Emotional Win for Arizona

In a game loaded with emotion, Arizona’s Loren Woods lost his cool.

His teammates kept theirs, though, and the 16th-ranked Wildcats defeated California, 78-75, in a Pacific 10 Conference opener Thursday night at Tucson.

Michael Wright matched his career high with 28 points and Gilbert Arenas scored nine of his 13 points in the final six minutes after Woods was thrown out of the game following a second technical foul.

The Wildcats (8-4) were without Coach Lute Olson for a second consecutive game. Olson has taken an indefinite leave of absence after the death of his wife, Bobbi, of cancer on Monday.

Arizona players wore a black strip across their left shoulder in honor of the woman they and many before them knew as a second mother. She had cooked pancakes for the players and was a constant, outgoing presence in the crowd until illness kept her away.

Arizona, which had struggled throughout the early season after being ranked No. 1 in the preseason, nearly lost consecutive home games for the first time since 1983-84, Olson’s first season at Arizona.

“It was a real emotional week,” the Wildcats’ Luke Walton said, “but we knew we had to win this game.”

The Wildcats, who face No. 2 Stanford on Saturday, took the lead for good with a 9-1 run, with Arenas scoring seven, after Woods was thrown out with 6:17 left.

Sean Lampley scored 21 for the Bears (8-4), who had won seven in a row.

No. 2 Stanford 94, Arizona State 77--Casey Jacobsen had 17 of his 23 points in the first half, and Jarron Collins finished with 16 points and nine rebounds as the Cardinal brushed aside the Sun Devils at Tempe, Ariz.

Stanford (12-0) scored inside almost at will and shot 55.8%.

It was the 300th victory for Coach Mike Montgomery (300-143) in 15 seasons at Stanford, and the Cardinal’s eighth consecutive victory in a Pac-10 opener.

The Cardinal matched last season’s team for the third-best start in school history and won with ease as all five starters scored in double figures.

Jason Collins had 15 points, Michael McDonald 14 and Ryan Mendez 13.

Alton Mason beat his career high by 12 points, scoring 30 for the Sun Devils (8-4). Shawn Redhage added 14.

The game was delayed about 25 minutes by a power outage in Arizona State’s Wells Fargo Arena.