'Cats unable to close out Beavers until late in John's return to Tucson

Jay John wanted to leave his hometown with a win against the nation's No.1 team and the team that he grew up not only watching but coaching.

Even though that didn't happen as John's Oregon State Beavers lost to UA 72-60 last night in McKale Center, his team played the Wildcats close the entire game.

"We came here trying to win and we didn't accomplish that," said the first-year OSU head coach. "I told our guys that if they put their hearts and soul into the game, that they can't feel bad about losing." [Read article]

In Bill Walton's lifetime he has played ball with hundreds of different teammates.

Some were legendary, like Larry Bird and Kevin McKale. Others, like Maurice Lucas, weren't as well known.

But out of all of them, Bill decided to name one of his four children after his favorite teammate ÷ Maurice "Luke" Lucas.

That child, Luke, played in front of the guy he was named after for the first time last night. [Read article]

This season has been somewhat of a revenge tour for the Arizona women's hoops squad, who open the Pacific-10 tournament in San Jose tomorrow at 2:15 p.m. against Oregon State.

In December, UA fell at Stanford, only to beat them by 15 last week in Tucson.

In January, No. 22 UA lost a close one to Washington, 60-59, but bounced back to clobber the Huskies a month later, by 13 at home.

UA also had the same fate against both Arizona State and OSU. [Read article]

This weekend's road series against Texas, the defending NCAA national champions, won't be anything special for the No. 23 Arizona baseball team ÷ at least as far as their preparation is concerned.

"It's the biggest series of the year because it's our only one of the week. We just have to approach it like any other series," second baseman Moises Duran said.

The Wildcats (11-5) take on the No. 11 Longhorns in Austin tonight to open up a three-game set. It will be the last tough opponent for UA before conference play begins in two weeks. [Read article]

The wagons are headed east.

After playing three consecutive tournaments in the comfort of Hillenbrand Stadium, it's time for the Wildcats to head to a different time zone.

The No. 2 Arizona softball team (21-2) heads to Lubbock, Texas for the Red Raider Classic, starting today when they take the field against Wichita State at 5 p.m.

"Playing on the road, the more experience the better," said head coach Mike Candrea. "We have to win on the road in the Pac-10." [Read article]

The UA men's golf team has played above its already lofty expectations this spring, and looks to improve on that in Las Vegas this weekend at the Toyota Men's Collegiate Championship.

The team will travel to the city of sin as one of the hottest teams in the nation after winning its first two starts of the spring.

Junior Chris Nallen finished second at the John Burns Intercollegiate two weeks ago, good for his second consecutive runner-up finish, and has moved up to 15th on the Golfweek/Sagarin Performance Index. [Read article]

Coming off a tough loss at the hands of rival Arizona State, the Arizona men's tennis team looks to end its losing streak this weekend when a pair of high-ranked Northern California programs decends upon Tucson.

No. 6 Stanford and No. 5 California bring their high-powered offenses to UA today and Saturday to face a Wildcat team looking to erase last week's tough loss in Tempe.

This weekend's match-ups will mark the fourth and fifth straight games in which the 50th-ranked Wildcats will face a ranked opponent. Losses to nationally ranked teams ASU, UCLA and Southern California have given Arizona a three-game losing streak. [Read article]

Not only does the men's lacrosse team get to travel to No. 4 Brigham Young, they also face No. 8 Colorado and rising Utah in a series of road games so big, they will even have a game televised.

This weekend, the No. 5 Laxcats (5-1, 3-0) embark on their first road trip of the season, facing unranked Utah tonight before going to Provo to battle No. 4 BYU on Saturday. UA then takes on No. 8 Colorado on Sunday, at BYU as well. [Read article]

In an effort to continue old rivalries, the UA men's rugby team will hit the road this weekend to face Long Beach State and UCLA with the hope of moving closer to securing a postseason bid.

With matches set for Friday at Long Beach State and Sunday at UCLA, the Wildcats (7-4, 4-1) will be looking to extend their four-match conference winning streak.

The rivalries seem to have lost some of their luster, however, as Arizona has beaten the 49ers seven out of the last eight times, and the Bruins the last nine times. [Read article]