Oregon State
Arizona
OSU Falls To No. 7 Arizona, 68-41
February 03, 2001 | Men's Basketball
Feb. 3, 2001
By LANDON HALL
AP Sports Writer
CORVALLIS, Ore. - For 20 minutes of horrendous basketball, No. 7 Arizona looked like it was becoming a dysfunctional mess again.
Michael Wright, starting at center in place of the suspended Loren Woods, had 20 points and 11 rebounds as the Wildcats recovered from another poor first half to rout Oregon State 68-41 Saturday night.
"It's just a personal situation. We've got it straightened out," said coach Lute Olson, who pulled Woods out of Friday's practice. "He handled it very well, and will be back with us on Monday."
Woods scored 11 points on 4-of-14 shooting in Arizona's 79-67 loss at Oregon on Thursday night, a game in which every Wildcat played badly and the team shot a season-low 35 percent.
Arizona (15-6, 8-2 Pac-10) was just as horrible in the first half Saturday night, shooting just under 35 percent and scoring a season-low in points (24) for the second straight game. But the Beavers were much worse, missing their first nine shots and falling behind 13-0 after the first 10 minutes.
Arizona then made an amazing 17 of its 22 shots in the second half. A layup by Wright capped a 10-0 run, and his jumper from the foul line made it 48-28. A 3-pointer by Travis Hanour pushed the lead to 57-31.
"You're going to have games where things are out of sync and things aren't going right," said Richard Jefferson, who had 10 points and six assists. "It's just a matter of how you rebound. We learn from our mistakes and we try to move on."
Arizona, ranked No. 1 in the preseason, lost four of seven at one point this season, and had to deal with the death of Olson's wife, Bobbi, from cancer on Jan. 1.
Jason Heide, playing on two sprained ankles, scored 16 to lead Oregon State (8-13, 2-7), which suits up just eight players because of injuries.
With Woods watching from the bench, Wright attacked the basket early, getting six points during the Wildcats' fast start. But bad shots and turnovers allowed the Beavers to come back and get within 24-18 at halftime.
"We came in the game the first five minutes and we just laid it on them," Wright said. "We got out to a comfortable lead, and we didn't let them get a lot of confidence."
Jason Gardner, who scored just four points on 1-of-9 shooting against Oregon, started the second half with a 3-pointer, and the Wildcats practically couldn't miss from then on.
Woods wasn't bothered by his suspension.
"I'd like to play in every game, but if I can't, I won't worry about it. We're still going to win without me," he said.
Arizona, which shot a season-low 35 percent against Oregon, finished at a season-high 56 percent.
Gilbert Arenas scored 12 points, and Hanour added 11.
Arizona, which seemed a long shot to repeat as Pac-10 champions, especially after the way it played on Thursday night, now is only one game out of first place following Stanford's loss earlier Saturday.
"That put us back in the hunt," Wright said.
The Beavers, who had the dubious distinction of becoming the first Pac-10 team to lose to Arizona State on Thursday, were outrebounded 38-19, marking the 16th time in 17 games they've been beaten in that department.
Although the victory wasn't pretty, another loss on the Oregon Trail would have been devastating for the Wildcats. Arizona has lost two straight in Eugene for the first time in 23 years, and the team had lost at the Beavers two straight years.
In 1999, Deaundra Tanner hit a jumper with 27 seconds left to give Oregon State a 60-59 victory, and last year Tanner hit a 3-pointer at the buzzer in overtime to hand the Beavers a 70-69 win.
"This team shouldn't be compared to last year's team," Oregon State coach Ritchie McKay said. "We have eight guys. We have some that don't belong at this level."
Tanner was held to just seven points on 3-for-11 shooting this time.
Overall, the Beavers shot 32 percent and just 4-of-17 from 3-point range.
