Dickerson paces men's hoops in victory over OSU

At the time, 13th-ranked Arizona was clinging to a three-point lead over Oregon State, and a loss to the Beavers could have meant disaster for the Wildcats' NCAA tournament plans.

But Dickerson came through, finishing with 29 points as Arizona (17-7 overall, 9-5 in the Pacific 10 Conference) pulled away Saturday for a 74-64 victory, its 15th consecutive win over Oregon State.

''I felt like I had to take charge out there,'' Dickerson said. ''I was able to take advantage of some open looks, and my teammates gave me the ball at the right time and the right place.''

Dickerson, 12-for-17 from the field, many on high-arching jumpers, was being too modest, Oregon State coach Eddie Payne said.

''Most of the time we did about all we could do short of fouling him,'' Payne said, ''and he just dropped them.''

Dickerson had a sub-par 10-point performance, half of his scoring average, in Thursday night's 78-72 upset loss at Oregon.

But with Simon and several other Arizona players in foul trouble Saturday, he came through.

In its last home game of the season, Oregon State (7-17, 3-12) tried to avenge its 99-48 loss to Arizona in Tucson a month ago, the Beavers' worst defeat ever. But the young Oregon State squad's upset hopes disintegrated because of poor free-throw shooting and Arizona's tight defense.

The Beavers had 22 turnovers, compared with 12 for the Wildcats. Oregon State also was just 18-for-33 from the foul line.

Payne had his team play a ball-control style and that part of his game plan worked.

''We did create the tempo we wanted,'' he said. ''A little bit better execution and a few free throws and we're right there.''

Mike Bibby scored 14 of his 17 points in the second half for the Wildcats.

Dickerson, a junior, became the 27th Arizona player to top 1,000 career points. He has 1,004.

He was in a one-on-one scoring duel with Oregon State's Corey Benjamin throughout the game. Benjamin made his first eight shots and finished with 26 points on 9-for-11 shooting.

''I guess he showed he wanted to win and I showed I wanted to win,'' said Benjamin, a freshman who had 48 points in the two games against Arizona State and Arizona.

Oregon State was down just 30-28 at halftime. But the Wildcats scored 13 consecutive points, nine by Dickerson, to go ahead 45-31 with 14:19 to play.

The Beavers cut the lead to 52-48 when Benjamin made one of two free throws with 8:15 remaining, but Oregon State missed five consecutive free throws as Arizona went on an 11-2 run to put the game out of reach, 63-50, with 3:11 to play.

Bennett Davison had a steal and stuff shot during that stretch for the Wildcats.

Arizona coach Lute Olson said his team, with home games against Washington and Washington State and a road trip to California and Stanford on the schedule, still can't take an NCAA bid for granted.

''We needed this win. People talk about the NCAA tournament but we can't even think about that,'' he said. ''We're not in yet. The selection committee looks at how a team does down the stretch, so we need to pick up some momentum.''

Arizona went more than five minutes without a point late in the first half. The Beavers, meanwhile, scored 11 consecutive points, five by Benjamin, to take a 27-25 lead with 1:06 to play in the half.

Bibby's first points of the game, a 3-pointer from the corner, put Arizona back ahead as the Wildcats escaped with a two-point lead at the break.

In the first half, Benjamin was 6-for-6 from the field for 13 points and had five rebounds.