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Wildcats enjoy stress-free victory

It was a classic case of feeling a team out and then executing the game plan.

The No. 9 Arizona Wildcats (19-4 overall, 8-1 in Pacific 10 Conference) and the Oregon State Beavers (10-10, 2-7) played an even game for the first 12 minutes on Saturday night, but then the Wildcats decided they had seen enough and pulled out a 90-73 blowout win at McKale Center.

"We wanted to put them out from the beginning, but they came out and hit some shots and we weren't doing what we were supposed to, like we went over in the shoot-around," UA redshirt freshman forward Luke Walton said. "As soon as we made the adjustments we started playing our game, we went on our run and from there we took control of the game."

With the game tied at 24, Arizona freshman guard Jason Gardner hit his first three-pointer in more than two games to spark the Wildcats on a 16-6 run to end the first half. Arizona led 40-30 at the half.

The beginning of the second half wasn't any different for the Wildcats and Beavers, as the 14,545 fans in attendance were forced to stand for the first four minutes and 37 seconds of the half as the Wildcats ran off 12 straight points before OSU's freshman guard Jimmie Haywood hit a three pointer.

From then on the Wildcats coasted, stretching the lead to as large as 25 points at one point in the half.

UA was led by another strong game from its big men, as junior center Loren Woods had 15 points and nine rebounds, while sophomore forward Michael Wright poured in a game-high 22 points on eight-of-10 shooting.

"Any time you have guys doubling down and you can still have your post players score 22 and 15 each, that is great," Woods said. "We didn't play as well on defense, but coming out with a win and not playing well is saying a lot for the team."

Walton continued his double-digit scoring as of late, posting 12 points to go along with eight assists and six rebounds.

Since scoring 10 points at Arizona State on Jan. 26, Walton is averaging 11 points per game, a far cry from the 2.9 points he was averaging in the first 19 games of the season.

Walton's play has also allowed for the UA inside game to flourish, as teams are having difficulty double and triple teaming Wright and Woods in the post because Walton and sophomore forward Rick Anderson have shown they can now hit the long range jump shot from the wing.

"They'll have less double teams if Luke (Walton) and Ricky (Anderson) keep shooting the ball well," UA head coach Lute Olson said. "If you notice the three he (Walton) hit - he caught it and shot it - that is how our drills work."

UA again made more free throws than the other team attempted as they hit 22-of-30, while Oregon State only managed to get to the line for 14 shots, hitting 13 of them.

Oregon State's junior point guard Deaundra Tanner had a lot of trouble handling the ball as he was pestered by UA freshman guard Gilbert Arenas all night long. Tanner turned the ball over 10 times, one more than the entire UA squad had for the game.

Tanner, the Beavers leading scorer, was having shooting problems as well - hitting only two-of-10 from the field for eight points.

The Beavers also had 11 more fouls than the Wildcats and got only three points from its bench, while the Wildcats received a big lift of 20 points from its bench, including 13 from Anderson.

Three of those 20 bench points came from senior guard and co-captain Josh Pastner, who entered the game to a huge ovation with two minutes left.

Pastner recorded a steal and than nailed a three-pointer to bring the crowd to its feet.