A Close Call for Cardinal

Josh Childress scored a rebound basket with 9.4 seconds to play to give No. 4 Stanford a 63-62 victory over Arizona State on Thursday night.

The Cardinal, 12-0 overall, 3-0 in the Pacific 10, had leads of 16 points late in the first half and 14 early in the second, but barely escaped to beat Arizona State for the 12th consecutive time and ninth in a row on the Sun Devils’ home court.

Jason Braxton missed an open seven-footer at the buzzer for Arizona State. The referees conferred for a moment, then ruled the game was over -- it was not immediately clear what they were discussing.

Jamal Hill’s three-point basket, his first points against Stanford in three games, put Arizona State (6-5, 0-2) ahead, 62-59, with 2:23 to play.

Chris Hernandez made the first of two free throws, then missed the second but got another try because of a lane violation. He made that one to cut the lead to 62-61.

Braxton, a 46% free-throw shooter who scored all 13 of his points in the second half, missed the front end of a one-and-one with 21 seconds left. Stanford worked the ball into Justin Davis, who missed, but Childress got the rebound and scored.

Matt Lottich led Stanford with 18 points. Childress, in his third game after sitting out the first nine because of a stress reaction in his right foot, had 14 points and 11 rebounds. Davis had 11 points for the Cardinal, which plays at No. 3 Arizona on Saturday.

Steve Moore scored 16 for Arizona State. Ike Diogu had 13 points.

Diogu’s dunk gave the Sun Devils a 59-58 lead with 3:16 left. Lottich made one of two free throws to tie it at 59-59 with 2:58 left.

Diogu’s 43 consecutive double-digit scoring games is the longest current streak in the nation. West Virginia’s Drew Schifino saw his streak end at 48 games with a nine-point performance against Notre Dame on Wednesday night.

No. 3 Arizona 95, California 75 -- The victory at Tucson, the Wildcats’ 13th in the last 14 games against the Golden Bears, tied Lute Olson with Fred Enke for the most career wins by an Arizona coach.

Olson’s 21-year record is 509-148, compared with Enke’s 509-324 in 36 years. He earned his 700th win overall on Saturday in a 93-74 victory at Arizona State.

Salim Stoudamire scored all 18 of his points in the first half, Ivan Radenovic had 17 points and Channing Frye had 16 and four blocks in the ninth straight win for the Wildcats (10-1, 1-0 Pac-10).

The Golden Bears (5-7, 1-2) played without leading scorer and rebounder Leon Powe, who sat out the game to rest his sore left knee.

In his absence, Marquise Kately, another of the team’s three freshman starters, matched his season high with 18 points, 15 in the second half.