PACIFIC 10 CONFERENCE / DAN HAFNER : Arizona Not Invincible at Home

Apparently, Arizona’s dominance of Pacific 10 basketball is about to end--temporarily, at least.

The Wildcats, seeking their third consecutive league championship and sixth in the last eight years, seem to have lost their home-court advantage.

When unpredictable California, which hasn’t won a conference game at home, outlasted the Wildcats, 74-72, Sunday, it was their second defeat at McKale Court in conference play this season. In three of their championship seasons, the Wildcats lost only one of their 18 conference games and none at home. Not since the 1986-87 season have the Wildcats lost two conference games at home.

The other loss at Tucson this season came a month ago against UCLA, which won by 10 points. The loss to Cal was only the fifth in 120 Pac-10 home games for Coach Lute Olson’s Wildcats, but it put them in a bind.

Now, if they don’t win at UCLA on Sunday, the Wildcats can look forward only to their 12th consecutive NCAA tournament appearance. Last year, after several first-round embarrassments, Arizona made it to the Final Four, losing to the eventual champion, Arkansas.

“We face a tough week,” Olson said. “And UCLA has a tough 10 days. UCLA plays the Sun Devils, then us on Sunday, at Stanford next Tuesday and at Cal two nights later., After that we should know how the race is going to come out. It would be no surprise if the Bruins prevail.”

UCLA and California used the same plan to win in Tucson. They put heavy pressure on point guard Damon Stoudamire and hoped he had a poor shooting night. It worked both times.

Because Stoudamire carries so much of the offensive load for Arizona, the Wildcats almost always lose on the rare occasions he shoots poorly.

He had his worst shooting night against California, making only four of 19 shots. All four were from three-point range, but so were 11 misses.

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There are still five Pac-10 teams on track for NCAA tournament bids, and Cal certainly must be given an outside chance.

Although the Bears are 0-5 in conference games at home, they are 12-8 overall. They will need to win most of their last seven games to qualify.

What if the Bears knock off UCLA at home Feb. 23? With road victories over Cincinnati, Arizona and UCLA, it would be hard to ignore them.

Cal’s poor play at home is a mystery to Coach Todd Bozeman. “We don’t put extra emphasis on the road,” he said. “Maybe we should play the rest of our games away from home.

“I know the victory Sunday was a big boost to our team.”

Before playing host to USC and UCLA, the Bears get a chance for another big road victory when they play at Stanford tonight.

The Bears, 4-2 going into this week, don’t even have the best Pac-10 road record. UCLA, which will play only two more Pac-10 games away from home, is 6-1 and Arizona is 4-1.

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After getting its first season sweep over rival Oregon State since 1961, Oregon remains alive for an NCAA berth. A 107-87 romp at Eugene gave the Ducks a 14-5 record. In improving to 6-4 in the conference, they scored the most points they have ever scored in a Pac-10 game.

The Ducks need a sweep at home this week against the Washington schools to maintain their playoff pace. After that it gets kind of hairy with trips to Arizona and the Southland. In between the Ducks are at home against Cal and Stanford.

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Two weeks ago, Arizona State Coach Bill Frieder said the only way the Sun Devils could have a successful season would be to sweep the upcoming four games. They did it, winning the four by a total of 50 points, including an overtime victory over Washington.

Pac-10 Notes

Two years ago, the Sun Devils’ 6-foot-9 Mario Bennett didn’t know whether a shattered knee would permit him to play again. He signaled a complete comeback by getting 44 points, 14 blocks and 19 rebounds in the Sun Devils’ victories over Cal and Stanford. Bennett needs three more blocked shots to set a conference record.

Arizona’s Lute Olson compares USC’s Lorenzo Orr to Michael Jordan. “He’s like Jordan,” Olson said. “He starts so far out on his dunk you think he can’t get there--but he does. Lorenzo is really a special athlete.” . . . California’s Al Grigsby, who missed most of last season because of back and hamstring problems, will undergo back surgery and is finished for the season.