Arizona Has Look of Champion Again

If fifth-ranked Arizona’s 110-91 Pacific 10 Conference victory over Washington in Seattle on Saturday is any barometer, college basketball should have a repeat champion this season.

“This team is tremendous,” Washington Coach Bob Bender said of defending NCAA champion Arizona. “When they play like this, there’s not a better team in college basketball.”

Arizona, 13-3 overall and 4-0 in the Pacific 10, led by 20 points at halftime and by 34 twice in the second half. The Wildcats broke the 100-point barrier for the third time this season and are averaging 95.1 points compared to 83.8 last season.

Arizona shot a season-best 65.2%, making a school-record 23 of 28 shots in the second half, as Washington (9-3, 2-1) gave up the third-most points in its history and lost for the first time in nine home games this season.

“We were the wood for the buzz saw,” Washington assistant coach Eric Hughes said.

Most of the precision work was done by forward Michael Dickerson and point guard Mike Bibby, who had 24 and 20 points respectively. Dickerson made eight of 11 shots, including four of five from three-point range, while Bibby was eight of nine from the field.

Arizona’s players, however, stopped short of claiming another national championship.

Said Dickerson: “I think we’re one of the most dangerous teams in the country.”

Said valuable reserve Jason Terry, a native of Seattle: “We still think we can play a lot better, especially on defense.”

Arizona did have trouble with its perimeter defense. Guard Donald Watts had a career-high 28 points and forward Deon Luton tied his career best with 25, making five of seven three-point shots.

Interior defense was another matter. Seven-foot center Todd MacCulloch, the Huskies’ leading scorer (20.1) and rebounder (9.9), was held to four points and three rebounds--being so ineffective that Bender played him only seven minutes in the second half. Patrick Femerling, Washington’s other 7-footer, had one point and three rebounds.

No. 1 North Carolina 81, Virginia 73--The Tar Heels (17-0, 4-0) made 35 of 42 free throws in the Atlantic Coast Conference game at Chapel Hill, N.C.

Antawn Jamison made nine of 12 shots and eight of 11 free throws for 26 points while Shammond Williams ran his streak of free throws made to 26 for the Tar Heels, who won for the 33rd time in their last 34 games.

Virginia (8-7, 1-2), coming off an embarrassing home-court loss to Liberty of the Big South Conference on Wednesday, committed 31 fouls in losing for the 52nd time in 55 games at Chapel Hill. Norman Nolan had 29 points to just miss becoming the second Cavalier player ever to have three consecutive 30-point games.

No. 2 Duke 75, No. 13 Florida State 63--Roshown McLeod had a career-high 25 points and the Blue Devils (14-1, 4-0) overcame 28% shooting in the second half of the ACC game at Tallahassee, Fla.

Florida State (12-4, 1-3) pulled within 61-58 with 4:28 left but could get no closer.

No. 3 Utah 71, Brighham Young 61--The Utes (13-0) led 23-20 at halftime but scored 18 unanswered 18 points to start the second half in the Western Athletic Conference opener for both teams at Provo, Utah.

Michael Doleac had 18 points and nine rebounds for Utah. Ron Selleaze had 26 points and made all 11 of his free throws for Brigham Young (5-10).

No. 4 Kansas 102, Texas 72--Billy Thomas made all six of his three-point shots in the second half and Paul Pierce had 31 points and 10 rebounds for the Jayhawks (19-2, 3-0) in the Big 12 Conference game at Austin, Texas. Thomas finished eight of 11 on three-point shots and had 27 points.

Texas (6-8, 0-3), playing without injured leading scorer Kris Clack (knee), suffered its worst home-court loss since a 103-72 defeat by Southern Methodist in 1984. Kansas is 5-1 without injured All-American center Raef LaFrentz (broken finger).

No. 6 Kentucky 77, Mississippi State 71--The Wildcats (14-2, 3-0) never trailed in the Southeastern Conference game at Starkville, Miss., in winning for the 1,699th time in their history.

Heshimu Evans scored all 10 of his points in the final eight minutes to allow Kentucky to hold off Mississippi State (12-4, 1-2).

Tyrone Washington outplayed Kentucky centers Nazr Mohammed and Jamal Magloire with 23 points on 8-of-10 shooting and eight rebounds. Mohammed and Magloire combined for 14 points.

No. 7 Stanford 84, California 74--The Cardinal (14-0, 3-0) tied a school record for its best start ever in defeating the Golden Bears (5-6, 1-2) at Stanford.

Stanford also won 14 games at the start of the 1936-37 season, a streak that ended with a 42-39 loss at USC. Stanford’s next game is at Maples Pavilion on Thursday against USC, and the Cardinal will also be going for a school-record 19th consecutive home victory.

No. 9 Purdue 86, Houston 53--Chad Austin had 21 points and established a school record for career three-point baskets (180) for the Boilermakers (14-3) in the nonconference game at Houston. The loss was the worst ever at home for Houston (7-7).

