Washington State Gives Arizona a Jolt

Four of the Washington State players on the court Saturday were not born the last time the Cougars beat Arizona. Two others were barely in diapers.

So the Cougars’ 70-63 victory over the 11th-ranked Wildcats -- at McKale Center in Tucson -- was downright historic.

The Cougars ended a 38-game losing streak to Coach Lute Olson’s Arizona team.

“I can’t remember the last time I was this happy,” said Thomas Kelati, who made a career-high seven three-point baskets and matched his career best with 27 points. “I returned to that locker room, coach was in tears, players were in tears. This feels good.”

Kelati’s last three-point basket with 50.4 seconds to play put the Cougars ahead for good, 66-63, then he secured the victory by making two free throws with 32.1 seconds left.

Washington State, 9-9 overall, 4-5 in the conference, last beat Olson’s Wildcats, 65-63, in overtime on Jan. 30, 1986, in Pullman. The Cougars also ended a 20-game losing streak in Tucson.

The Cougars scored the last seven points of the game after a steal led to Mustafa Shakur’s breakaway basket that tied the score at 63-63 with 1:12 left.

After Kelati’s last three-point basket, Salim Stoudamire missed a three-point attempt, then Kelati was fouled and made the two free throws to help give Dick Bennett his biggest victory in his two seasons as coach.

Arizona (17-4, 7-2) came out flat for the noon tipoff after an intense 91-82 victory over No. 10 Washington on Thursday night. That victory put the Wildcats alone in first place in the conference, but Washington can move back into a tie by winning at Arizona State today.

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Stanford 88, Oregon 69 -- Matt Haryasz had career highs of 20 points and 20 rebounds, and the Cardinal (12-7, 6-3), which won its sixth in a row, improved to 6-1 at home. Stanford moved to within a game of first place despite losing its first three conference games.

Malik Hairston had 19 points for the Ducks (11-7, 3-6), who have lost their last 19 games at Maples Pavilion.

The Ducks haven’t won there since an 83-69 victory on Jan. 13, 1986.

Aaron Brooks had 11 points off the bench for Oregon.

Brooks didn’t start for the first time all season, a disciplinary measure by Coach Ernie Kent for arriving late for a pregame meal.

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California 91, Oregon State 66 -- Richard Midgley returned from a shoulder injury to score nine points at Berkeley in the highest-scoring performance of the season for the Golden Bears (11-8, 4-5).

Cal had little trouble beating the Beavers for the 14th consecutive time -- the longest winning streak in the history of a series dating to 1915.

The Bears held the Beavers (11-9, 3-6) scoreless for more than 7 1/2 minutes in the first half, turning a five-point deficit into what turned out to be an insurmountable lead with a 20-0 run.

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One-Sided Series

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Now that Washington State has ended its streak of losses to Arizona, here are the longest current Division I winning streaks over a single opponent, with the seasons in which the streak began and had its most recent game:

*--* Won Opponents First Last 39 Syracuse vs. Colgate 1963 2005 34 Marquette vs. Wis.-Milw. 1917 1999 33 North Carolina vs. VMI 1922 1997 28 Kansas vs. Kansas State 1994 2004 28 Syracuse vs. Cornell 1969 2005

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