies went on an early second-half surge to defeat Washington State, 70-51, at Pullman.

The Huskies, who finished the regular season with an 18-9 record, 11-7 in the Pacific 10 Conference, hope to receive their first NCAA berth since 1986 when pairings are announced today.

“I know we deserve to be in,” Washington Coach Bob Bender said. “This is the time you explain that there are no guarantees.”

The Cougars suffered their fourth consecutive loss to Washington and finished 10-19 overall and 3-15 in the Pac-10. The Huskies, who finished fourth in the conference, won despite getting only five points and six rebounds from 7-foot center Todd MacCulloch, who began the game averaging 9.6 rebounds.

“That’s the best I’ve seen Washington play since I’ve been here,” Washington State Coach Kevin Eastman said. “They shot very well and played with a tremendous amount of emotion. They played with purpose and poise.”

Senior Carlos Daniel, playing in his final game for Washington State, finished with 15 points and 13 rebounds to record his conference-leading 13th double-double.

“A lot of guys didn’t shoot the ball well tonight, but that seems to be the story of our season,” Daniel said.

No. 11 Stanford 85, Oregon State 77--Arthur Lee had 27 points and 10 assists for the Cardinal in a victory over the injury-plagued Beavers at Palo Alto.

Kris Weems and Mark Madsen had 16 points each for Stanford (26-4, 15-3), which was sluggish for most of the game and shot only 47% after making a season-high 68% Thursday night in a 28-point win over Oregon.

Deaundra Tanner had 25 points and Jerome Vaden added 20 for the Beavers (13-17, 3-15), who lost seven of their final eight games.

The 26 wins matches the second-most by a Stanford team, tying the mark set by the 1988-89 squad. Only the 28-4 record by the 1941-42 team that won the NCAA championship was better.

Oregon State was without leading scorer Corey Benjamin, who is sidelined by an abdominal strain. The Beavers lost guard Ron Grady for the season in mid-January because of a lacerated kidney and bruised ribs.

Stanford finished with a 11-2 record at home. Oregon State went 3-8 on the road.

California 75, Oregon 71--Michael Gill made a tiebreaking jumper from the free throw line with 7.8 seconds remaining as California blew a 21-point second-half lead before recovering at Oakland.

Geno Carlisle led Cal (12-15, 8-10 Pac-10) with a game-high 26 points. Sean Lampley had 11 points and 10 rebounds. A.D. Smith led Oregon (13-14, 8-10) with 21, and Yasir Rosemond had 16 off the bench, 14 in the second half. The Bears shot 61%. The Ducks made 15 of 29 shots from three-point range but were only six for 32 on two-pointers.