Arizona Not Out of Woods

Even though No. 11-ranked Arizona won for the eighth time in nine games by easily defeating Washington as expected, it continued to be a difficult season for Wildcat center Loren Woods.

The unheard of happened at McKale Center during Arizona’s 82-62 victory Thursday night as a Wildcat player--Woods--was booed by some in the crowd.

Coach Lute Olson chastised the crowd for a reaction he said he’s never heard in the building before.

“If the crowd really wants to help us, and I assume that’s why they’re here, then they need to do everything they can to encourage all our guys,” said Olson. “I’ve been here 18 years, and I was probably as embarrassed as I’ve been by the crowd reaction a couple of times in the first half.”

Woods was benched by Olson in last Saturday’s victory at Oregon State after an incident in practice the previous day. He had 10 points against Washington to reach 1,000 for his career, but was as disgusted with his play as some in the crowd were.

“Right now, my game is a joke,” said Woods, who is shooting only 47.8% this season after shooting 53.8% last season. “Everybody sees it. I’m not happy with anything right now--even just stepping on the floor. I’m embarrassing myself, my family and Arizona basketball.”

Arizona, 16-6 overall and 8-2 in the Pacific 10, got 20 points and 11 rebounds from Michael Wright and made 15 steals to beat Washington (9-13, 3-7) for the 16th time in the last 17 games between the schools at McKale Center.

The Huskies fell behind by 15 early, but rallied to cut the deficit to three with 2:37 left in the first half. The Wildcats, however, went on an 8-0 run to close out the half, then scored 10 of the first 12 points of the second half.

“The first five minutes of the second half are critical,” said Washington Coach Bob Bender said. “It was actually like two-and-a-half minutes for them to get some easy buckets and get a sizable lead. They gained more confidence, they ran and got the tempo higher than we wanted it.”

Washington had 29 turnovers and leading scorer Will Perkins, who came in averaging 13.7 points, had only two points on one-of-eight shooting.