It’s No Cakewalk, but Arizona Wins

Nothing seems to come easy for second-ranked Arizona in the Pacific 10 Conference, even at home.

Loren Woods shook off a miserable shooting performance in the first half to score 22 points, grab 11 rebounds and block five shots Saturday night as the Wildcats survived another home-court scare with a 69-62 victory over Washington at Tucson.

Arizona, 15-2 overall and 4-0 in the Pac-10, got 16 points and 12 rebounds from Michael Wright.

The obvious tactic teams are going to use against Arizona is to slow the game down, and it almost worked for Washington State on Thursday and then Washington (6-10, 1-3) on Saturday.

Coach Lute Olson said it’s a good lesson in conference intensity for his young team, which is down to seven scholarship players.

“Every game that we play, as young as we are, we’re going to gain with that experience,” Olson said. “They’ve been told by their teammates who’ve been around, plus the coaching staff that when you go into league play, it’s a war every time you step out there.

“It’s not just the Pac-10. It’s the Big Ten or the ACC or anywhere else. You’d better be ready to play because everyone’s going to bring their ‘A’ game at you. I think they understand now what we’re talking about.”

Olson benched Arizona’s starting freshmen guards Jason Gardner and Gilbert Arenas for the first 8 1/2 minutes for being late to Thursday’s practice. Gardner scored 15 points and Arenas 10.

“I thought they responded well,” Olson said. “It wasn’t a case of pouting and feeling sorry for themselves. They knew they were the responsible parties.”

No. 3 Stanford 85, Oregon 71--Jarron Collins had 19 points and 13 rebounds to lead the Cardinal (13-1, 3-1) over the Ducks (11-3, 2-1) at Eugene, Ore.

David Moseley added 20 points and made four of six three-point shots for Stanford.

Alex Scales had 21 points and A.D. Smith had 13 for Oregon.

Stanford, coming off a 28-point rout of Oregon State on Thursday night, didn’t earn its sweep of the Oregon teams until late in the game.

Three free throws by Collins, followed by a three-point basket by Moseley, gave the Cardinal a 68-56 lead with 4:23 to play. But the Ducks ran off seven consecutive points, and a three-point basket by Scales cut the lead to 68-63 with 2:51 remaining.

The Ducks got no closer as Stanford made all 14 of its free throws in the last 2:20.

“Getting a sweep on this road trip is huge,” said Stanford Coach Mike Montgomery. “We hit big baskets when we needed to, and our free throws when we had to down the stretch.”

Arizona State 81, Washington State 64--Eddie House scored 25 points as the Sun Devils (11-4, 3-1) rolled over the Cougars (5-8, 0-4) at Tempe, Ariz.

House, who tied a conference record with 61 points Jan. 8 against California, scored 12 points in the first five minutes before Washington State switched to a triangle-and-two defense, meaning House was hounded by two Cougars.

At the time, Arizona State led, 16-8. The move backfired and Washington State trailed, 43-25, at halftime.

California 71, Oregon State 65--Ryan Forehan-Kelly scored 17 points to help the Golden Bears (10-6, 1-3) end a three-game losing streak with the victory over the Beavers (8-6, 0-3) at Corvallis, Ore.