By Maxx Wolfson
Arizona Daily Wildcat
Sunday January 05, 2003
The Oregon curse couldn't cast its evil spell on the Wildcats this time.
UA completed the sweep of the Oregon schools Saturday night by defeating Oregon State 80-65 in Corvallis, Ore., the first time Arizona has left the Beaver State with two victories in four seasons.
The last time the No. 4 Wildcats (9-1, 2-0) accomplished that they won the National Championship.
There would be no letdown Saturday for UA after defeating No. 9 Oregon just two days earlier without the services of senior Luke Walton and sophomore Will Bynum.
Walton, who dressed but didn't play, is still resting his injured ankle while Bynum didn't make the trip and is considering leaving Arizona.
Freshman Hassan Adams led the Wildcats once again scoring 14 points, with 12 of them coming in the second half. Adams had an alley-oop dunk on a pass from senior Jason Gardner, which gave the Wildcats their biggest lead of the game at 21.
But the Beavers (7-4, 0-2) didn't go away quietly.
Philip Ricci led Oregon State in scoring with 24 points, tying a career-high. He kept OSU within striking distance making UA head coach Lute Olson keep his starters in the game for the majority of the second half.
The Beavers were without Brian Jackson for the second half due to an abdominal strain.
The game also was the first time OSU head coach Jay John matched up against his former team and said he was impressed with what he saw.
"I can't imagine there's any deeper team out there - and they're missing a pretty good guy in there, too," John told The Associated Press about Walton.
Sophomore Isaiah Fox got the start for Arizona and finished with nine points and 10 rebounds. Senior Rick Anderson had 13 points and Gardner chipped in 12 and had seven assists.
Sophomore Salim Stoudamire, a native of Lake Oswego, Ore., had a rough homecoming making only 3 of 14 shots while scoring just nine points in the two games.
UA returns home to welcome the Washington schools on Thursday and Saturday.
The Wildcats are likely to move up to the No. 2 spot in the AP rankings after both Alabama and Pittsburgh fell this week.
No. 3 Duke will be in the top spot, if it can fend off Clemson tonight on the road.
The UA coaches said they will address the Bynum situation once they get back to Tucson and are able to meet with him.
They told the Arizona Daily Star they were unable to speak with him while in Oregon.