Wyoming 58, No. 12 New Mexico 55--Gregg Sawyer and Jeron Roberts had 18 and 17 points respectively and each made a free throw in the final 44 seconds for the Cowboys (11-2, 2-0) in a WAC game at Laramie, Wyo. New Mexico (11-2) shot 38% and was outrebounded, 36-24.

No. 14 Mississippi 74, Alabama 63--The Rebels (12-1, 3-0) used a late 11-0 run at Tuscaloosa, Ala., to start SEC play with three consecutive victories for the first time since 1974. Alabama is 9-7 and 1-2.

Mississippi’s leading scorer, Ansu Sesay, missed eight of nine shots and needed four late free throws to score 10 points and extend his streak of double-figure scoring games to 37. Sesay did have 14 rebounds and seven assists.

No. 15 Princeton 69, Brown 38--The Tigers (13-1, 2-0) shot 67% in taking a 39-14 halftime lead in the Ivy League game at Providence, R.I. Brown (3-11, 0-2) missed 20 of 24 first-half shots.

Steve Goodrich and Gabe Lewullis combined to make 16 of 19 shots and had 19 and 18 points respectively for Princeton, which will not play for the next 16 days because of final exams.

No. 16 South Carolina 70, Louisiana State 53--The Gamecocks (10-2, 2-1) overcame poor shooting (nine of 30) in the first half at Columbia, S.C., to win their 17th consecutive SEC home game. Louisiana State (7-6, 0-3) lost its 17th consecutive SEC road game.

Florida transfer LeRon Williams had 17 points but South Carolina guards BJ McKie and Melvin Watson continued to struggle in combining for 16 points.

No. 17 Michigan 79, Michigan State 69--Maceo Baston scored 17 of his 23 points in a first half in which the Wolverines (13-4, 3-1) led by as many as 20 points in the Big Ten game at Ann Arbor, Mich.

Robert Traylor had 20 points and 11 rebounds for Michigan, which was five victories in a row over Michigan State (9-4, 2-1).

No. 18 Syracuse 69, Louisville 65--Marius Janulis’ fifth three-point basket with less than a minute left accounted for the final points for the Orangemen (14-1) in the nonconference game at Syracuse, N.Y.

Todd Burgan had a game-high 24 points for Syracuse, which led the entire game. Louisville is 7-8.

No. 19 Xavier 77, Fordham 43--Sixth man James Posey was moved into the starting lineup and responded with a game-high 21 points to lead the Musketeers (10-3, 2-1) in the Atlantic 10 Conference game at Cincinnati. Fordham (4-9, 0-3) has lost five in a row.

Posey was starting because Darnell Williams, Xavier’s second-leading scorer at 16.3 points a game, had a sore neck from a traffic accident Thursday when the car he was driving was rear-ended.

San Diego State 81, No. 21 Hawaii 72--Jason Richey scored 24 points as the Aztecs (7-6, 1-1), who dressed only nine players because of medical and academic problems, defeated a ranked team for the first time in 10 years in the WAC game at San Diego.

Hawaii (11-2, 0-1), appearing the the Associated Press’ Top 25 for the first time since 1974, had its winning streak end at six games. The Rainbows were playing their first game on the mainland this season.

No. 22 Arkansas 75, Memphis 72--The Razorbacks (13-2) led by as many as 15 points in the second half of the nonconference game at Memphis then held on to win as Detric Golden missed a last-second three-point shot for the Tigers (6-5).

No. 23 Rhode Island 83, Duquesne 76--Cuttino Mobley had 24 points and made all six of his free throws in the final minute for the Rams (10-2, 3-0) in the Atlantic 10 game at South Kingstown, R.I. Duquesne is 6-9 and 1-2.

No. 25 West Virginia 98, Miami 84--The Mountaineers (14-2, 4-2) led by as many as 27 points in the Big East game at Morgantown, W.Va. Miami (12-2, 5-1) came into the game on the verge of getting its first national ranking in 37 years after beating No. 8 Connecticut on Tuesday.

OTHER GAMES

Massachusetts (9-5, 3-0) used a 45-33 rebounding advantage to defeat George Washington, 79-48, in an Atlantic 10 game at Amherst, Mass. The Colonials (13-3, 2-1), who had won eight in a row, got only six points from seven-foot center Alexander Koul. . . . Matt Harpring, the ACC’s leading scorer and rebounder, had 23 points and nine rebounds to lead Georgia Tech (11-4, 1-2) to a 70-63 victory over Wake Forest (8-5, 1-2) at Atlanta. . . . Luke Recker and Charlie Miller, who had two points between them in the first half, combined for 28 in the second half as Indiana (11-5, 2-2) was an 83-66 winner over Ohio State (7-8, 0-2) in a Big Ten game at Bloomington, Ind. . . . Oklahoma State (12-1, 2-1), with a 66-63 victory over Texas Tech (7-5, 1-1) in a Big 12 game at Stillwater, Okla., gave Coach Eddie Sutton his 599th major-college win.

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