Washington Stops Arizona

Playing his last home game, Washington’s Tre Simmons was not about to watch Arizona celebrate a Pacific 10 Conference title on the Huskies’ court.

Simmons scored 24 points and No. 14 Washington denied the ninth-ranked Wildcats’ bid to win the Pac-10 title outright with a 93-85 victory Saturday at Seattle.

With the victory, the Huskies moved a step closer to their first conference title in 20 years. Washington can clinch at least a share of its first Pac-10 regular-season title since 1985 by defeating California and Stanford.

“Do you know how hard it is for me to hold back and not do what a lot of coaches do and tell you how great of a player Tre Simmons is?� Washington Coach Lorenzo Romar said. “When you look at what we’ve done this year and what he has done, he has had a phenomenal season.�

It also might have been the last home game for Washington’s Nate Robinson, a junior who considered entering the NBA draft last year before returning to school. He had 22 points for the Huskies (23-4 overall, 13-3 in the Pac-10).

It was Washington’s 22nd consecutive win at home. Their last home loss was on Jan. 10, 2004, a 86-84 overtime setback to UCLA.

Arizona (24-5, 14-3) will be no worse than co-champions with a victory Saturday at Arizona State, but the loss kept Arizona Coach Lute Olson from passing UCLA’s John Wooden for most Pac-10 victories. Each has 304.

“This hurt, but we’re still playing for the Pac-10 championship,� Arizona’s Channing Frye said.

The loss ended the Wildcats’ seven-game win streak.

Frye scored a game-high 30 points on 13-of-15 shooting. But Salim Stoudamire, averaging 18.2 points a game, struggled to get into the offense for the second consecutive game and finished with 15 points. Stoudamire scored only eight points in an overtime victory Thursday against Washington State.

In the first matchup on Jan. 27, Arizona made a school-record 38 of 40 free throws in a 91-82 victory at Tucson. But the Wildcats did not attempt a free throw Saturday until 14:57 remained in the second half.

The two teams combined to shoot only 30 free throws, most coming in the final minutes.

Oregon State 82, California 63 -- Nick DeWitz scored 17 of his career-high 28 points in the first half at Corvallis, Ore., and the Beavers clinched their first winning season in 15 years.

The win avenged a 35-point loss at Cal and bolstered the Beavers’ chances at their first postseason appearance since 1990.

The Beavers (16-11, 8-8), who sit in fifth place, assured themselves of no worse than an eighth-place finish in the Pac-10 and a berth in the conference tournament.

Rod Benson scored 18 points for the Golden Bears (12-14, 5-11).

Washington State 57, Arizona State 55 -- Chris Schlatter’s three-point basket in the closing seconds lifted the Cougars to victory at Pullman, Wash.

Thomas Kelati led Washington State (11-14, 6-10) with 15 points. Jeff Varem added 13 to help the Cougars stop a four-game losing streak.

Ike Diogu led Arizona State (18-11, 7-10) with 19 points. Arizona State would have clinched a berth in the Pac-10 tournament with a victory. Its only remaining regular-season game is Saturday at home against Arizona.

Stanford 58, Oregon 56 -- Matt Haryasz’s basket with 14 seconds left was the game-winner as the Cardinal held on to win at Eugene, Ore.

Haryasz finished with 18 points and 10 rebounds. Chris Hernandez scored 16 and Nick Robinson had 11 for Stanford (16-10, 10-6), which beat the Ducks (13-12, 5-11) for the 17th time in 19 games.