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Ucla Cuts Down UW’s Twin Towers

Associated Press

So much for Washington’s twin towers.

No. 8 UCLA used its only near-7-footer and some full-court pressure to beat the Huskies 105-94 Saturday and move into a tie for second place with Stanford in the Pac-10 Conference.

“This is a huge game for us,” said Toby Bailey, who had 22 points and a career-high 11 assists. “If we lost, it might have put us out of Pac-10 championship contention. At least we’re still in the hunt.”

No. 4 Stanford was upset by Arizona State 90-87 to drop into a tie with the Bruins.

Jelani McCoy, who at 6-9 is UCLA’s tallest player, had 16 points and 10 rebounds in his most productive game in two weeks to counter Washington’s inside combination of 7-1 Patrick Femerling and 7-0 Todd MacCulloch.

MacCulloch scored 10 points over the game’s first five minutes, then sat down the rest of the half despite having just two fouls. Femerling, who missed the early part of the season while playing for Germany’s national team, was limited to six points and six rebounds.

“We felt that if we could keep it close, we would have MacCulloch down the stretch and not risk the third foul,” said Washington coach Bob Bender, who, in his fifth season, is 0-9 against UCLA, the only Pac-10 school he’s never beaten.

But the conservative strategy backfired, especially since MacCulloch picked up one foul in the second half as the Huskies’ strongest scoring threat. He finished with 26 points and 13 rebounds.

“The coach has a pattern. If I get two early fouls, I’m out,” he said. “In the second half, the plan for me was to take the ball into the hole from 2-4 feet. Those are the shots I like, and today they went down.”

Kris Johnson led the Bruins (17-3, 7-2) with 26 points.

Johnson said MacCulloch’s absence changed the game.

“The offensive presence wasn’t there anymore, so it was easier for us to gamble more on the press,” he said. “We were giving up some buckets, but another five minutes, he would have been a non-factor because we started playing and pressuring.”

MacCulloch played 23:09, during which the Huskies outscored UCLA 67-62. When he was out for 16:51, the Bruins held a 43-27 scoring edge.

Deon Luton added 18 points for Washington (13-5, 6-3), which dropped out of a tie for third with its 10th straight loss to UCLA. The Huskies haven’t won at Pauley Pavilion in 11 years.

UCLA 76, Washington St. 70

UCLA (11-6, 6-2) - Philman 4-7 6-10 14, Martin 11-14 2-4 24, Hubbard 2-3 2-2 6, Gomez 3-9 8-10 14, Grimes 1-3 0-0 2, Pearson 0-5 0-0 0, Houser 0-0 0-0 0, Jackson 0-3 0-0 0, Veasley 5-7 1-2 11, Funicello 0-1 0-0 0, Flannigan 2-5 0-2 5. Totals 28-57 19-30 76.

Washington State (9-8, 3-5) - Dietel 8-17 2-3 23, Evans 1-5 1-2 3, Kunze 4-12 7-10 15, Nyseth 1-4 1-2 4, Lamb 3-6 7-9 14, Harrod 0-0 0-0 0, Smith 2-5 0-0 6, Kerns 1-4 2-4 5, Volkman 0-2 0-1 0, Rubio 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 20-56 20-31 70.

Halftime - Washington State 40, UCLA 28. 3-point goals - UCLA 1-4 (Flannigan 1-1, Grimes 0-1, Pearson 0-1, Jackson 0-1), Washington State 10-24 (Dietel 5-9, Smith 2-5, Kerns 1-1, Nyseth 1-2, Lamb 1-3, Evans 0-2, Volkman 0-2). Fouled out - Martin. Rebounds - UCLA 48 (Martin 10), Washington State 32 (Evans 8). Assists - UCLA 24 (Gomez 6), Washington State 21 (Evans 5). Total fouls - UCLA 25, Washington State 21. Technicals - None. A - NA.

Arizona St. 90, Stanford 87

At Stanford, Calif., Jeremy Veal scored 27 points, including nine in overtime, to lead the Sun Devils to a 90-87 victory over the No. 4 Cardinal, Stanford’s second straight loss after opening the season with a school-record 18 consecutive wins.

Stanford (18-2, 7-2 Pac-10) lost 93-75 to No. 6 Arizona on Thursday.

Arizona State (14-8) - Lazor 7-14 7-7 22, Batiste 6-11 4-5 17, House 3-8 1-2 10, Lewis 2-5 4-4 8, Veal 7-13 11-13 27, Kelly 2-3 2-2 6. Totals 27-54 29-33 90.

