Terry Alters the Outcome for No. 7 Arizona

Jason Terry’s offense deserted him most of the game. His defense, however, saved the game for Arizona.

Terry’s pressure on Arizona State’s Eddie House forced him to miss an off-balance, one-handed three-point shot at the buzzer on Thursday night and No. 7-ranked Arizona escaped with a 74-73 Pacific 10 Conference victory at Tempe, Ariz.

It was the seventh consecutive time Arizona, 12-1 overall and 4-1 in the Pacific 10, has defeated Arizona State (10-7, 2-3) and the second year in a row the Wildcats won by one point in Tempe.

“Everybody knew he was the guy who was going to shoot it,” Terry said. “I just wanted to make sure I was in the right spot.”

Center A.J. Bramlett, who matched his career high with 24 points, made a 10-foot bank shot with 10 seconds to left to give Arizona the one-point lead.

Bramlett made 11 of 13 shots and had 11 rebounds, while the Wildcats’ other big man, freshman Michael Wright, had 18 points on eight-for-11 shooting and 12 rebounds.

Arizona State led by as many as nine points in a second half in which House scored 15 of his 22 points but missed the shot that mattered most.

“I went up in the air and had to double-clutch,” House said. “That’s what made me miss.”

Terry, the Pacific 10’s leading scorer at 21.3 points a game and top free throw shooter at 87%, had only 11 points on four-of-15 shooting and missed two free throws with 27 seconds left and Arizona State leading, 73-72.

Terry fouled Alton Mason on the rebound, but Mason missed the front end of a one-and-one with 25 seconds left. A rebound by the Wildcats’ Richard Jefferson and timeout preceded Bramlett’s go-ahead basket.

The Sun Devils, whose three Pacific 10 losses have been by a total of six points, missed eight of their last 11 free throws. House, an 84% free throw shooter, made one of five.

OTHER PAC-10 GAMES

Oregon 87, Washington State 83--Frederick Jones had 23 points, including a layup with 1:43 left in the third overtime that provided the decisive points for the Ducks (10-4, 2-3) at Pullman, Wash. The Cougars (7-8, 1-3) got 28 points from Jan-Michael Thomas. The game was 65-65 at the end of regulation, with neither team scoring in the final 1:36. It was 71-71 at the end of the first overtime after Thomas made two free throws with three seconds left, and 77-77 at the end of the second overtime after Steve Slotemaker’s layup with four seconds left.

Washington 70, Oregon State 50--Center Todd MacCulloch had 20 points on nine-of-12 shooting and 13 rebounds to lead the Huskies (8-6, 1-3) past the Beavers (8-6, 2-3) at Seattle. Deaundra Tanner, who led Oregon State to victories over UCLA and USC last week, had 14 points.

AROUND THE NATION

Bradley Mann and Ugo Udezue each had 18 points to lead Wyoming (10-4, 1-2) to a 96-93 victory over No. 20 Texas Christian (13-3, 1-1) in Western Athletic Conference game at Laramie, Wyo. Lee Nailon had 32 points--eight above his season average--for TCU, which had a win streak end at eight when Marquise Gainous missed a three-point shot at the buzzer. . . . In the first-ever matchup of coaches with 700 or more victories--Fresno State’s Jerry Tarkanian and Texas El Paso’s Don Haskins--the Bulldogs (12-6, 2-1) were 70-56 WAC winners over the Miners (10-6, 2-1) at Fresno. . . . B.J. Bunton scored 23 points, including an inadvertent basket after a pass bounced off his hands with 20 seconds left, to lead UC Santa Barbara (4-9, 2-1) to a 66-64 Big West victory over Nevada (4-9, 0-3) at Reno. . . . Seven players scored in double figures for Utah State (8-6, 1-2) in a 97-73 Big West victory over Cal Poly San Luis Obispo (5-9, 0-3) at Logan, Utah. . . . Quentin Richardson had 29 points and 20 rebounds to lead DePaul (9-6, 3-2) an 87-80 Conference USA victory over Alabama Birmingham (13-5, 4-1) at Chicago. . . . Shawnta Rogers scored a career-high 36 points as George Washington (9-4, 3-0) won its fifth consecutive game, an 81-69 victory over Dayton (7-7, 2-2) in an Atlantic 10 game at Washington. . . . Michael Jordan made a shot from the left corner with 17.8 seconds left to lift Pennsylvania (7-3) to a 62-58 nonconference victory over La Salle (3-7).