Cats slick behind Nic
Guard's return spurs offense, NCAA hopes
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Team Conf. Overall
UCLA 15-2 27-3
Stanford 13-4 24-5
Washington State 10-7 22-7
USC 10-7 19-10
Arizona State 8-9 18-11
Arizona 8-9 18-12
Oregon 8-9 17-12
Washington 7-10 16-14
California 6-11 15-13
Oregon State 0-17 6-23
Thursday’s games: Arizona 81, Oregon State 45; Oregon 67, Arizona State 61; USC 93, California 89, OT; UCLA 77, Stanford 67, OT.
Saturday’s games: Stanford at USC, noon; California at UCLA, 1:30 p.m.; Arizona State at Oregon State, 1:30 p.m.; Washington at Washington St., 5:30 p.m.; Arizona at Oregon, 8:30 p.m.
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CORVALLIS, Ore. - Welcome back, Nic Wise.
The sophomore playmaker returned from a knee injury after seven games and scored 15 points - 14 in the first half - to help give the Arizona Wildcats a much-needed 81-45 win over Oregon State and boost their NCAA tournament hopes.
"I felt pretty good," Wise said. "It (his left knee) hurt at some points here and there. It was a matter of me playing through it.''
Surprisingly, Wise played 34 minutes, all but the final six.
UA interim coach Kevin O'Neill said the 5-foot-9 point guard played "a heck of a game." He added that he maybe should have played him fewer minutes.
"Nic is going to have to play 35 minutes a game," O'Neill explained, "so I wanted to see how he's going to hold up over a long period of time."
Earlier in the week, the coach hinted he'd likely ease Wise into his minutes.
"I lied,'' O'Neill joked.
Wise's performance helped UA (18-12, 8-9 Pac-10) register its biggest blowout of the season and move into a three-way tie for fifth-place in the league with Arizona State and Oregon.
A win at Oregon on Saturday likely would lock up the Cats' 24th straight NCAA berth - the nation's longest active streak. The Ducks defeated Arizona State 67-61 in Mac Court on Thursday night.
The Cats have played shorthanded for the last six weeks because of injuries to Wise and Bret Brielmaier (shoulder). Brielmaier, a senior forward, also returned Thursday. He went scoreless but had three rebounds in 12 minutes.
Having both players back on the court seemed to increase the Wildcats' confidence. They shot 50 percent from the field and made their first 19 free throws. UA finished 19 of 21 from the line.
"When I saw that he was going to start, I knew he was going to be a big problem," Oregon State interim coach Kevin Mouton said.
Wise made his seventh start of the season and had eight of UA's first 23 points as the Wildcats overcame a lethargic start. He said he wasn't upset about playing so many minutes, despite the game never being in doubt for the final 30 minutes.
"That's what I kind of wanted to do to get myself back into playing shape,'' said Wise, of playing a lot of minutes. "You never know with KO (how much you'll play), but that's what happened.''
O'Neill said he asked Wise countless times if he was OK. And once the coach saw that Wise wasn't having any problems, "I wanted to play him, so he could get his wind.''
Also, so UA could win.
Afterward, O'Neill said the consensus was every UA player on the court benefited with Wise in there - especially Jordan Hill, Chase Budinger and Jerryd Bayless.
Hill scored inside off of Wise's penetration. Budinger had open looks, thanks to Wise's drive and kick abilities. And Bayless didn't have to handle the ball as much.
"Nic really got the ball moving,'' Bayless said. "He made plays. When he's in the game it helps with everybody making plays. We need that right now. Everybody is able to do a little for us.''
Bayless overcame a head-butt in the first half that required stitches in his cheek to finish with 20 points - one of four UA starters to score in double figures. Budinger added 17 and Hill 16.
The Cats' 40-18 halftime lead was their second-largest of the season (they led Cal-State Fullerton 53-30 back in November). That made the second half all but moot, although UA continued the dominance it established in the first half over the Beavers.
"We needed this win no matter the caliber of the team,'' said UA's Jawann McClellan. "We came out a little slow but took care of business. . . . It shows we can play with anybody in the country. But what I liked is that we didn't play down to our competition.''
The Beavers (6-23, 0-17) could go down as one of the Pac-10's worst teams in history. If they don't win Saturday against Arizona State, they will become the first conference team to go winless in the regular-season race.
Oregon State's small crowd of 4,386 started to trickle out of Gill Coliseum with 10:33 left and UA up 66-28.
The first nine minutes of the game were hardly inspiring, as UA trailed 12-9. It was not a good sign because UA has often struggled against OSU here.
But Arizona was able to pick it up from there, sparked by a 9-0 run and some poor Oregon State shooting.
The Beavers had two airballs and a missed dunk as UA took an 18-12 lead with nine minutes left in the half.
It took some time for UA to realize what was at stake, although all week the media showed concerns that if UA lost it might be out of the NCAA Tournament.
After the Wildcats went a miserable 2 for 9 from the floor and looked like a team playing through the motions, UA rallied, extending its 9-0 run to 14-0 by the 7:03 mark. In OSU's slump, it went 1 for 7 from the floor; UA went 5 for 8.
"The tide just really changed on us," OSU's Mouton said. "They started to make us turn the ball over."
In a seven-minute span, UA had gone from being down 10-6 to being up 29-16. In all, UA outscored Oregon State, 31-6 in the final 11 minutes of the first half.
"The only bad part about this game was that we started off slow again,'' said Budinger. "We definitely can't afford to do that in our next game.''
- Read All Comments » 47 TOTAL COMMENTS
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Michael G. (Penay)
Mar 7, 2008 @ 10:10pmI am a Cat fan that lives in Oregon and I have to say that was a great game last night. I want to add KO, Coach Simon, Chase, Zane and Kirk all came out signed autographs and took pictures with many of the kids that were there waiting. Not only was it a great game but it was a great thing coming out and meeting the fans most of them were kids, although as a parent I did get a kick out of it too. Thanks guys! Now take it to the DUCKS!!! -
OJ N. (ArkansasWildcat)
Mar 7, 2008 @ 9:10pmHOW ABOUT THE TEAM PLAY WITH THIS CONFIDENCE AND URGENCY AGAINST A QUALITY TEAM! WILL SOMEBODY TELL MCCLELLAN THAT THE SEASON HAS STARTED! AND WHO IS WORKING WITH HILL DOWN LOW? STOP ALL THAT FAKING AND JUST TURN AND SHOOT IT!
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Char H. (Bear Down Catz)
Mar 7, 2008 @ 2:33pmI see no problem with the minutes Nic got. He was asked if he was ok, and he said he was. It's not like someone made him stay on the court.
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