Stanford (18-2) - Sauer 4-11 0-0 9, Van Elswyk 1-2 0-0 2, Young 9-21 6-11 24, Weems 3-7 2-2 11, Lee 4-11 2-2 13, Collins 1-3 0-0 2, Madsen 3-6 4-4 10, Tshionyi 0-0 0-0 0, Mendez 4-7 0-0 11, Moseley 0-2 0-0 0, Seaton 2-2 1-2 5, McDonald 0-3 0-0 0. Totals 31-75 15-21 87.

Halftime-Stanford 40, Arizona State 38. 3-Point goals-Arizona State 7-14 (House 3-4, Veal 2-3, Lazor 1-2, Batiste 1-2, Lewis 0-3), Stanford 10-22 (Mendez 3-4, Weems 3-6, Lee 3-7, Sauer 1-3, McDonald 0-2). Fouled out-Batiste. Rebounds-Arizona State 36 (Lazor 14), Stanford 40 (Young 12). Assists-Arizona State 17 (Lewis 7), Stanford 26 (Lee 10). Total fouls-Arizona State 19, Stanford 25. A-7,391.

Oregon 74, Oregon State 67

Terrik Brown was 6-for-9 on 3-pointers and tied a career high with 24 points to lead the Ducks past the Beavers in Eugene, Ore.

Oregon State (11-10) - C. Benjamin 11-19 10-10 36, S. Benjamin 1-1 0-0 2. Woods 1-1 0-0 2, Tanner 0-5 7-10 7, Bickerstaff 2-5 0-2 5, Vaden 4-10 0-0 5-11, Walton 0-1 0-0 0, Petrovic 0-0 0-0 0, Greene 0-1 0-0 0, Marshall 2-4 0-2 4. Totals 21-47 17-24 67.

Oregon (8-10) - Madden 2-6 2-2 6, Curry 2-6 1-3 5, Hartenstein 1-1 0-0 2, Rosemond 1-2 0-0 2, Brown 7-15 4-5 24, Smith 4-6 3-4 13, Quinine 0-1 2-4 2, McShane 3-4 7-13 15, Nelson 1-2 3-6 5. Totals 21-43 22-37 74.

Halftime-Oregon St 36, Oregon 32. 3-Point goals-Oregon St 8-17 (C. Benjamin 4-7, Vaden 3-7, Bickerstaff 1-2, Tanner 0-1), Oregon 10-19 (Brown 6-9, Smith 2-3, McShane 2-3, Madden 0-1, Curry 0-1, Rosemond 0-1, Quinine 0-1). Fouled out-Oregon St, Bickerstaff, Vaden. Rebounds-Oregon St 22 (Bickerstaff, Marshall 5), Oregon 34 (Madden). Assists-Oregon St 7 (C. Benjamin, S. Benjamin, Woods, Bickerstaff, Vaden, Walton, Petrovic 1), Oregon 14 (Madden 3). Total fouls-Oregon St 27, Oregon 20. A-9,087.

Arizona 70, California 57

At Oakland, Calif., Mike Bibby scored 16 points and Michael Dickerson added 14 as the No. 6 Wildcats won their 12th straight game, defeating the Bears.

Arizona (19-3) - Dickerson 5-16 4-4 14, Davison 5-9 2-2 12, Bramlett 5-9 0-1 10, Bibby 6-14 2-3 16, Simon 1-6 0-0 3, Harris 1-3 0-0 2, Terry 3-5 3-4 9, Edgerson 0-0 4-4 4. Totals 26-62 15-18 70.

California (8-9) - Lampley 7-15 3-5 17, Marks 3-7 0-0 6, K. Jones 2-6 2-4 6, Kilgore 4-13 4-8 14, Carlisle 3-12 3-3 10, Elson 1-4 0-0 2, King 1-4 0-0 2, R. Jones 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 21-61 12-20 57.

Halftime-Arizona 31, California 26. 3-Point goals-Arizona 3-12 (Bibby 2-6, Simon 1-3, Terry 0-1, Dickerson 0-2), California 3-8 (Kilgore 2-2, Carlisle 1-5, King 0-1). Fouled out-None. Rebounds-Arizona 41 (Davison 9), California 37 (Lampley 10). Assists-Arizona 18 (Dickerson 5), California 11 (Marks, Carlisle, King 3). Total fouls-Arizona 17, California 18. A-13,698.