Contrasting Wins for Arizona, Stanford

The early Pacific 10 showdown between top-ranked Stanford and No. 5 Arizona was preceded by the teams winning their conference openers in different ways Thursday night.

Stanford was in command for most of second half in an 86-67 home-court victory over Arizona State, while Arizona trailed for most of its game against California at Berkeley before winning, 65-61.

The Cardinal (12-0) and Wildcats (12-2) play Saturday at Maples Pavilion.

Center Loren Woods scored 23 points, including two baskets over the final 1:30, to lead Arizona to a hard-earned win that was also Coach Lute Olson’s 599th victory at the college level.

The Wildcats were trailing 56-51 when they went on a 7-0 run, taking a 58-56 lead on forward Michael Wright’s two free throws. Forward Sean Lampley’s dunk after an offensive rebound tied the game at 58-58.

Arizona scored the next six points, starting with forward Luke Walton’s basket on a six-foot runner. Woods followed with a layup and a short turnaround jumper with 50 seconds left.

Swingman Brian Wether made a three-point shot to make it 64-61, but California (9-4) could get no closer as forward Joe Shipp and Lampley missed long shots in the final seconds.

Center Nick Vander Laan scored 10 of his team-leading 14 points in the first half as the Golden Bears took a 40-35 lead.

California, however, finished with 21 turnovers and shot only 35%. Arizona shot 44% and was outrebounded, 46-31.

Stanford, meanwhile, used the three-point shooting of freshman guard Casey Jacobsen to take comfortable leads against Arizona State (8-4).

Jacobsen made three-point shots after the Sun Devils had pulled with six points once and seven points on two occasions. He finished with 24 points, while forward Mike Madsen had 14 points and 13 rebounds.

Guard Eddie House had 24 points and sophomore center Chad Prewitt scored a career-high 18 for Arizona State, which shot 34.9%. Stanford entered the game with the nation’s lowest opponent field-goal percentage (31%).

No. 19 Illinois 80, No. 13 Ohio State 77--Freshman guard Frank Williams made a three-point basket at the buzzer to give the Illini (9-3) the victory in the Big Ten opener for both teams at Champaign, Ill.

Ohio State (8-3) tied the score with five seconds left on a tip-in by center Ken Johnson after trailing by 10 with 6:44 remaining.

Guard Corey Bradford led Illinois with 20 points, while Williams finished with 13.

Senior forward George Reese had a career-high 24 points for Ohio State, which made only 13 of 25 free throws.

North Carolina State 68, No. 12 Maryland 66--Guard Justin Gainey’s jumper from the right of the foul line with 1.3 seconds left gave the Wolfpack (10-1) the victory in the Atlantic Coast Conference opener for both teams at Raleigh, N.C. The Terrapins (11-3) had defeated North Carolina State the previous five games on its court.

Gainey scored all of his 14 points in the second half, while Maryland forward Terence Morris--who missed a long three-point shot at the buzzer--had game highs of 20 points and 12 rebounds.

North Carolina State’s new football coach Chuck Amato, whose hiring was announced earlier in the day, attended the game and received a standing ovation during halftime. Amato, a former player and coach for the Wolfpack, was an assistant coach for national champion Florida State.

No. 14 North Carolina 65, Clemson 45--The Tar Heels (10-4) remained unbeaten in 46 games at Chapel Hill, N.C., against the Tigers (6-7) in the ACC opener for both teams.

Guard Joseph Forte led North Carolina with 15 points, scoring five in a 28-second span in a decisive 16-0 run midway in the second half.

Guard Will Solomon, the ACC scoring leader at 21.8 points a game, made only five of 19 shots and had 13 points.

No. 17 Texas 71, Baylor 43--The Longhorns (9-3) allowed their fewest points in 14 years in the Big 12 opener for both teams at Austin, Texas.

The fewest points Texas previously allowed came in a 65-40 victory over Baylor in 1986.

Baylor (9-3) shot 35%--the third consecutive game Texas held its opponent below 40%. The Bears have lost 17 consecutive Big 12 games.

Texas scored 22 points off 23 turnovers and had a 43-22 rebounding advantage. Center Chris Mihm had 15 points and eight rebounds.

Louisville 75, No. 18 Utah 55--The Cardinals (9-3) scored 20 points off turnovers and got 19 points after offensive rebounds in their nonconference victory at Louisville, Ky.

It was Louisville’s fourth victory in a row since an embarrassing 76-46 loss to Kentucky at Lexington on Dec. 18. The streak includes a 97-80 victory over then-No. 6 ranked North Carolina.

Utah (11-3) ended its winning streak at nine. The Utes had 17 turnovers and were outrebounded by the smaller Cardinals, 37-22.

Louisville forward Nate Johnson had 20 points and eight rebounds. Utah forward Hanno Mottola, who was averaging 24 points in five games since returning from a preseason knee injury, had 27 points--20 in the second half.

No. 22 Tulsa 94, Texas Christian 73--The Golden Hurricane (14-1) shot a season-best 62% in the Western Athletic Conference opener for both teams at Fort Worth, Texas.

Center Brandon Kurtz made nine of 11 shots and had a game-high 21 points for Tulsa, which has won seven consecutive games--each by at least 14 points.

Texas Christian (9-7) was held 21 points below its season average. The Horned Frogs had scored 143 and 134 points in their previous two games.

OTHER GAMES

Center Caswell Cyrus had 22 points and 11 rebounds as St. Bonaventure (9-2)--off to its best start in 27 years--was a 70-60 winner over Massachusetts (6-7) in the Atlantic 10 opener for both teams at Amherst, Mass. . . . Swingman Nate Green had 17 points to lead Indiana State (9-4, 2-0 in the Missouri Valley Conference) to its seventh consecutive victory--a 56-46 decision over Creighton (9-4, 1-3) at Terre Haute, Ind.