Washington Makes Effort but Loses to Cal, 58-53

Richard Midgley scored 15 points, including the decisive three-point basket with 1:39 left Saturday at Berkeley, as No. 22 California held off Washington, 58-53.

Joe Shipp had 16 points and seven rebounds, and Amit Tamir made a jump shot in the lane with 51 seconds left as Cal (18-4, 11-2 Pac-10) stayed a game behind top-ranked Arizona in the conference race with its 17th consecutive home victory.

But it wasn’t easy for Cal, which had its lowest-scoring performance in a conference victory in 40 years.

Nate Robinson and Curtis Allen scored 12 points apiece for the Huskies (8-14, 3-10), who lost their fourth in a row. Washington trailed, 55-53, with 14 seconds left, but Will Conroy dribbled the ball out of bounds near the Huskies’ bench.

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No. 24 Stanford 72, Washington State 54 -- Justin Davis, making his first start since tearing a knee ligament in early January, scored 21 points at Palo Alto as the Cardinal handed the Cougars their 13th consecutive defeat.

Josh Childress added 15 points for the Cardinal (19-6, 10-3), which trailed for much of the first half despite holding the Cougars (5-17, 0-13) without a basket for the opening 6 1/2 minutes.

Washington State has lost all 10 of its road games and 19 consecutive conference games. The Cougars have lost 14 in a row to Stanford. Jerry McNair had 14 of his 21 points in the first half for Washington State.

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Oregon 80, Oregon State 63 -- Luke Ridnour scored 18 points and set a conference season record with his 51st consecutive successful free throw as the Ducks won at Corvallis, Ore.

Oregon (17-6, 7-5) has won nine in a row and 19 of the last 20 meetings between the teams, who have played 318 times, the most of any rivalry in Division I. Oregon State (11-10, 4-8) lost its third in a row.