Stanford Has Finishing Touch Against Oregon State

Battered but still standing, second-ranked Stanford survived a grueling trip through Oregon, even if it failed to make the kind of emphatic statement it was looking for.

Jason Collins scored 21 points as the Cardinal struggled for the second consecutive game but pulled away and defeated Oregon State, 82-63, on Saturday night at Corvallis, Ore.

“Everybody seems to be giving us their best shot,” Stanford Coach Mike Montgomery said. “Oregon State really made every shot. It frustrated us a little bit.”

Stanford (22-1, 10-1 in the Pacific 10 Conference) led, 58-54, with 9:48 left, but went on a 19-4 run to turn back the overmatched Beavers (8-15, 2-9).

Jimmie Haywood scored a career-high 20 points to lead Oregon State, which had only seven players because of injuries and suspensions. The Beavers shot 52%, the highest any team has shot against Stanford.

The Cardinal made four consecutive three-point shots--one by Michael McDonald, two by Teyo Johnson and the last by Casey Jacobsen--during the run. A breakaway slam by Collins ended the spurt and gave Stanford a 77-58 lead with 3:33 remaining.

“We knew that if we just kept going at them, we should be able to wear them down,” Collins said. “That didn’t happen until the very end of the game.”

Jacobsen and Ryan Mendez each added 18 points for Stanford, which was coming off a 69-62 victory at Oregon on Thursday night, in which the Cardinal trailed by seven with just over six minutes left.

Stanford had won its first six conference games by an average of 21.8 points, but the team has looked vulnerable in the last five. The Cardinal was pushed hard by Washington State and USC, then UCLA ended Stanford’s unbeaten start at Maples Pavilion last week.

Mendez said being the top team in the league has its perils.

“We’re going to get teams’ best shot every single night, one through 10 in the conference,” he said. “Lately we’ve been putting teams away at the seven-minute mark in the second half, and we can’t do that if we want to be leaders of the conference.”

No. 11 Arizona 86, Washington State 51--Warmly greeted by the crowd in Tucson this time and towering over the opposition, Loren Woods had the kind of game his sagging confidence sorely needed.

The 7-foot-2 center, who heard boos from the home crowd Thursday night, had 18 points, six rebounds, five assists and four blocked shots to lead the Wildcats (17-6, 9-2) past the Cougars (9-12, 2-9) for the 32nd time in a row.

“I expect to do things like that all the time. It’s important that I play like that,” said Woods, who had called his play “a joke” after Thursday night’s 82-62 victory over Washington.

Woods was eight of 12 from the field, including several dunks against the smaller Cougars.

“He was a lot happier,” teammate Gilbert Arenas said. “When you are scoring points, it gets you in a lot better mood. We didn’t say anything to him. We just tried to get him the ball.”

Woods sat out the last 11:40, and no Arizona starter played the last 10:41.

“They are just bigger and stronger than us,” Washington State Coach Paul Graham said. “They pounded it in, and on the glass. They are just better.”

Jason Gardner had 12 points, six assists and no turnovers. Michael Wright and Richard Jefferson each had 10 points.

Washington State, which ended its 31-game conference road losing streak with a 57-56 victory at Arizona State on Thursday, was led by Milton Riley’s 10 points.

California 65, Oregon 56--Sean Lampley managed to put a pretty face on an ugly game for the Golden Bears at Eugene, Ore..

Lampley had 17 points and 10 rebounds as California (17-6, 8-3) recovered from a poor first half in which it scored only 22 points.

“It was not a pretty game, but the object is not to look good, but to play well and scrap with good defense,” Cal Coach Ben Braun said.

Cal closed with a 16-7 run to defeat Oregon (12-9, 3-8) at McArthur Court for the first time in four years.

Bryan Bracey had 13 points and eight rebounds off the bench for the Ducks, who have lost three in a row and eight of 10.

“We’ve got to keep pushing and go back to the drawing board,” Oregon’s Anthony Norwood said. “It’s definitely frustrating, because we know we’re a better team, and it’s just been on and off for us. We have to refocus.”

The game matched the conference’s leading scorers in Lampley and Bracey. Lampley is averaging 19.5 points a game; Bracey 18.6. Lampley made seven of 12 shots and Bracey was five for 13.

“Lamp’s always going to get his points. He’s the heart and soul of this team,” Cal’s Shantay Legans said.

Lampley’s jump shot with 6:51 remaining gave the Bears the lead for good, 51-49. They made six of eight free throws in the final 1:18 to secure the victory.

The Bears, who struggled past Oregon State, 72-69, in overtime Thursday night, are in fourth place in the Pac-10, 1 1/2 games ahead of USC and half a game behind UCLA.