Cats’ Stars Let Others Have Share Bramlett Key As Cougars Fall

There were stretches Thursday night when Arizona all-conference wing Michael Dickerson was being guarded by Washington State backup Steve Slotemaker, and Final Four MVP Miles Simon was matched against former 12th man Will Hutchens.

Dickerson and Simon combined for 38 points, but fifth-ranked Arizona also needed 17 points from center A.J. Bramlett to finally subdue the Cougars, 94-81, before 5,339 basketball fans at the Arena.

The 6-foot-11, 217-pound Bramlett scored 11 points during a 6-minute span that saw Arizona stretch a five-point lead to 84-73 with 3:23 remaining.

The critical sequence was sustained in part by a controversial call against WSU forward Carlos Daniel, who was whistled for an intentional foul with 8:24 remaining and Arizona leading 66-61.

Daniel appeared to be going for the ball when he kept Simon from scoring on a breakaway. Simon made both free throws and was back at the line seconds later, after a simmering Daniel drew a technical foul for berating referee Verne Harris.

Simon again dropped in both free throws - he ended up setting a school record by making 17 of 18 from the line - and Arizona’s lead was 70-61. Bramlett followed by scoring nine of Arizona’s next 12 points to single-handedly offset a WSU rally that included a 3-pointer from Chris Crosby and an alley-oop layup by Daniel.

“Our guys did a nice job of finding Bramlett,” said Arizona coach Lute Olson, whose team improved to 12-3 overall and 3-0 in the Pacific-10 Conference. “Once Carlos got into foul trouble, we just tried to pound it inside and Bramlett did a nice job.”

Daniel, who matched a career high with 26 points in Monday night’s loss at Washington, repeatedly beat Arizona double teams on his way to 28 points and nine rebounds. He also blocked two shots.

Four other Cougars (7-6, 0-2) scored in double figures: Chris Crosby had 14, followed by Kab Kazadi (12), Blake Pengelly (11) and Kojo Mensah-Bonsu (11).

“We were real enthused to play the game, but we’re just falling short right now,” WSU coach Kevin Eastman said. “Obviously, there was a disparity of talent out there, but there was certainly no disparity of effort.”

The Cougars came into the game averaging 21 turnovers per game. They committed 18 against the Wildcats, a relatively low number considering Arizona’s overwhelming quickness.

WSU stayed close largely because of the inside work of Daniel, who repeatedly fought through double teams and twice brought the crowd to life with highlight-reel dunks. The first, a two-handed jam over Arizona forward Bennett Davison, pulled the Cougars to within 40-38 late in the first half. WSU was unable to sustain the momentum, however, as the Wildcats scored six consecutive points to start the second half, building a 53-42 lead with 18:12 remaining.

“We felt like if we could take care of the ball and play aggressively, we could go out and get the win,” Daniel said. “For the most part, we did that. We had a few key lapses that really hurt us, but overall we played pretty well.

“When we came out for the second half, we came out flat. They exploited that and that’s what good teams do.”

WSU experienced a similar second-half letdown against Washington.

“We’re real close,” Daniel added. “If we can get out of those without coming out flat, I think we have two wins, because we played hard. It’s not like we were just lucky to be in the game.”

Arizona 94, Washington St. 81

Arizona (12-3) - Davison 3-5 2-2 8, Dickerson 7-11 1-2 17, Bramlett 8-13 1-4 17, Bibby 7-14 1-5 16, Simon 2-7 17-18 21, Tebbs 0-0 0-0 0, Wessel 0-0 0-0 0, Terry 5-10 2-3 15, Edgerson 0-0 0-0 0, Stewart 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 32-60 24-34 94.

Washington St. (7-6) - Daniel 12-22 4-4 28, Crosby 6-13 1-2 14, Nelson 1-2 1-1 3, Pengelly 3-5 2-2 11, Kazadi 4-7 3-4 12, Hutchens 0-2 0-0 0, Mensah-Bonsu 3-5 5-8 11, Slotemaker 1-5 0-1 2. Totals 30-61 16-22 81.

Halftime-Arizona 47, Washington St. 42. 3-Point goals- Arizona 6-14 (Terry 3-5, Dickerson 2-5, Bibby 1-2, Simon 0-2), Washington St. 5-13 (Pengelly 3-5, Kazadi 1-2, Crosby 1-5, Hutchens 0-1). Fouled out-Kazadi, Mensah-Bonsu. Rebounds- Arizona 33 (Davison 8), Washington St. 35 (Daniel 9). Assists- Arizona 18 (Terry 6), Washington St. 13 (Kazadi 4). Total fouls- Arizona 21, Washington St. 26. Technicals-Arizona bench, Simon, Mensah-Bonsu, Daniel. A-5,339.

, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: Color Photo