Cal Stays Cool, Beats UW

Pac-10

Although No. 25 California trailed at halftime, the Golden Bears felt they had the game won.

“If we’d been down by 14 at the half, then maybe we would have felt we were in trouble,” Anwar McQueen said. “But we had time to chip away at their lead.”

Trailing by 14 late in the first half, the Bears got 19 points and 13 rebounds from Alfred Grigsby and 17 points from Ed Gray to come back and beat Washington 78-67 Thursday night.

The Golden Bears won their ninth game in 10 starts. The Huskies lost to Cal for the second time this season.

Cal trailed 36-22 with 6:11 left in the opening half. The Bears outscored Washington 11-2 at the end of the first half to cut their deficit to 38-33, holding the Huskies to just two free throws.

“We had to crawl back in those final 3 minutes of the first half,” first-year Cal coach Ben Braun said. “We carried that intensity over into the second half.”

Cal turned the game around by stopping Washington’s fastbreak.

In the second half, the Bears shot 63 percent (19 for 30).

“They’re more athletic than us with their starting five,” Washington’s Mark Sanford said. “You’d think they’d be better in a running game. But they slowed down and hit their shots in the second half.”

Cal, which plays at Washington State on Saturday, moved one step closer to cementing a berth in the NCAA Tournament.

“I think we’re one of the teams in the league that deserves to be in the tournament,” Braun said. “But there’s more that needs to be accomplished. The league championship is still up for grabs.”

(25) California 78, Washington 67

California (19-6) - Grigsby 9-12 1-2 19, Stewart 3-4 0-0 6, Gray 6-17 3-4 17, Duck 3-9 1-2 7, McGruder 1-1 2-3 4, McQueen 4-6 4-5 12, Gonzalez 3-6 2-3 8, Jones 2-4 1-2 5, Jackson 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 31-59 14-21 78.

Washington (14-8) - Sanford 3-10 5-6 12, MacCulloch 4-8 3-4 11, Wooten 2-6 0-0 4, Watts 3-6 1-3 8, Booker 7-13 2-6 19, Luton 3-9 0-0 9, Femerling 1-2 0-1 2, Walcott 1-1 0-0 2, Thompson 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 24-55 11-20 67.

Halftime-Washington 38, California 33. 3-Point goals- California 2-12 (Gray 2-7, McQueen 0-1, Duck 0-4), Washington 8-16 (Luton 3-4, Booker 3-6, Sanford 1-2, Watts 1-2, Wooten 0-2). Fouled out-Gray. Rebounds-California 30 (Grigsby 13), Washington 36 (MacCulloch 7). Assists-California 13 (Gray 7), Washington 21 (Thompson 5). Total fouls-California 23, Washington 21. A-6,302.

Oregon 78, (13) Arizona 72

At Eugene, Oregon scored the last eight points of the game, six by Kenya Wilkins, as the Ducks snapped a 12-game losing streak against the Wildcats.

Arizona scored 12 straight points to take its only lead of the game, 72-70, on Miles Simon’s 3-pointer from the corner with 3:22 to play, but didn’t score again.

Wilkins, the point guard who has started every game in his four seasons at Oregon, also had a diving steal during Oregon’s late surge, as the Ducks beat Arizona for the first time since March 2, 1991.

Arizona (16-7) - Davison 5-7 0-0 10, Dickerson 3-8 4-4 10, Bramlett 2-4 0-0 4, Bibby 8-16 2-4 22, Simon 5-14 5-7 19, Harris 0-0 2-2 2, Terry 2-9 0-0 5, Edgerson 0-0 0-0 0, Lee 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 25-58 13-17 72.

Oregon (15-8) - Milling 6-9 3-7 15, Curry 1-7 1-2 3, Ramaker 2-3 0-0 4, Wilkins 5-9 5-7 15, Lawrence 8-16 2-2 20, Madden 1-2 4-4 6, Larry 1-3 0-0 3, Brown 3-7 0-0 9, McShane 1-2 1-2 3, Carson 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 28-58 16-24 78.

Halftime-Oregon 44, Arizona 22. 3-Point goals-Arizona 9-25 (Simon 4-9, Bibby 4-10, Terry 1-5, Dickerson 0-1), Oregon 6-17 (Brown 3-6, Lawrence 2-5, Larry 1-1, Ramaker 0-1, Curry 0-2, Wilkins 0-2). Fouled out-None. Rebounds-Arizona 31 (Bramlett 11), Oregon 38 (Milling 11). Assists-Arizona 14 (Terry 6), Oregon 16 (Ramaker, Wilkins 5). Total fouls-Arizona 20, Oregon 16. A-9,626.

Oregon St. 71, Arizona St. 67

At Corvallis, Corey Benjamin scored 22 points as the Beavers left the Sun Devils alone in the Pac-10 cellar.

The Beavers led 70-63 with 34 seconds to go before Jeremy Veal scored two quick layups to make it 70-67. Eddie House then stole the ball from Oregon State’s J.B. Bickerstaff in the backcourt with 22 seconds left.

But Bickerstaff raced downcourt with House to block his shot, swatting the ball to Benjamin, and House had to foul Benjamin to stop the clock. Benjamin hit 1 of 2 free throws and Arizona State failed to score again.

Arizona St. (10-15) - Batiste 2-4 2-2 6, Brewer 9-20 0-3 18, Farrington 0-3 1-2 1, House 5-15 0-0 11, Veal 7-11 3-4 18, Gervin 2-6 1-2 5, Kelly 0-1 0-0 0, Richardson 4-5 0-1 8. Totals 29-65 7-14 67.

Oregon St. (7-16) - Woods 5-6 4-11 14, Knight 3-6 1-2 7, Grady 3-6 0-0 7, C. Benjamin 7-12 7-8 22, Cunningham 0-5 0-0 0, Bickerstaff 3-5 2-4 8, S. Benjamin 1-1 0-0 2, Marshall 0-2 0-0 0, Riggs 0-0 0-0 0, Vaden 2-3 5-8 11. Totals 24-46 19-33 71.

Halftime-Oregon St. 31, Arizona St. 28. 3-Point goals-Arizona St. 2-10 (Veal 1-2, House 1-4, Brewer 0-1, Gervin 0-3), Oregon St. 4-10 (Vaden 2-3, Grady 1-2 C. Benjamin 1-4, Bickerstaff 0-1). Fouled out-Brewer, Farrington. Rebounds-Arizona St. 28 (Farrington 5, Veal 5), Oregon St. 47 (Knight 10). Assists-Arizona St. 17 (Brewer 6), Oregon St. 15 (Cunningham 4). Total fouls-Arizona St. 26, Oregon St. 16. A-5,459.