One Point Is Being Made by Arizona

In a Pacific 10 Conference title race that’s expected to be one of the closest ever, it’s hard to imagine the games getting any closer for Arizona than its first two were.

The ninth-ranked Wildcats notched their second consecutive one-point victory in the final seconds Saturday at Tucson, beating No. 21 Stanford. Forward Bennett Davison’s tap-in with six seconds provided the decisive points.

“We didn’t run out of luck,” said Arizona Coach Lute Olson, whose team blew a 14-point lead early in the second half. “Bennett is such a quick jumper and he really got up high for that last bucket. It was a big one.”

Arizona, 9-2 overall and 2-0 in conference, was coming off an 81-80 victory over California Thursday in which the Golden Bears’ Prentice McGruder missed the front end of a 1-and-1 free-throw situation and a shot at the buzzer in between freshman Mike Bibby’s two free throws with 3.6 seconds.

The scenario was the same against Stanford (8-2, 1-1).

Cardinal center Tim Young missed the front end of a 1-and-1 with 27 seconds and Arizona set up guard Jason Lee for a shot from the corner that bounced off the rim and high into the air, with Davison leaping to tap it in with his right hand.

“I was just anticipating,” said Davison, a 6-foot-8 junior college transfer. “Four of our guys were there and I was surprised I was able to get to the ball. I was surprised it went in too.”

Despite having a timeout remaining, Stanford quickly inbounded the ball to guard Brevin Knight, who made three of the Cardinal’s six three-point baskets in the final 8:30.

Knight drove to the basket, but his layup bounced off the front of the rim as the buzzer sounded.

Stanford, which beat Arizona, 85-70, at McKale Center last season, had a winning streak end at seven games.

Swingman Michael Dickerson had a game-high 21 points for Arizona while Knight led Stanford with 17. Young--the Cardinal’s leading scorer with a 17.4 average--had two of his 12 points in a first half in which 30 fouls were called.

No. 20 Oregon 91, Oregon State 69--The Ducks (10-0) matched their best start since the 1974-75 season as they used a 27-4 run midway in the first half to take command against Beavers (4-6) in the conference openers for both teams at Corvallis, Ore.

Forward Kyle Milling and guard Jamal Lawrence, out of the starting lineup for the first time this season, had 20 points for Oregon, which shot 58%.

Oregon State, which lost, 66-64, to Oregon in the Far West Classic at Portland last Saturday, had its first home sellout in four years.

Arizona State 64, California 60--Guard Jeremy Veal made four free throws in the final 1:28 as the Sun Devils (8-5, 1-1) surprised the Bears (9-4, 0-2) at Tempe, Ariz.

Veal, who had been slumping and was not a starter for the first time in 44 games, scored five points in a 14-4 run that gave Arizona State a 55-54 lead with 4:24 left.

The Sun Devils lost the lead twice but regained it on forward Mike Batiste’s three-point play with 2:23 and Veal’s free throws at 1:28.

Cal guard Ed Gray missed an off-balance 15-foot jump shot with four seconds left that could have tied the game and Veal made two more free throws to seal the victory.