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Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

PAC-10 : Arizona drops third in a row


Arizona head coach Lute Olson lost three straight Pac-10 games for the first time in 22 years. 
 (Associated Press / The Spokesman-Review)
Associated Press The Spokesman-Review

Arron Afflalo scored 22 points and No. 3 UCLA defeated 11th-ranked Arizona 73-69 Saturday in Los Angeles, sending Lute Olson to his first three-game Pac-10 losing streak in 22 years.

Darren Collison added 14 points and seven assists, Michael Roll had 13 points and Alfred Aboya grabbed a career-high 11 rebounds for the Bruins (16-1, 6-1), who improved to 14-0 at Pauley Pavilion dating to last season.

The victory kept UCLA atop the Pac-10 standings, tied with No. 9 Oregon.

Ivan Radenovic scored 21 points and Marcus Williams added 11 points and 11 rebounds for Arizona (13-5, 4-4). The Wildcats were coming off an 80-73 loss at Southern California on Thursday and were previously beaten at home by Oregon.

Olson hadn’t experienced a three-game conference losing skid since 1983-84, his first season in Tucson, when the Wildcats lost to Stanford, Washington and Oregon State in February.

(9) Oregon 92, California 84: At Eugene, Ore., Aaron Brooks scored 15 of his 22 points to help the Ducks (18-1, 6-1 Pac-10) rally to beat the Bears (12-7, 4-3).

Brooks hit three 3-pointers in the second half as the Ducks overcame an eight-point halftime deficit to win their fifth straight league game for the first time since 2002.

Malik Hairston added 19 points for the Ducks, while Tajuan Porter scored 15.

The 46-38 deficit was Oregon’s biggest at the half this season. It also was the first time that an opponent had scored more than 38 points against the Ducks in the first half.

The Bears scored 18 second-chance points in the first half and shot 59 percent from the field to take their lead.

Theo Robertson led the Bears with 19 points, while Omar Wilkes and Ayinde Ubaka had 17 points each.

USC 58, Arizona St. 49: At Los Angeles, Nick Young scored 18 points, and the Trojans used a stifling defense to beat the Sun Devils and enhance its bid to move into the national rankings for the first time in almost five years.

Taj Gibson had 11 points and eight rebounds and Gabe Pruitt had nine points and four assists for the Trojans (15-5, 5-2 Pac-10), who have won six of their last eight games including four over ranked opponents.

USC’s victories over Wichita State, Washington, Oregon and Arizona represent its most wins over Top 25 teams since the Trojans beat six during the 2001-02 season. They haven’t appeared in the Top 25 since March 2002. The Trojans handed No. 9 Oregon its only loss on Jan. 4.

Stanford 67, Oregon St. 56: At Corvallis, Ore., Lawrence Hill scored 24 points, including five 3-pointers, to help the Cardinal defeat the Beavers.

Marcel Jones had 20 points and eight rebounds, and Kyle Jeffers added 14 for the Beavers (9-11, 1-6 Pac-10), who shot just 37.7 percent from the field and fell for the sixth time in seven games.

Anthony Goods had 16 points and made 8 of 10 free throws, and Brook Lopez had 12 points and nine rebounds for the Cardinal (12-5, 4-3), winners of four of their last five.

The Cardinal won despite 18 turnovers to Oregon State’s five. Stanford trailed by five in the second half, but put together an 18-1 run that included three 3-pointers.