Wildcats nip Ducks
Arizona coach Lute Olson was certain his team was going to pull ahead down the stretch. He was more concerned about what would happen next.
Chase Budinger had 30 points and 10 rebounds, Ivan Radenovic hit a go-ahead jumper with 6 seconds left and the 24th-ranked Wildcats rallied from a 10-point halftime deficit to beat No. 13 Oregon 77-74 Saturday in Eugene, Ore.
“I wanted the ball on the last play and Coach said, ‘Don’t worry about it, we’re going to make this basket. Then make sure we defend,’ ” Radenovic said.
Jawann McClellan’s 3-pointer pulled the Wildcats to 66-64 before Budinger’s jumper tied it. Marcus Williams’ hook shot put Arizona ahead for the first time in the half, 68-66, with 3:17 left.
The Wildcats stretched the lead to 73-66 on Budinger’s 3-pointer. But Aaron Brooks hit two free throws with 57 seconds remaining to cut it to 73-71, and Tajuan Porter hit a 3-pointer to put Oregon up 74-73 with 22.2 seconds to go.
Right after the shot, Oregon coach Ernie Kent fell in front of the scorer’s table and came up clutching his left arm. He likely injured his rotator cuff. Before the season, Kent had surgery on the other arm.
Arizona regained the lead on Radenovic’s turnaround jumper, and Budinger hit two free throws for the final margin.
“We knew we had to stick with it,” Budinger said. “We knew things would go our way and we could go on a big run if we made some shots.”
Williams and Radenovic each had 16 points and nine rebounds for Arizona, which has won three straight after losing five of six.
Bryce Taylor had 18 points and Maarty Luenen added 17 for the Ducks, who have lost four of six.
“There were a couple of times when we had a nine- or a 10-point lead, but we just couldn’t put them away,” Luenen said. “If we were able to get a few stops it would have made it a lot more difficult for them to come back.”
Oregon State 59, Arizona State 55: At Corvallis, Ore., Sasa Cuic had 22 points as the Beavers ended a seven-game losing streak with a win against the Sun Devils.
Wesley Washington added 13 points and seven rebounds for Oregon State, which outscored Arizona State 7-0 late in the second half.
Christian Polk had 12 points and Allen Morill 10 for Arizona State, which lost its 14th straight.
Arizona State has lost its previous four games by a total of 14 points, including a 55-51 defeat at No. 13 Oregon on Thursday.
The edge changed six times in the second half, and the Beavers took the lead for the final time on a long jumper by Wesley Washington with 7:24 remaining. That basket started a 7-0 run that gave Oregon State a 56-50 lead with 4:28 remaining.